The Stetson Reporter

orces UJ UJ w < W D O Q Z ui O H (0 UJ as a, The Values Council task forces have demonstrated "remarkable progress for a relatively short period of time." < a. O u. life | Stover Theatre performed their final play of the year last week: Christopher Hampton's les Liaisons Dangereuses.' Director Ken McCoy focused on the comedy of the story that inspired the recent movie 'Cruel intentions.' Two reviewers offer their views on different performances of the Christopher Hampton play. [ Life, page 3B ] wed 21 apr*.99 report on iscussions by andy dehnart | The Values Council met for the last time this academic year Thursday, with individual task forces reporting on discussions ranging from a required community service component in the curriculum to the creation of an ALANA house on campus. The hour-long meeting, attended by 22 of the 38 member council, centered around reports from the council's six "values commitment issue area" task forces. The ethical decision-making task force has been "exploring the possibility" of a community service requirement as part of the curriculum, either as only a first-year requirement or a four-year requirement, according to task force member Ryan Padnuk. Such a proposal would have to be approved first at the task force level, then by the Values Council itself, and finally by the faculty, Vice President for Campus Life Jim Beasley said at the meeting. Grady Ballenger, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that the diversity task force's plans for the ALANA house, to be located at 611 Bert Fish Drive (across from the Hollis Center pool), are "moving forward." Currently, the task force is examining "how to staff that center" and what programs will be offered through it. Courtney Mclntyre, values council coordinator and chair of the community service task force, said that a 12-week internship position has been created for the new community service office on campus. Additionally, the task force is looking at turning the Best Apartments into special interest housing for those interested in community service. (The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity will be moved from the Best Apartments to "D" house on fraternity row next year.) Chaplain Laura Walters Baskett , reported that the religious and spiritual life task force will be working with the office of institutional research to determine where there is a need for "additional support to religious and spiritual life on campus," she said. Also at the meeting, Dr. Robbie Boerth said that an honor code is currently being studied by a committee. The group is looking at the "shape" of a possible honor system, including a possible "move away from a judicial or adversarial model, and more toward a model [focused on] mediation," he said. Students are being asked about an honor code as part of this year's student survey. Dr. Diane Everett said the committee focused on redrafting the university's mission and purposed statements will be presenting a draft to the President's staff in the near future. Of the Values Council's $9,019 budget — which was augmented midyear by an additional $5,000 from the President H. Douglas Lee's discretionary fund—S524.88 remains. Among recent expenditures: S40 to Green Stetson, $450 to ship computers to Native American Library in Guatemala, and $2,500 to the community service task force for the summer intern. The Values Council is currently seeking applications from organizations for program funding. According to the description of the program allocations committee, it "will consider proposals which support the stated mission of the Values Council." Funding requests must be routed through one of the six task forces. At the close of the meeting, Lee, who also serves as chair of the council, said that he was impressed with "how- well the task forces have done.. .that's remarkable progress for a relatively short period of time." Mclntyre said the council has been "just phenomenal" because members have had both "personal and professional interest in what they're doing." It "was very encouraging how much people got involved, and from all levels — it wasn't just an administrative structure," she said. The task force chairs will be meeting this summer to evaluate the Values Council's first year. Andy Dehnart is the editor-in-chief of "The Reporter. E.mail him at [email protected]. Freedom threatened by proposed policy by kevin snipes | It never ceases to amaze me the - amount of individual freedoms that people willingly sacrifice for the sake of monetary gain. And that is all the new consensual relations policy is about: protecting Stetson's economic interests at the cost of denying basic human rights to privacy. This new policy, which will shortly be voted upon, would make it required for professors and members of the staff to report any relationship they commence with any person of a lower position of power, such as students or co-workers under one's direct employment. It is not an option to disclose this relationship; it is an order. I cannot believe that we are moving into a period of history where couples must submit their relationship for approval to a higher authority. [ read this story in Opinions, page 