The Stetson Reporter

Th hp B A A I4^%NM 19 A tetsonifKeporter Fhrida's'Ottest Collegiate tHews-paper Extended Forecast f|figHs;Jir|i§f fup|lil!Dl|| IMiB;S|)ilii ll^lSoi^d^^lirl^^^ Source: WeatherChonnei February 18, 1997 Stetson University * DeLand, Florida Volume 109, Number 17 This Week... Hubble Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope to get its one million mile tuneup, page 2a. SGA update Student Government passes ^w bills relating ^^ .O, to food Sffl^ir^l services, ^HBppt P^e 3a. Prison System Columnist Jeff Pointe makes suggestions for penal system reform, { page 4a. Campus Life restructures; Bergen to leave By Davina Yetter the stetson reporter Stetson's Campus Life Division will undergo a major reorganization, affecting several departments which serve students, Vice President Jim Beasley announced last week. The reorganization will involve the phasing out of Associate Dean David Bergen's position, as well as that of several mid-level management positions, according to Beasley. Bergen, who has chosen not to stayat Stetson, is the only person adversely affected by the proposed changes, said Beasley. He added that many of the mid-level positions which were phased out were already vacant. Bergen could not be reached for comment. Beasley said that the changes in staff will allow for more funding to go toward student services. "As the salaried savings are being realized, we will be able to put more funding toward student programs," said Beasley, the vice president for campus life and enrollment management. The affected departments include Residential Life, Judicial Affairs, Student Life, the Counseling Center, Career Services, and Student Financial Planning. The position of associate dean for campus life has been abolished, separating its Residential Life and Judicial Affairs responsibilities to two departments. Michelle Espinosa has been promoted to director of residential life, and a director of student judicial affairs will be hired. The judicial affairs position would have*near-entry level status at the university, and will be responsible for the student conduct program. Espinosa's former position as associate director will be eliminated. Another assistant director will be hired to replace Tessa Emenheiser, who recently resigned for personal reasons. , In Student Life, Darald Stubbs was permanently promoted to director of student life. His former position of associate director will be phased out. Two assistant directors will be hired: one to replace Danielle DeMarsh, who recently resigned, and another to coordinate recreation and wellness programs. The latter position will be added to direct intramural sports and new recreation programs for the Hollis Center. Counseling Center Director Don Sanz will oversee the Counseling Center, Career Services and Health Services under the new staff structure. Joyce DeLoach was promoted to Associate Director of Career Services, and will work with Sanz to hire a new assistant director. Health Services will retain its current director, Hadie Kenner, who will report to Sanz instead of Associate Dean Bergen. Student Financial Planning, which is currently looking for a director, has eliminated one of its associate director positions. To compensate for this vacancy, Ruthann Nalenzy has been promoted to counselor. "Overall, my impression is that we'll be able to improve all of these areas," said Beasley. When asked if the elimination of Bergen's position was due to the recent Leo court case against Stetson and Bergen, Beasley replied "absolutely not." Two Bits, Four Bits... Mens Basketball The Hatters lose against College of Charles- tonnage 7a. Alcohol Awareness Students share their experiences with alcohol on amemo- Wj' rial wall, J)£p»> page lb. ?Hif Student Opera Music school students prepare to perform Mozart's Cosifantutte, page 2b. Local/State News 2a Campus News 3a Opinions 4a Sports 6a Features 1 b A&E 2 b Tuition increase announced tainaSfetif By Stacey Bassett the stetson reporter ; Stetson University trustees recently approved an increase in tuition and fees. The increase was decided upon in order to enable the university to continue computer investments, the Digital Arts Lab, and to provide leadership opportunities through the Disney Corporation project at the city of Celebration. ' -••• -. ■'■■' •- .■:.•■;■• At the same time, funding will continue for Stetson's $9.5 million campus construction project. The Board approved the fee structure at its Jan. 17 meeting. Tuition will be increased by seven percent, which is approximately $1,000 higher than this year. "We are trying to keep our costs as low as possible, and a portion of the increase will be offset by an increase in the need-based financial aid pool for returning students," said Provost Gene Lubot in a letter to students. Tuition and fees will total $15,765. According to Lubot, room and board charges vary with the residence hall and meal plan selected, but $1,820 for the average meal plan and $2,835 for the typical residence hall would be good estimates. One of the programs discussed was the $5 million investment in computers which will connect the campus and open the information superhighway to students, faculty andstaff. - ■■_ •-■ •■.■^.. ■-.- -..•_.. A new Digital Arts major was created, combining the resources of the Computer Science Department, the Art Department, and the School of Music. "We are providing leadership in the development of an internationally recognized K-12 school and a Teaching Academy that will update the skills of teachers from allover the nation," reported Lubot. "Our association with Disney and Celebration offers unprecedented opportunities for internships for students in Teacher Education and other fields." 1997-98 Tuition & Fees Tuition $15,100 General Fee $575 Student Life Fee $90 *Room $2,835 *Mealplan' $1,820 *indicates average cost ,. The $9.5 million campus construction project, the largest in the university's history, has been funded entirely by donors. Construction has begun for Hollis Center, a fitness and recreation facility which will include basketball courts, a weight room, and a lounge area for students. The Mandy Stoll Tennis Center has recently been dedicated and is now available for student use. In his letter to students, Lubot said he felt Stetson was doing everything possible to enhance the quality of the education a student receives, now and in the future. Photo by David Gould Stetson cheerleaders perform at last Saturday's basketball game. See story, page 6a. Russian professor fights to save reputation By Stacy Gum the stetson reporter Unless Guy Houk, associate professor of Foreign Languages can convince Stetson to overturn their decision to deny him tenure, this will be his last year teaching at the university. Tenure means the permanance Black activist speaks by Davina Yetter the stetson reporter New