The Stetson Reporter

life | Of Orlando's few memorable seasonal events, only one has earned a cult-like following. While few; ~ have probably ever heard of the corn festival in Zellwood, most Central Floridians know about Universal Studio's annual haunting of the park: Halloween Horror Nights. The exhibition runs all throughout October until Halloween. [ cover, section B ] wed 07 0 c t issue7volume 111 o > ■M Associate A&S deans appointed by sara cotner | Dr. Karen Kaivola and Dr. Leonard Nance were appointed associate deans of the College of Arts and. Sciences last Tuesday, announced Grady Ballenger, the current dean of the college. The dean selected Dr. Karen Kaivola, associate professor of English, and Dr. Leonard Nance, associate professor of sociology, "for their devotion to teaching and scholarship and their principled leadership on curricular and campus issues," Ballenger wrote in a letter to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences. Although the previous dean, Dr. Gary Maris, worked in the position for 10 years without associate deans, the Schools of Music and of Business Administration each have an associate dean. Dean Ballenger began considering the idea last spring during his visits to Stetson. He considered the "size of the college, the size of the faculty, and students enrolled in majors" and decided that the associate dean positions were "worth considering." Once he began the fall semester "and saw the amount of work that the office has and the kinds of things that the office needs to address," his "sense that this college could use associate deans was confirmed," he said. He approached Doug Lee with the idea", and the president agreed that there would be "widespread support for the idea," said Ballenger. Kaivola said that "there was already a fairly strong commitment it seems to me to having an associate dean or associate deans...when the faculty in this college started the search for a new dean." She continued, "I think that there was a fairly strong consensus in the college, at least in the conversations that I was a part of, that this is something we think would be good for us." Kaivola'said that she and Nance will be "thinking about the larger issues such as tenure and promotion and about the undergraduate general education requirements," in addition to the smaller details of academic scheduling. She continued, "We will be helping support the dean so that the college can put forth a new kind of leadership in the area of undergraduate education." Ballenger said, "As an outsider coming to Stetson, there is a real advantage for me to be in collaboration in - this office with people who have been here and who have a sense of the recent institutional history and the conversations that have gone here about important issues." Although Ballenger said that "any number of people on the faculty" could serve in the position, he identified Kaivola and Nance "as people who were well-respected as teachers, colleagues, and as faculty leaders on college and university initiatives." Nance said that the College of Arts and Sciences has been defining "where we want to go as a college and how we see the college."-He accepted the position of assistant because he wanted "to be part of that." He said that as an administrator he will have "a different set of opportunities to be on the front line in discussions about what the long-range goals are for the college and put into practice the things we talk about in an intellectual way." Kaivola said the position is: "tremendously exciting, even though it is very difficult to make a decision to do something that is going to — in some way — take away the time that I have for teaching and my own scholarship. There are real sacrifices involved in this for me." She continued, "I do think that we have an opportunity to be advocates for both faculty and students to create the conditions under which faculty can do their best work and students can become even more a part of a lively, intellectual community." . Dr. Michael Friedman, assistant professor of mathematics, said, "I think the faculty is almost uniformly pleased by the choices. Both Karen and Leonard are well respected members of the faculty, and wil} perform their roles well. They are definitely approachable." [ see DEANS, page 2a ] FOR dollars WWRSpSSfK*! J / * ' i 'i 4 ■/ y>. __. -<.„-, ~~"—~ . „.__-»--^™£™~; -14 Er. ——; rr-rr; andy dehnart | The annual phonathon is underway, as student callers contact alumni, parents, and relatives to raise funds for the university. Around 12,000 people are called during the two-week fund-raiser, including about 9,000 alumni. "The rest are current or past parents." said Peter Trakas, the associate director of the Alumni Office. "Our overall goal for the phonathon [is] around $200,000" for both the fall and spring, Trakas said. The money raised is distributed like other monetary gifts: restncted.funds go to the donor-specified area, and unrestricted funds are used "for student financial assistance," Trakas said. There's "no real pressure on the donors or the. students. It's basically a really loose atmosphere, so it's whatever_we can get," Trakas said. Student callers say that that's partly true. "There is definitely