4a ] by jeff hamrick | Undergraduate students introduced the university community to real space imaging of atomic surface structures and pigmy rattlesnakes last Friday at the first annual Undergraduate Scholarship and Performance Day. The event, which was modeled after an academic conference, included research projects and scholarly work from all three of the university's undergraduate colleges. Nearly 40 students participated last Friday, which included artistic and scientific endeavors from many of the university's academic disciplines. The Maris Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship were awarded to James Stock, Courtney Parnell, Una Tone, and Jacob Sentgeorge. These students receive a $125 cash prize along with a certificate of commendation. "I think that it is very easy for both faculty and students to become so focused on our own coursework and research that we often are not able to realize everything that's going on," said Russ Triplett, who presented research on "The Legacies of Bretton Woods." "One of the great advantages [of USAPD] was that faculty and students could get a look at what everyone else was doing," he said. Participants were frequently challenged to communicate across academic disciplines. Undergraduate chemists had to explain their work to students of Simone de Beauvoir. "I think that [communicating across academic disciplines] was one of the biggest challenges, especially given the time constraints. People were generally successful," said Triplett. "I think that if they're going to open it up to all disciplines.. .it should be more discipline- specific," said Karen Winkle, a senior majoring in American studies and history. "In dif ferent disciplines, results show up differently. In history, you have to relay your information as a sort of story. It doesn't reflect the research that went into it." Winkle said that "Putting the science presentations in with the history presentations just doesn't come off as flashy, and it doesn't make as much as an impact." "I think that if it's going to be a type of competition — which it was — then it should be fair. Competition isn't fair when all of the participants aren't equally regarded," said Winkle. Dr. Kevin Riggs, associate professor of physics and chair of the USAPD committee, said that "our keynote speaker, Dr. John Mateja, Dean of Science at Murray State University, challenged us in his talk to try to double the number of participants next year, which would mean roughly 100 participating students. I certainly think this is do-able." Riggs said that faculty recruitment will be essential to future USAPD participation. "Faculty know that presenting a scholarly presentation/poster/performance in, a public forum is a very important educational opportunity that should be an integral part of the liberal arts experience," said Riggs. Riggs said that the quality of undergraduate achievement was consistently excellent. He said that "the Maris prize judges that I talked to commented on what a difficult job it was to pick a single scholarly work out of so many excellent examples." "I think it's [USAPD] great," said Winkle. "I think that it's something that all departments should encourage their students to do. But that whole issue [of different academic disciplines] needs to be looked at." USAPD was coordinated by a group of professors. Riggs said that Dr. Grady Ballenger, the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, had "observed that we were generating excellent student participation in scholarship at Stetson but we were not capitalizing on this strength as much as we could be." Jeff Hamrick, a sophomore finance and histoiy major, participated in USAPD. The first annual Undei^adiiate Scholarshi] and Performance Day brought students and faculty from all disciplines together in the name of original research and creative works. Participants were frequently challenged to communicate across discipline s. Undergraduate chemists had to explain their work to students of Simone de Beauvoir. PRESENTATIONS: Senior Adrienne Harvey demonstrates her "Wonder Kidney," a custom computer interface that controls playback of video clips (top). Senior Russ Triplett presents his economics research on "The Legacies of Bretton Woods" at USAPD Friday (above), photos by jeff hamrick Jungle the best roo e wins ontest Trainers lend a hand by jeff hidek | When forced to cram several years' worth of mementos, clothes, books, and memories into a cell the size of a large pantry, college students can get very creative in the way they arrange their dorm rooms. The Reporter set out to find the most inventive room on campus, and so the "Does Your Room Rock?" contest was born. Students were asked to send us photographs of their rooms and anything that would convince us that they had the best dorm room in the land. Responses ranged from the exotic to the efficient and The Reporter selected two finalists from the submitted photos. [ read this story in Life, page 3b ] ASSISTANCE: Rich Serianni, an athletic trainer, wraps soccer player Michael Poole's ankle, photo courtesy of the DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE [ read this story in Sports, page 4b ] f)t^fe#0?1«ft3'jF^^^