The Stetson Reporter

wed WHAT'S inside News 2a Money 4,. Opinions is Life 35. Music 2b Classifieds 5 s Sports 6a Etcetera 6a %^|§ss*je 14 volume 113 SPORTSs Hatter's baseball team downs the Gators page 5b fl ©PI1.IONS. Morality in government possible without religion page 4a Searches show improved fire safety In Emily By Wesley Sun OPINIONS EDITOR The false fire alarm that went off in Emily has led to new insights in the university's fire safety and a change in fire safety policy across campus. On Saturday, April 7, a fire alarm went off in Emily Hall. Later the fire marshal discovered that the smoke detectors in the hall had been tampered with. After repairing the alarms, a meticulous search was made through every room in Emily and the violations ; found were removed. The doors to the lounge in Emily .Hall are now to be shut at all times, in ; order to prevent fires from spreading from floor to floor or section to section. "This ordinance has been adopted elsewhere as well, including Carson Hollis Hall. Yet perhaps most valuable piece of information gathered after the investigation is the discovery that fire safety has improved on campus, as indicated by the relatively few fire violations found in the hall by Dan Ofstein, an assistant director of Residential Life, who led the search with the fire marshal after the alarm went off. "I'm very happy to say I only found two candles," said Ofstein, "In the fall when I did my spot inspections, I found a total of 90 candles in two buildings with a lot in Emily Hall." Other minor violations included a few toasters, air freshener plug-ins and halogen lamps, all of which pose a fire threat. Ofstein believes this improvement in safety is due to the fire scare earlier - in the year when a desk caught on fire and also because of the room searching done in the fall. Also done last semester, students - listened to talks about fire safety via hall meetings arranged by the staff at Residential Life. But not all of the news was optimistic. While the number of candles, a very prevalent fire hazard in the past, has decreased significantly, Ofstein found that another violation has continued. "We found quite a few extension cords," he said. "The problem with extension cords is that they're not surge protected. They're running wires all over the place." Offenders are asked to reflect on the dangers of committing fire violations and are often involved in talks or shown fire safety videos showing the real threats that fires pose, especially to the historical buildings at this university. Still, Ofstein suggests that the problem may not necessarily lie in educating students about the university's specific fire safety policies, but rather in making them more mindful of them. "I really believe that students are very aware of what they can and can't do after they've been here a year," said Ofstein. "I think that most students don't think about it. We take fire safety very lightly, unfortunately." Wesley Sun is a first-year history and religious studies dual major. ^Reporter Contact Us 421 N. Woodland Blvd. #8409 DeLand, FL 32720-3751 904.822.7224 FAX 904.822.7233 [email protected] reporter_news@ stetson.edu [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] By Beth Arzillo NEWS WRITER Sexual harassment policies will be rethought because of a grievance filed by a student who claims to have suffered from sexual harassment for his or her sexual orientation. The grievance was filed for how university officials handled the incident. As a result, the university's sexual harassment policy may have to be reexamined. According to the code of conduct, "Students/organizations shall not endan ger the safety, health, or life of others. Physical abuse, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion, and/ or other conduct which threatens any person is prohibited." . .—— Michelle Espinosa, the acting dean of students and director of Residential Life and Judicial Affairs, stated that she "could not talk about the specifics because there is an ongoing investigation into the matter." Some students and faculty believe "Students need to get to the point where they feel safe to report these incidents." cient. According to Karen Hofmann, a psychologist at the Counseling Center, there is a perception among students that "there is no *-■■-. ;--J= consistent way of handling harassment, criminal acts or consistent ways of punishment." Hoffman stated that she believes students are "confused about consequences and it seems to cause frustration." Espinosa said that the policies about "grievances, sexual harassment that the existing policies are not suffi- and code of conduct are specifically made to be broad so that the university has the flexibility to define misconduct under the code." "A noise violation at three in the afternoon would be less serious than that of one at three in the morning," she said. Although harassment is more serious, according to Espinosa, it "would be adjudicated like any other violation." Espinosa said, "There is no policy for how student should report these incidents. Students need to get to the point where they feel safe to report these occurrences, whether it be to the counseling center where they can get