The Stetson Reporter

wed e LIFE: Drag Show promotes diversity awareness New editor-in- chief selected for 'Reporter' By Reporter Staff special report A sophomore English and digital arts major was named the next editor- in-chief of The Reporter, the chair of the Student Publications Board announced last Friday. Kevin Hale, a Tampa native, will assume his position as the chief executive officer of The Reporter on January 1, 2001. "The Board's interviews and discussion about this matter lasted for a little over an hour," said Jeff Hamrick, chair of the Student Publications Board. "The discussion was animated, to say the least." Hale, The Reporter's current chief design editor, was selected over opponent Teresa Schwarz, a sophomore communications major, for the appointment in a 9-7 vote. No one from the board abstained from the vote, according to, Hamrick. Schwarz is the current news editor - of The Reporter. Hamrick said that he expects that "both candidates will work' together and function as excellent leaders of this high-quality student publication." Hamrick named Hale the executive editor of The Reporter last Friday. "Mr. Hale will be given broad control over the affairs of The Reporter during tlie nexVfew Weeks',"' said Hamrick. "By late November, he will essentially be functioning as editor-in- chief." Hale said that he has a number of objectives for the spring semester. "I want to work on. making the online site much more interactive," said Hale. "I'd also like to work on further integration of effort between our design and editorial positions." Hale, who enjoys Tae Kwon Do and playing the violin, said that he expects one of his biggest challenges will be managing difficult personalities. "For ' example, we have a wide spectrum of people on staff with different experiences and backgrounds," said Hale. "Making these personalities work together as a team will be my biggest challenge." [see REPORTER, page 3a ] ^Reporter Index News 2a Opinions 4a Editorial 4a Life ib Health 2b Classifieds 3 b Sports sb Comics 6a Calendar 6a Horoscopes 6a Shout 6a Crossword 6 a Contact Us 421 N. Woodland Blvd. #8409 DeLand, FL 32720-3751 904.822.7224 FAX 904.822.7233 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] sports© stetson.edu [email protected] [email protected] NEWS WRITER The International Symposium . created a new and complete picture of Cuba's past, present and future through the mediums of history, culture, economics and community development. The International Symposium, "The Promise of Cuba," held from Monday, Oct. 23 to Thursday, Oct. 26 at the university provided students, faculty, staff and members of the surrounding community an opportunity to learn about Cuba from the^ source. The symposium, organized by the Latin American Studies Department, served as a forum distinct walks of Cuban life. The symposium began Monday night in the Stetson room with Huber Matos, an. ex-guerrilla who , served alongside Fidel Castro in Cuba's battle for independence against Fulgencio Batista. Matos gave a living history to his audience. He left his job teaching because he felt the urge to fight with the people for Cuba's independence. The impetus for the struggle against Batista was always to re-establish what Matos called the "written law democratic" society in Cuba. He joined Castro's army with the intentibn of reinstating the Consti- issue 9 volume 113 NEWS: Kyrgyz journalist speaks about Kyrgyz media oppression [ page 3a ] Report says diversity plan is not authentic By Reporter Staff special report Carefully-worded recommendations for future di versity initiatives at the university were included in a report delivered on behalf of the Diversity Council to the university administration. The recommendations were submitted to key members of the President's Staff and reported to the Board of Trustees' Student Life Committee. Addressing the university's structural, attitudinal and behavioral approaches for creating a climate for diversity, the report's fourth section questions the university's commitment to the sufficient representation of traditionally underrepresented groups on campus.' The administration is asked to "establish a clear set of time lines for accomplishing the stated diversity goals:" Twelve specific goals are grouped into recommendations for designing a diverse campus environment, for transforming the curriculum and for improving the recruitment and retention of;a more diverse ' : - campus community. The Diversity Council document states the success of diversity initiatives "will rely on leadership, firm commitment, adequate resources, collaboration, monitoring and long- range plan- LECTURE: Huber Matos (left) talks with Klem-Mari Cajigas (center) and Belkys Torres (right), photo by ka,tlin bellerose Symposium focuses on Cuba s history and future plans By Elizabeth Thompson tution of 1940. "The moral structure of Cuban society deteriorated under Castro's regime," Matos said. Mostly what bothered him were Castro's ties to the USSR and the Communist Party, though Castro maintained that he was not a communist. When Matos resigned, Castro accused him of slander and