York University Law School professor Derrick Bell spoke to a packed Stetson Room last Friday about the state of the United States. The former tenured Harvard Law professor criticized President Clinton for not choosing "destiny over diversion," saying that Clinton has chosen to deal with non-controversial issues, rather than deal with the serious social problems of the country. The African American activist offered his own version of Clinton's "State of the Union" acf- dress, stressing that in order to solve today's social ills, lawmakers must look beyond racial stereotypes. Bell said that many white Americans blame serious social problems such as crime and poverty on blacks, rather than choosing to deal with other causes such as unemployment Bell said that by ignoring such problems, whites are only hurting themselves. "People need to ask, 'What can I do?' to end racial tensions," said Bell. When asked about affirmative action, Bell stated that "no policy can be truly enacted unless white policy makers believe they will benefit from them." Photo by Davina Yetter Derrick Bell spoke to students last week. of position. In the case of a teacher, it's a permanant teaching position, which may be applied for after six years of employment To be granted tenure, evidence must be presented of the candidate's teaching effectiveness. They must also show evidence of: scholarly activity or creative performance, service to the university, and "'congruence to the purpose of the university,' usually interpreted as collegiality and professional conduct which positively affect the learning environment for students and faculty," according to Stetson spokesperson Jackie Kersh. In Oct. 1995, Houk applied for tenure. After his evidence was evaluated within the proper channels, Houk's tenure request was denied. Houk maintains that he doesn't understand why he was denied tenure and says that he has never seen a written explanation. "I was told that their recommendation was against tenure, but I have never seen anything in writing about this," Houk said. Houk said he was accused of a lack of collegiality and a lack of professionalism. This decision is especially confusing to Houk because his yearly evaluations from the Chair of Foreign Languages, Mario Aldana and Dean Gary Maris of the College of Arts and Sciences were so positive. One letter written in Oct. 1995 from Aldana states, "I have always found [Houk] to be a collegial member of the faculty team who encourages the best from students in a friendly and open manner." A letter from Maris in 1994 says, "The Russian language portion of the Russian Studies Program is crystallizing quite well with your high intensity efforts to provide several levels of Russian language study to students." The-Reporferreceived copies of over 30 letters from Houk which contained positive remarks about Houk written by former co-workers, students and faculty, as well as, yearly evaluations from Maris and Aldana and letters from the appeals committee. None of the letters contain negative remarks directed toward Houk. This was mentioned to Lubot, who said that we have what was provided and that we do not have the complete dossier of what was provided. Out of his agreement to keep this confidential, Lubot said he can't talk about any of the particulars or specifics of any tenure case. Lubot said that occasionally tenure decisions are negative ones. Houk described the great amount of support he received from his colleagues as a direct contradiction to the charges against him. "As soon as I was denied tenure, in a matter of weeks, there was an election in the faculty senate. My colleagues expressed their opinionsof the tenure decision by electing me to the senate," Houk said. "I won the election both in the College of Arts and Sciences and University wide and accepted the University-at-large seat. At a subsequent meeting the faculty senate unanimously elected me secretary treasurer, which gave me a seat on the executive committee. Both of these elections are clear indica tions of overall support from my colleagues and repudiation of the charge that I am uncollegial." Houk requested an appeal on the tenure decision and the case was sent to the Senate Tenure and Academic Freedom Committee (an appeals committee). Soon after the committee began investigating, they "saw evidence for inadequate consideration centering on issues of teaching, collegiality and professionalism," a letter from the appeals committee to President Doug Lee states. The appeals committee found they could not support the original denial. "There are several reasons for our finding," the letter states, "but the one that has achieved dominance is that the process of Dr. Houk's tenure and promotion evaluation was flawed. It failed due to a problem of administrative control and evaluation made worse due to the University By-laws as they now stand." The letter also says, "if yearly evaluations by the Russian Studies chairs had indicated to Dr. Houk that there were problems and that those problems were not being solved, he could have either worked harder at correcting the problems, challenged the foundation of the allegations, or chosen to move on to another institution. This is the expectation of any faculty member in the probationary period. The evaluation letters received were from his department — Foreign Language — and they were all positive." The appeals committee requested that Dr. Houk's probation period be extended by three years so proper aclxnimstrative channels could be set in place and that those channels be determined by the appropriate people, including proper supervision by the departments and programs that will have significant input into the tenure decision. "This would allow Dr. Houk the right to deal with alleged problems in the manner of any faculty member in the probationary period," the letter states, "ft will also allow his department and/ or his program to more consis- tentiy deal with the issues as they may see them." Stetson's Faculty Handbook says the duties of the Senate Tenure and Academic freedom committee is "to review the University's rules on tenure and academic freedom and to recommend alterations if it deems necessary." The appeal committee's recommendation in Houk's case was "denied on the grounds that an amendment to procedures in the middle of an ongoing review jeopardizes the integrity of the tenure process itself," said a letter to Provost Eugene Lubot from President Lee citing advice from General Counsel Mack Cleveland. But, Houk disagrees because he says the appeals committee did not request an amendment to procedures in the middle of an ongoing review. "It was after the appeal had gone all of the way through all of the levels of the process and was in the hands of the President," Houk said, "which is not in the middle, but at the end of the process." see HOUK, page 3a