professional advice, Public Safety, faculty or any staff member." Elizabeth Arzillo is a senior communication studies major. ENVIRONMENTAL event By Elizbeth Thompson news writer Earth Week provided the university community opportunities to take part in environmentally-themed political action initiatives and to simply get reacquainted with Mother Earth. This year the week was sponsored by Roots & Shoots. Every day this week, the environmental organization made an effort to raise the university's environmental awareness. In addition to sponsoring daily political actions initiatives and events, the Roots & Shoots Environmental Quilt was on display in the display case in the CUB. Megan Kunkel, Roots & Shoots secretary, described the making of the quilt: "Students painted environmentally themed squares that were put together by Amber's [Crooks; Roots & Shoots president] mother." Monday, Roots & Shoots collected "Common Sense Pledges" in front of the CUB. By signing their names, participants agreed to engage in simple, more environmentally conscious activities like "I will not drive to class" and "I will take shorter showers." On Tuesday, Roots & Shoots provided information on the Alliance for International Reforestation (AIR) and collected donations for the group's efforts in Central America. Wednesday's political action initiatives involved letters to congressmen concerning the protection of endangered indigenous species, specifically manatees and sea turtles. That evening, approximately 20 listeners enjoyed a Roots & Shoots sponsored jam session, "Under the Stars" in the quad. Thursday's events included more political action in front of the CUB. Petitions were available for passersby to sign in order to get something on the 2002 election ballot to keep pregnant pigs out of gestation crates. Also provided were guides to companies that do not use animals- to test their products. Kristin STETSON UNDER THE STARS: Amber Crooks enjoys a musical performance with fellow students, photo by nerissa lovell Hodge, a member of Roots & Shoots, said that people showed "lots of interest and lots of positive feedback." Thursday afternoon at 3:30 in the Instructional Media Center, Dr. Joseph Siry, associate professor of Environmental Studies at Rollins College and state coordinator for the Alliance for Florida's Future, hosted a workshop on global warming. The workshop was also sponsored by the Environmental Resource Council (ERC). Dr. Paul Jerome Croce said of the workshop that it helped "make people more aware of the problems of global warming." Dr. Robert Sitler also had positive comments about the workshop. "I learned a lot from the event. I liked the practical orientation of his [Siry's] talk. At the end, potential action steps were provided," Sitler said. Friday, Roots & Shoots political action initiatives involved oil exploration in the Alaska Arctic Wildlife Refuge. About the group's political action initiatives, Sitler said, "It was nice to see students interested in political issues." STRUMMING: Guitar players entertained during Earth Week, photo by nerissa lovell Crooks said about the week's events, "I feel there are a group of people that are already concerned about these types of issues and [are] very open to learning about these different issues. We are trying to increase Stetson's awareness about these issues." Saturday, Roots & Shoots organized another beach cleanup, this time in conjunction with Conrad Hall. Kunkel said about the previous beach cleanup, "Our actions really made a positive impact." Elizabeth Thompson is a senior English major. By Julie Farricker GUEST COLUMNIST Near the end of each semester students anxiously await registration. The process in the past has been that students meet with their advisors one week previous to registration, choosing the best classes for the major or program track- Students did not receive cards from their advisors that and registration times were not assigned by earned credit hours. This year, due the impending imple- mentation of the Banner system, students got a notice with the registration packets asking tfiem to plan accordingly for registration during the time allotted on the days assigned for each of the earned-credit hour categories. "The line grew on Wednesday, April 11, with students arriving as early as 9 a.m. in order to secure a spot in line." Due to the fact that students were allowed to register at any point during the designated —"" ~"— times, the CUB was crowded with students waiting for the earliest admis- ' sion to register. The first day of registration, Tuesday. April 10, was for those who had a cumulative of 74 or more hours, not including classes that were currently being taken. At around noon, students were seen trickling out the front door of the CUB, anticipating the process to begin at 1:00 p.m. Because many students came early to wait in line, registration for the day ended hours before the scheduled completion time of 8 p.m. The line grew on,Wednesday, April 11, with students arriving as early as 9 a.m. in order to secure a spot in line. Sophomore Heather Brown echoed the sentiments of many students that day. "I arrived at 10:45 and the line see REGISTER, page 2a ^^^fs^^MS^^^^^^l