The Stetson Reporter

fbrida's Oldest CottegiaU 9{eivspaper -^-""";■—~ ■ .-— ; ■ ■■ Inside War in Haiti? ...•". .3 21st Century Trustees ..... .4 Entertainment o erninar.:..?...... . .6 New Intramurals Director.......;. ..8 September 20, 1994 Stetson University DeLand, Florida Volume 107y Number t? Campus gets needed renovations Becky Bridges The Stetson Reporter A number of renovations were made to ihe Stetson campus over the summer in an effort to better facilities for both students and staff. The most noticeable change made was the demolition of the former Alpha Tau Omega house on Minnesota Avenue, behind Allen Hall, to increase the area available for parking. ._.? Residence halls were the recipients of many repairs. Stetson Hall had painting, general maintenance and plumbing work done inside, and outside a new roof. Conrad and Gordis Halls were tented for extermination purposes. Air conditioning repairs were also made in Gordis. Emily Hall received some general maintenance. The most obvious renovation that was begun in recent months is . the removal of lead-based paintfrom the exterior of Chaudoin Hall and the necessary repainting of the same areas. It was the necessity of repainting the cracking paint on the building's exterior thatled to the discovery of the lead-based paint Work on this project continues even with the beginning of the new academic year come and gone. Photocourtesyof Public Relations The former Alpha Tau Omega house in early stage of demolition. A change that returning residents will notice each time they enter their respective halls is the installation of Best locks on the exterior doors. These locks and keys were acquired in the continuing effort to make Stetson a safer place to live. • Academic buildings also were renovated and repaired in recent months. The floor between the * *y*~»» ***. - ^, •€», 9«Mw # '~*r-~-t *^s-s^~w ^y.*^^* *■-^s<y.'«-^' Photo courtesyof Public Relations A bulldozer sits by the ruins ofthe house on Minnesota A venue. Duncan Gallery and the art studio in Sampson Hall was redone. In Sage Hall, work was done on hallway tiles and hot water capabilities were installed. A new fire alarm was installed at the Gillespie Museum, while new carpet was put in the second floor of the Edmunds Center. The patio at Allen Hall was redone and some trees were cut down there. Presser Hall received a new roof and the lobby of the Lynn Business Center was renovated to provide more study areas for students. A new generator was installed in Flagler Hall to ensure the continual smooth running of the computer operations centered there. There are some new outdoor facilities that were constructed this summer. At Hollis Field there are now restroom facilities where none existed before. And a new sidewalk now winds its way from Nemec Hall to Amelia Avenue. So despite the fact that the Chaudoin painting job continues, a number of renovations were completed over the summer that should make Stetson more attractive, comfortable and secure. Res. Life, Greeks react to alcohol proposals Davina Yetter and David Young The Stetson Reporter Following last week's release of the Alcohol Task Force's proposed revisions of Stetson's alcohol policy, numerous members of the university's Residential Life and Greek Life staff have already developed a variety of opinions on the proposal, and on how well it can be enforced. Of numerous resident advisors (RAs), fraternity and sorority counselors, and head residents who were asked to give their responses to the Task Force's proposal, the enforceability of the proposed changes was a point of contention. Director of Residential Life Dave Bergen says that he had not yet had an opportunity to read the proposal "in depth." In comparing the proposed policy to the present policy, Bergen said that "every time you add parameters in" such an issue becomes more complicated, but he added that such changes would not affect how enforceable the new policy is. "The policy is enforceable to the extent that the students cooperate with the policy," Bergen said. Ray Ravis, who serves both as counselor for Alpha Tau Omega and as president of the Interfraternity Council, said ofthe proposal, "I think it can be enforced as well as the. staff chooses to enforce it." He added that the university should reevaluate its current policy, and offer "more alternatives of things to do" to students. "The current system isn't working/' Ravis said. . Rob Dominica, counselor for Sigma Phi Epsilon, called the proposed changes "more realistic" than the present alcohol policy. According to Dominica, the changes would "make things easier for the fraternities" in general, and would enable his own fraternity to follow its national guidelines more closely. And Caroline Karsner, counselor for Alpha Chi Omega, also called the proposal "a realistic idea," but noted, "Isee.it as being difficult to enforce, however." Head Resident Wendy Weston, of Carson-Hollis Hall, says of the proposed policy, "If things are organized well, it can be [enforceable]." She says, however, that "It's difficult enough now, let alone if we change to a wet campus." Renee Parker, Head Resident of Smith Hall, says of the policy, "It's asking RAs and Head Residents to be policemen, and that's not our position." Sean Hobbs, an RA in Nemec Hall, also expressed skepticism. "I don't, think it would be enforceable. People would congregate where there is alcohol, and there is not a lot that an RA could do," Hobbs says. "Stetson holds a special place among other universities, and one of those reasons is that we have a dry campus...Once we make this a wet campus, we can't take it back." Freshman enrollment remains stable Stetson's fall enrollment is stable this year, but overall enrollment is down slightly, university officials report. Last fall/Stetson enrolled 485 freshmen; this fall 488 freshmen are on campus. The drop came in the three upper classes: Last fall there were 1560, with 39 of them in the study abroad program; this fall there are 1501, with 46 abroad. Tuition for students studying abroad goes to the host institution, not Stetson. President H.. Douglas Lee and Provost Eugene Lubot cited three causes for enrollment not reaching budgeted projections: the university had planned to add 40 students, fewer students trans ferred to Stetson than expected, and more Stetson students decided to study abroad. "We will be temporarily challenged this year," says Lubot, but stressed that the problem is temporary and that the university has reserves and other contingency measures in place to deal with it. "Our present programs will not be affected; it just means we will have to expand programs less aggressively than we have in the past few years," Lubot says. The year has been a strange one in university admissions and recruit ment, Lubot says. Stetson had 13 percent more applicants and admitted 22 percent more students, but students apparently made enrollment decisions much later in the process, some withdrawing even after making deposits. 