some pressure to bring in donations. They would never fire anyone for not getting any pledges, but one definitely feels pressure to bring in the'money," said a current phonathon caller who asked not to be identified. Student callers aren't trained to be telemarketers, Trakas said. "We.just basically ask,them for donations.. .it's ultimately the donor's choice. We're not forcing them to give a donation," he said. Documents obtained by The Repot tei show that student callers aie given scripts that gi\e specific questions foi callers to ask Those questions and responses are different for \anous groups, eluding "current parents," "giandparents," "past parents," "current parents of seniors," and "young grad never-givers." If the person being called objects to donating, the script instructs them to "negotiate." Even after a third "no" response from a "general alumni," callers are instructed to say, "Any donation you could give would help improve donor participation, which, in turn will help us gain foundation grants. Would you consider a pledge of S10 to help us increase donor participation?" An "objections sheet" offers answers for the callers to use in response to objections. For example, if a person being called says, "I'm on a fixed income,'* the suggested response is, "1 understand your concern. But a contribution in any amount would help, and you could break down your gift into smaller payments over the year if that would • be.more convenient." If an alumnus or parent says, "I paid my tuition for my schooling. I don't owe Stetson anything," the student callers can say, "Unfortunately,,tuition covers only 80 percent of the cost of attending Stetson. Stetson has always relied upon annual gifts from alumni and friends to help make up the difference." There are other responses for "financial trouble," "more information," and "other priorities." Phonathon callers call alumni, including recent graduates, and also call parents of current students to ask for donations. "Yes, they are paying (tuition to the university), but a lot of times they're very receptive to donating $10 to help participation. We haven't had very much nega tive feedback from the current parents," Trakas said. Trakas said that parents will often talk to the callers about how their students are doing. "If we have good,addresses. most of the time we will call current parents, and we will call grandparents," he said. Trakas said that they get the numbers from "a database that the university has.'7 Trakas said that about 80-85 percent of the people who pledge funds actually send checks. The Alumni Office sends follow-up pledge confirmations to those who pledged to donate. "Most of the donors have given before," he said. Around 30 trained students call nightly for two weeks, Monday through Thursday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Callers attend a training session, which includes reviewing the forms and sample scripts, Trakas said. "Most of the training is our paperwork," he said. - The student callers are paid a flat fee plus bonuses, all of which is paid in cash. The bonuses are based on "how they do with the donors, depending on what kind of pledges they get," Trakas said. "Technically it's just a ■bonus—they're volunteers. We want to compensate them some how." Andy Dehnart is the editor of The Reporter. PHOWATHON: The Alumni House (left) coordinates the twice-yearly drive to raise funds. Around 30 student callers phone parents, grandparents, and alumni during the two-week long campaign, asking for donations for the university. The student callers are paid for their efforts, both a flat fee and bonuses for raising more money. Officials hope to raise about $200,000 for both the fall and spring phonathons. photos BY ANDY DEHNART ■.s-!*s^. L.-. Parent: the campus needs to be painted by cathy berklund | As aparent of one of Stetson's freshman students, I appreciate the opportunity to read The Reporter online each week. It allows us back home in Wisconsin to gain an understanding of what our son is experiencing in Florida. I recommend you distribute your online address to all during Parents' Weekend. Others would enjoy your paper if they knew they could access it online.. I just finished reading your article summarizing the goals for President Lee. He states academic excellence is the University's top priority. And he addresses the need to improve building maintenance. I couldn't agree more. [ read this story in Forum, page 3a ] Duncan Gallery shows faculty art ;r f- .'.-•V - X ;K :. 'TT^f A - - v; «%-* :7;V, -a--?--* •» \-*sr; - .. v^r-j* . i~~ I read this story in Life, page 1b ] Intramural program structure changes by emily eisenhauer | So what's the deal with the intramurals? Most of you know by now that we have a new intramural director, Steve Najera. He comes to us from Ole.Miss as a grad assistant, and from a Bachelors' at Berkeley. You probably also know that the intramural system is a little different this year. The system has been restructured into 4 leagues: Men's A-high competitive, Men's B-less competitive, Women, and Co-Rec. The idea is to include as many people as possible and make the experience positive for everyone. t rea<^ this story in Sports, page 4b ] ^^^^^^^^^Sl^iB