The Stetson Reporter

fbrida's Oldest Cotkgvatt Newspaper - jiiiy iyy 1 ^h.c4 £ -■ 5 1' M'«.y iy ir /..inkjniy; f, ' y <- - \ ' "'ythyy .'; yy „ ^ ; * y A ■-> %r<')ty-h i 'yyyy ;;„): i'ilhV Ji>C r «-j\ fi M^wriMikif tl^v 8^i %'gKtmW) IJhnmi^lM^SV \1%L_3M$;> )}1bWitJj % 'Aalujiifyic ih'".;' ,^yj.ii!fii!f-j")f :ivC Proposed alcohol policy brings heated discussion Angela Furnari The Stetson Reporter. In an effort to elicit student input on the proposed alcohol policy, student government held an open forum on Tuesday night in Rinker Auditorium. Andy Whittaker, vice president of SGA, opened the forum by saying, "Basically, we're here just to get ideas from you all, let you have a forum in which you can talk about this policy. I'm sure all of you have an opinion about it." While many people do have an opinion about the proposed policy, few actually know what the policy entails, so SGA President Mike Holbein, who was a member of the task force committee that proposed the policy, spent the first, part of the forum explaining the intent behind the policy and what it states. '. '. Holbein basically said that the university wants a policy that allows people to be responsible, self-directed, and to determine all of their actions on their own. "If a 21-year-old can better hone that decision [to drink or not], then when they enter into the world, they won't have to deal with something that "... The. words responsible 'andself-directed, those were mentioned in the first five minutes. If they want us. to be able io enter the, s real world knowing how to 'consume alcohol, then why is it limited?" has supposedly been alien to them their four years a; a college student"- The policy, whichallowsbeer, wine and wine coolers, does not allow other forms of alcohol. It also limits students to no more than six 12-ounce beers, four 12-ounce wine coolers or four six to eight-ounce bottles of wine per person of legal drinking age. As far as* where alcohol can be present, it is not to be served, consumed or possessed in any outdoor area on campus, or in any classroom, lab or office unless deemed permissible by the president or someone acting for him. To dispel one point of confusion, if someone is 21 or over and has a roommate who is underage, that person is still allowed to have alcohol in their room. However, people are not supposed to transport alcohol in open view. "All alcohol that is transported basically has to be unopened and concealed, basically the way it is now," said Holbein. A good portion of the proposed policy deals with alcohol at registered social functions. Socials with alcohol are prohibited from Sunday thru Thursday, and all of rush has to be dry. Don9t let yourself be a victim Stetson students, learn about their rights at Sexual Harassment Forums, - . Christina Vasil. 777© Stetson Reporter. This past week Stetson hosted a two-day conference on Sexual Harassment. The conference included workshops for both students and faculty discussing what sexual harassment is and what to do if you are confronted with it The workshop on Wednesday, November iO from 2-4 p.m. concentrated on sexual harassment issues on campus for students and faculty. The workshop was run by Ann Browning Masters, who wrote her dis-' sertation on sexual harassment and received many awards for this writing and research. She has had fifteen years experience in this field, and currently publishes articles and speaks nationwide on The statistics show that 95 percent of reported cases of harassment in volve a man harassing a woman,. often male teachers.. victimizing female — students. - -.. the issue. The program was introduced by Karen Kaivola and sponsored by a variety of university organization, including the Department of Campus Life, the Women and.Gender Studies Program and the Quality of Service Commission. The discussion centered on what sexual harassment is, how to avoid it and what to do when it happens. It was presented in a formal lecture setting, but often opened up to questions and various exercises involving identifying sexual harassment scenarios. One of the main points that Maters tried to address was the fear of losing jobs when sexual harassment is occurring in civil settings such as the work place or school. She said that her main objective was to help people "get an understanding of a very controversial subject." One of the first issues discussed was the actual definition of sexual harassment, with several definitions pro- . posed. One was that of Professor Catherine A. MacKinnon, which states that sexual harassment is "the unwanted imposition of sexual requirements in the context of a.relationship of unequal power." Masters also extended the definition to .include many of the sexual innuendos and rude comments that many people take as "just normal expression of admiration," such as suggestive or inappropriate notes or letters, rude comments or remarks about clothes, body or activities, and inappropriate humor or jokes. Masters considers this the "moral exclusion" of the object of the harassment because it "denies/diminishes or trivializes the •person's reactions." - The statistics show that 95 percent of the reported cases of harassment involve a man harassing a. woman, often male teachers victimizing female students. Masters agrees that "students who are sexually harassed have a higher •-hoop to go through-because of their gender." Some general suggestions for stopping harassment if you are being victimized are to tell someone, write , everything down, confront the harasser or-write him or her a letter> and read more information on the subject Stetson University has two separate procedures for reporting sexual harassment, an informal and formal. In the first, a report is filed and noted but no formal action is taken. In the second case, there is first a consultation with the accuser • and then hopefully with both the accuser and the accused. Next, there is an investigation and a decision made on the report. If the person harassed is determined to be accurate in his or her report, he or she is encouraged to seek ' retribution. Either party can appeal the decision. Just the facts Stetson University's policy on sexual harassment defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which: o are aimed at coercing an unwilling person into a sexual relationship o make submission to or rejection of such conduct the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting the individual; or o unreasonably interfere with the individual's work or academic performance by creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for work or learning. If you have or think you may have been sexually harassed, do not hesitate to report it You don't have to be a victim, listed below are some numbers you can call: For emergencies: Public Safety...... Deland Police........ (24 hours) , .822-7300 ..9-911 Rape Crisis Center. 904-258-7273 (24 hours) 904-254-4106 State Attorney, 904-239-7710 Rape Victim Advocate For info, and later assistance- Counseling Center. .-...,..822-8900 Assistant Dean.. .....822-7200 of Campus Life Personnel Office ..822-8710 Office of the Provost 822-7010 Governor Lawton Chiles (D) Jeb Bush (R) 5,248 of 5,536 precincts -U.S. Senate Hugh Rodham (D) ... Connie Mack (R) 5,299 of 5,536 precincts Secretary of State Ron Saunders (D)... Sandy Mortham (R).. 5,109 of 5,536 precincts The votes are in Referertdums Limited Casinos ...2,031,872 Yes 1,446,869 ....1,930,150 Change start of No 2,330,741 legislative sessions 96% of 5,536 precincts. Yes... .,2,409,372 No : 855,663 Limits on state ....1,175,213 5,005 of 5,536 precincts revenue collections ...2,751,112 Yes. 1,942,184 "Ban the nets" No 1,326,977 Yes ,... 2,652,000 5,005 of 5,536 precincts No 1,037,327 ....1,756,492 5,147 of 5,536 precincts Revenue Limits ....1,879,910 Yes 1,933,064 No.. .1,382,583 5,005 of 5,536 precincts Under the proposed policy, socials are to be held on a "bring-your-own- bottle" basis, with a central bar where all alcohol coming into the party is to be deposited. People of legal drinking age are given a wristband for identification purposes, and receive a card which is to be punched when they go to the bar to claim their drinks. Forty- five minutes before the social is over, the serving of alcohol stops, with any leftover alcohol poured out in the presence of a Public Safety officer. "Not having alcohol for the last 45 minutes, if s a nice thought, but let's be practical—as soon as they stop serving alcohol, I think the majority of the people at the social are going to leave, so if s kind of a waste of time," said Jeff Pointe, SGA senator. Students have suggested that instead of limiting the amount of alcohol that people are allowed to consume at socials, organizations should provide designated drivers for those who need them. Disciplinary action would be taken against individuals or organizations that violate the policy. Any individuals violating the policy for the first time, could receive a warning, a $75 fine, and would have to attend a mandatory alcohol education component. Fines for violation of the policy by organizations could go up to $500 by the third violation. The organization could also lose their social privileges for up to 20 weeks by the third violation. The money from the fines is supposed to be put back into the education program. Many students are not happy with the proposed policy as it stands. One student said, "First of all, I think this whole thing is ridiculous, and what I feel is Stetson's attempt to shift the liability from themselves. The words responsible and self-directed, those were mentioned in the first five min- See ALCOHOL POLICY, page 2 Students reach out yy i t; u v. c v- ■> 1 I <" *"V*>m* *■ ?ftof q courtesy of JeRmte Johnson Stetson students helping out with RIB at Starke Elementary Jennifer Johnson ' Special to The Reporter^ , ■ On October 27, -over 30 edtsca- Hon -majors volunteered their time af Statke Blemertlary to help 458 cMI- . disn choose s book, of their own to keep, as part of, a program called Readiag Is,Fundamental R1F Is a . national pssagsam sponsored by the goiremmentthat allows students to select books at feee distributions. each year. For m&ny of these chat* dren, these KIF books ate the ojiijr ones in the home. Stetson students went inte Iheeletneritary'dassitiOjcas to inform students abotttreadingand to let them kmvt, how important reading is. Then, with great enthusiasm, Stetson, stwdents r-ead to the children. The day turned out to be a' big success. ' New mmeal cards Angela Furnari 777*9 Stetson Reporter Stetson is keeping up with technology and transferring to a new meal card system. "The card will be used the same as the present meal card, and debit card, in the bookstore," said Wayne Hanks, director of business, services and purchasing. For those who don't know, students can place extra money in their student accounts, and use their meal card as a debit card in the bookstore. When their meal card is run through the register, the amount of their purchase is automatically taken out of their student account. "It [the new card] has the capacity of expansion for the laundry machines, the library and the computer labs. It has the same capabilities of a VISA card," said Hanks. The cards, which are called Data cards, look like VISA cards. They are made out of the same type of hard plastic and have the owner's picture on the front In fact, they are made by Elliot Business Systems in Orlando, the same company which makes VISA cards. The cards will operate exactly as the current meal cards do now. After the holidays, though, students will be able to use their cards for more things. They will work in vending machines and laundry machines. Eventually, students will even be able to use their Data cards to get into their residence halls. However, students need to keep in mind that these new uses for their cards will happen gradually. . "Within the next year or two, we will be able to use one card for everything. If you lose your card, you can immediately call in and deactivate it so no one else can use it. If you lost your card now, it would take several weeks to get a new one. With the new system, you can get a new card on the spot," said Hanks. ' • The reason for this is because Data cards are made using a'special process. Instead of just taking students' photographs and sending them away for processing, photographs are taken using a special image capturing system. The system is similar to the ones in the malls where pictures are viewed on a monitor and then printed onto T-shirts. Picture-taking for the new cards will be scheduled anytime between Wednesday and final exams, depending upon how soon the university can make the necessary arrangements. This way, students should get their new cards by the time that they come back from the holidays, possibly sooner. It just depends on how long it takes to validate all of the cards, which have to be run through- a machine that scans their numbers. The change was suggested to Hanks by SGA.