The Reporter

Seek tNB The Troth At Stetso-n University Volume CXIX Issue IB Bm&SlEimEasaWBi -<^*s.^i«?t*.;i^^ mrsday, March 29,20D7 M^tMUIwJiwLfesi^^a iJli&iJli. naAL^i£MiiiSM!W* ^snssr^ $325,000 ECHO Grant to Fund New Environmental Learning Center By HEATHER MARTYN On March 15, 2007 the Volusia County Council approved a $325,000 ECHO grant to build a new Environmental Learning Center on the university's DeLand campus. The construction of the Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Environmental Learning Center will commence this summer and is expected to finish by September 2008. "We made a commitment in the 1990s to establish an environmental studies program," said President of Stetson University Dr.-H. Douglas Lee. "This facility is part of our commitment." The ECHO grant, which stands for Ecological, Cultural, Heritage and Outdoors, provides funding towards community projects in Volusia County that fall into one or more of these categories. According to the ECHO Grant Program Coordinator Margaret Hodge, the grant was passed by voters in 2000 and since then has distributed about S23 million for capital projects that meet specific criteria. "The Stetson University Project basically had a grant that ranked first," explained Hodge. "It ranked top and the ECHO Board, a nine- member board, makes the determination of who gets the grants based on the ranking, so they received the funding." "As I understand it, in the recommendation to the county council, it was one of the most outstanding applications that they had in front of them," added Volusia County Chairman Frank Bruno. According to the proposal, the new center will act as a demonstration area for residents and business in Volusia County who are looking for alternative "green" construction, provide Volusia County with an educational earth science facility, and serve as an environmental outreach program for the county. "It will be a demonstration site for how green construction is less harmful on the environ ment," said Vice President of ihe Office of University Relations Linda Davis. "It will also be a resource facility available to other environmental groups." CurFently, of the 5,000 visitors who visit Gillespie Museum each year, approximately 2,600 of them are school-aged children. The new center will be an instructional building that will act as a teaching tool for. these students. School programs that directly relate to environmental- learning and issues, family events, lectures and workshops for adults, and other programs will be offered at the facility. As stated in the proposal, the new center will host two K-12 programs each week, a scout program once a month, workshops on native plants twice a month, and a fall ECHO Awareness event that, will include musicians, workshops, and vendors. The $325,000 ECHO Grant will fund the building of the center next to the Gillespie Museum. The "green design" tonstruction of the building will coincide with Stetson University's 125th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Gillespie Museum. In addition to the ECHO grant, Stetson University has also received a matching donation of $325,000 from the philanthropic Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker 0 #^"' "V i;rvpBS,^ ■■PXUfy- Foundation, based out of Palm Beach. "$325,000 was earmarked to build a building on the Gillepsie Museum site that would promote environmental awareness for primarily grades K-12," said Dr. Lee. "We promised to match that, so we went to ECHO to do that and we were very successful." Gillespie Museum, which currently houses over 25,000 rocks, gemstones, and minerals, currently has one of the most extensive collections in the Southeast, it also features landscaping as part of Stetson University's Florida Native Plant Initiative. The new center will continue the legacy of the University's Florida Native Plant Initiative through planting native plants around the new facility. According to the proposal, the design and construction of the new environmental learning center will mirror the core value regarding «»;»>,, social and environmental responsibility held by the University. "Now it is a matter of moving on with the project, releasing funds, and having an exciting new addition to what Stetson University already has," said Bruno. According to Dr. Lee, the use of students and faculty in the actual construction of the new Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Environmental Learning Center is a possibility at this time. The facility will include a central multi-purpose room containing space for exhibits and presentations and a smaller room for visiting exhibits. "It is basically a classroom facility and everything is moveable," said Dr. Lee. "It is a fairly simple building." Contact Heather Martyn at hmartyn@stetson. edu. Photo illustration by Maggie Abraham. 'Cure' For Fetal Sexual Orientation • Stirs Controversy • • • • o • 99099999909090099999990900980900999999 Hookahs Discovered As Dangerous As Cigarettes By MICHAEL MIMS By KRISTINE BREITHAUPT (U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. - As genetic sciences advance, the possibility of mapping ah unborn baby's eye color, height and possible genetic health problems moves closer. But with scientific possibilities come new ethical questions to consider. Recent debates.have increased over the possibility of isolating a gene related to homosexuality. Some have argued that if such a gene can be isolated, expecting parents should be informed so they can possibly change their child's sexual orientation. Some say such practices are un-. ethical and should be prohibited. But others say identifying someone's sexual orientation by their DNA is not possible. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently posted in a blog that he hopes homosexual genes can be isolated and reversed. "If a biological basis is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to reverse the sexual orientation to heterosexual is ever developed, [Baptists] .would support its use as we should unapologetically support the use of any appropriate means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable effects of sin," Mohler wrote in his blog. Mohler's views have raised eyebrows of many gay activists. Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the Equality Forum, a GLBT civil rights organization, responded March 14 in a news release. please see FETAL|A2 (U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. Hookah smokers on campus might want to think twice before telling themselves their habit is harmless. According to a report from the World Health Organization, smoking tobacco from a hookah — also known as a shisha — poses the same health risks as smoking cigarettes. "There's been a widespread false belief for decades now that shishas are less harmful and addictive than cigarettes," Hussein Gezairy, Regional Director for WHO, said in a news conference last week, according to a Reuters report. The average hookah smoking session yields a greater nicotine intake than a pack of cigarettes, according to the WHO report. Gezairy said that when compared with cigarette smoke, shisha smoke contains more carbon monoxide, an equal level of toxins and additional risks from the carcinogens emitted from the hookah's coal. Several students on campus were surprised by the news. W Kevin Murphy, biological sciences junior, said f| •J* J?F A ■J he thought the water filtration of hookahs made the smoke safer. Robyn Carpenter, undecided freshman, considers herself addicted to cigarettes and said she was surprised to hear of the nicotine content of shisha smoke. "I don't get a fix from the hookah," Carpenter said. "I'll smoke hookah and then still have to smoke a cigarette." Carpenter said even if hookahs contain the same nicotine content as cigarettes, she does not think they are as habit forming. "Cigarettes are more of a habit," she said. "I walk to class. I have a cigarette. I can't walk to class and smoke a hookah." One popular location for students interested in purchasing hookah is the RA Shop, a tobacco store on Highland Road that offers 30 -*j^-" different flavors of shisha, according to Ashley Beech, store manager. Beech^said she does not j think the WHO report will affect the store's sales because she thinks most smokers already understand the risks of shisha. "I really don't think sales will drop," Beech said. "Everybody still realizes tobacco's, tobacco. No matter which smoking it, it's still unhealthy." Beech said she thinks many people will continue to prefer hookahs over cigarettes, even after finding out about the report. "A lot of people like to smoke flavored tobacco," she said. "You can't get cigarettes in butterscotch or spearmint; that's why more people 1BPV '■* way you re like to go toward the hookah than cigarettes. Although the news of the WHO report was surprising to many, other students said the report rriade sense. "A lot of people are like 'It's better for you than cigarettes,' but I had that little inkling in my head saying 'No it's not,'" said Jacob Mitchell, studio art freshman. "People are under the impression that the water's going to filter everything out, but that's not the truth." Devin Waguespack, journalism sophomore, said the report did not surprise him because of the feeling he gets from smoking hookah. "It makes sense," Waguespack said. [The nicotine] kind of creeps up on you, and then after awhile you stand up and you realize your head's spinning, and you definitely feel real messed up." Divestment Bill Introduced to Student Govt By RACHEL HOLLEMAN Student Government Association Senator and junior religious studies major Lori-Jene Brazier introduced a bill to the Senate on March'21, urging Stetson University to implement targeted divestment from scrutinized companies working in Sudan. The bill follows the model of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, which is a project of the Genocide Intervention Network that provides Darfur advocates with a media strategy as well as accessible reports. The task force has led successful and developing Sudan divestment around the world from the university to the national level. The civilians of Darfur have been subject to a campaign of genocide which has claimed 500,000 lives and displaced over 2.5 million more since 2003. In July 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, called the atrocities happening in Darfur genocide. This genocide has been funded by the Sudanese government, which earns income from multinational companies and investments.- Florida State Senator fed Deutch brought Senate Bill 2142 to the floor of the State Senate proposing engagement and targeted divestment from scrutinized companies working in Sudan. Senate Bill 2142 intends to dissociate the state of Florida, financially, from the concerns linked to investments in companies that do business in Sudan that significantly support the government of Sudan. Such divestment does not target any U.S. companies or companies that provide significant humanitarian benefit to the marginalized population of Sudan. The firms for targeted divestment typically come from the oil, mineral extraction, and power sectors in Sudan. Several companies have already changed their business" practices or left Sudan. Also, foreign policy experts have endorsed targeted divestment as a critical tool for influencing the government of Sudan's behavior because historically they have responded positively to divestment strategies. It is thought that targeted divestment, like the model of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, maximizes the impact on the government of Sudan while minimizing any harm to the Sudanese citizens. It is possible that the university may have multinational investments in scrutinized companies working in Darfur that have not responded to shareholder engagement. University employees' pension funds may be invested in multinational companies that may be functioning in or with Sudan and may have been unresponsive. If the university chooses to divest from targeted companies working with Sudan, it will locate any university investments in businesses cooperating with the Sudanese government and remove them, to fund genocide, and will contribute to the effective economic pressure on the government of Sudan. On Wednesday March 21, 2007 Stetson STAND prepared a call-in day for divestment. Students were given the opportunity to enter into a large tent set up in the quad and call their hometown Senators to lobby for Senate Bill 2142. Each call-in card included information on divestment in Darfur, as well as a small script for students to follow while calling state legislators. STAND hosted the call-in day to help Florida State Senators realize the urgency of the situation and vote to pass Senate Bill 2142.. The bill Brazier presented to SGA is meant to contribute to the effective economic pressure on the government of Sudan in a similar, but more local level. Contact Rachel Holleman at [email protected]. • 9999999999999 09909099099099 »WEATHER THURSDAY FRIDAY High 82 High 80 Low 59 Low 59 SATURDAY High 79 Low 58 SUNDAY High 82 Low 58 »LIFE EmmaLee Schmidt provides WGS Roundtable discussion coverage. PAGE C2 »0P!NIDNS Maryanne Waldron encourages college singles to explore "friends with benefits." PAGE B2 »SPDRTS Mike Hodges argues for making Stetson a 0-111 school. PAGE D1