23 percent of Stetson's tuition revenue will go into finandal aid this year, and Stetson is not willing to cut programs to discount its tuition further. "Schools that are making heavy tuition discounts are doing at the detriment of their programs. We will not do that," says Lee. Compiled from Stetson University Press Release Stetson ranks second in U.S. News survey Stetson University ranks second this year among regional Universities and colleges in the South, according to the U.S. Hews & World Report 1995 special report, "America's Best Colleges," to be pub- ; hshed next week. The University of Richmond in Virginia ranks first, moving up from second place in 1994. Stetson placed fourth in 1994. NorthCarolina's Wake Forest University, which ranked first in the same category lastyear, and Berea College in Kentucky, which ranked third, were moved irito other categories this year. j " "We are always pleased to have the quality of a Stetson-education recognized," says Provost Eugene Lubot. "We will continue to provide students with the best education we can, paying particular attention to how that education prepares them for future careers or graduate school." After Richmond and Stetson, Rollins College in Winter Park placed third this year; Mercer Uni versiryin Georgia, fourth; Centenary College of Louisiana, fifth; Samford University in Alabama, sixth; Loyola Univeisity, New Orleans, seventh; James Madison University in Virginia, eighth; Appalachian State University in North Carolina, ninth; and The Citadel in South Carolina, tenth. "Such rankings can be useful for pro spective students and their parents, as long as they recognize that they don't tell the whole story," says Dean of Admissions Linda Glover. "It is important to try to find a good match between student and university; rankings are only one tool in that research." The U.S. Afewsrankings are from a ' study of some 1,400 four-year accredited colleges and universities, combining statistical data with the results of a survey of academic reputations. Schools are divided into categories established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which last spring revised the classifications for the first time since 1987, resulting in a change of category for about 300 institutions. In determining the U.S. News rankings, the scores for academic reputation were combined with data measuring the selectivity of the student body, the degree to which the university financially supports its faculty, its overall financial resources, the graduation rate of its students and alumni satisfaction. r Stetson has been included in every U.S. Newsranking since the survey began in 1985. Compiled from Stetson University press release. Noyes chosen to direct Physical Plant Angela Furnari The Stetson Reporter- Stetson University has selected David Stone Noyes, facilities management director at Drexel University in Philadelphia, to head its physical plant operations. Noyes assumed his duties on July 5. Noyes has worked in physical plant services, at Drexel since 1985, and as Drexel's facilities management director for the past four years, overseeing an annual budget of about $17 million and . a staff of about 325 in the physical plant, security and parking, and planning and construction departments. Before going to Drexel, Noyes worked for 17 years at Carpenter Technology Corp., first as an engineering supervisor and then as a manager in the area of safety and security. Educated at the Maine Maritime Academy, where he received a bachelor of science degree in maritime engineering, he also spent three years as a senior engineer in the U.S. Merchant Marine American Export, Isbrandtsen Lines, and is retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve as a lieutenant commander. But why did Noyes come to Stetson, and what can he bring to the university? Noyes said that the best answer to that question would be to reflect back on his Welcome Back Address, which dealt primarily with his first impressions here at Stetson. "I met Doug Lee. I thought to myself, here is a leader with vision. You see, not all Presidents are leaders and not all leaders are visionary. Our president embodies all three, and that's important to me. My impression was this place has a future, and the guy in the driver's seat has his act together," said Noyes. However, Noyes was not chosen on the basis of first impressions. Ann Graham, Vice President for Business and Finance said, "We received in excess of 100 applications. We weeded that down to perhaps 30 applications and resumes that were extremely high-quality candidates^ and then we selected 12 of them to make initial telephone interviews, so I spent about an hour on the phone with each of them to get a feel for what they were offering and what they were looking for. "So after the,12 initial interviews, we selected four candidates for interviews, and David overwhelmingly was chosen by, unanimously, by everyone as the best candidate... David emerged as the number one candidate for a couple of reasons. One was his very strong technical skills, but perhaps the most important reason was really his people skills, which we felt were far superior to the other candidates, and we felt, given the situation over the past year, that this area needed some strong work in the human resource -area."; •-■,--. Graham said that fhe physical plant had been without a director for about six months. She thinks that Noyes will bring the group together and will rebuild the team that was there. She also likes the fact that he will bring a customer-minded, service-minded perspective to the team. "I'm working with people to help provide quality services as a service organization to our number one customer, and thaf s the students," said Noyes. Noyes Noyes thinks that everybody in the facilities group is equally important, but justhas different jobs, different responsibilities, and different levels of authority. With that in mind, he hopes to "encourage others to be customer and service focused, and in the context of working as a team, bring about progressive change and quality with a team-oriented focus." "People talk about team work because if s always en vogue. My concept of team work is based on the notion that teammates don't leave others out in the cold. They communicate. They work together, and they try to help each other when the chips are down. They" also reinforce fhe good things that are happening by their attitude, by their encouragement, and by their constructive criticism," said Noyes. "I think that particular perspective applies to our institution, students, faculty, and staff, if we truly have as our intent to make Stetson fhe best possible university it can be."