treason and had him imprisoned. • Matos spent twenty years in prison during which he maintained the truth of his story: Every day, he said, he* lived in' fear "of being sliot. After the first year Matos spent in prison, Castro finally admitted that he was indeed a communist. During the lecture, Matos described Castro's rise to power. . He brought new understanding to Castro's politics and reasoning behind what were some of the United States' most unnerving years of the Cold War. Matos'ended his lecture saying, "Some things about Cuba make us laugh but the tragedy of Cuba is not laughable. With the end of Castro comes a new future for Cuba." Matos was imprisoned for twenty years in the country he helped fight to free from a dictatorship for not compromising his ethics when Fidel's promise to continue Cuba's "hope of building a good nation," Matos said, was thwarted by Castro's desire for power. Signe Olson, a senior English major, de scribed the lecture as a "fascinating insight into the Cuban Revolution." Belkys Torres, student assistant in the Latin American Studies Department, said that she is "relieved that for a change people are addressing the issues that are not necessarily brought up in the textbook." The second night of the International Symposium on Cuba was a celebration of Cuban culture with author, actor, director, professor, editor and poet Waldo Leyva. Leyya, considers, "bringing, poetry to the masses," a civic duty and his poems the property of those who [see CUBA, page 2a] "The report expresses concern about the 10 percent decline in the retention rate of Latino/a students...." POETRY: Waldo Leyva recites his poetry in Spanish Tuesday night, photo by valerie futch ning" by the university's administration. "Inclusive Community: Assessment Issues and Recommendations for Administrator" ca$f for changes in the university's>le*ar-riing environment, for more sensitivity training ih diversity and for the establishment of effective mentoring' programs to improve the college experience for the entire student population. The report's section IV asks the university to make diversity an authentic institutional priority. It requests a commitment to on-going assessment, faculty involvement, collaborative learning among faculty and the diverse groups; increased student interaction and more training of those working with diverse student populations. Rather than directly accusing the [gotoreporter.stetson.edu for the rest of this aticle ] DeLand Hall renovations to occur in 2002 The university has applied for a grant to work on the hall By John Mills NEWS WRITER Pending in Florida's legislature is a $350,000 grant for the renovation of DeLand Hall. According to David Noyes, vice president for facilities management, the grant should be approved as soon as it is presented to the legislature, which will occur at the beginning of the next legislative session. The grant will provide funding pri marily for the renovation of the exterior of the building. Exterior work will include the renovation of the roofing, replacement of rotten siding and the renovation of the access ramp on the south side of the building. Improvements will not be restricted to the outside of the building. According to David Rigsby, manager of grounds and senior assistant for special projects, the bathrooms, heating and cooling systems and other minor architectural improvements will all be included in the work done on the interior of the building. The bathrooms will be reconfigured to make them more accessible to the physically disabled. The heating and cooling systems will be connected to the water loop system that was implemented last summer. According to Vice President Noyes, the construction on the interior will not. be as drastic as the work done on the building in 1983 when DeLand Hall was gutted. The construction is scheduled to begin in May of 2002 while the building is vacated for summer break. Over the summer the interior work will be completed so the construction will not interfere with students' living areas. However, construction will continue on the exterior during the fall semester of 2002. According to Rigsby, the university is able to apply for this grant because a portion of its district is considered to be a historic district. Noyes added that the state rated this grant as the "best project value of all of the grants applied for in its category." There are over 100 other applicants in this cat egory. The university is matching the state's funding with $200,000 of its.; own funding. The university has acquired" $1,230,000 for various restoration, projects in recent years. According to Noyes this total includes small category- grants and special category grants. The special category grants range from $350,000 to $400,000. Small category grants are for as much as $50,000. Both are reserved for major projects and are issued by the state" department from the State Historic Trust Fund. In the past, the university has undertaken many restoration projects, and several major projects are on record for the near future. John Mills is a first-year physics major. http://reporter.stetson.edu - JTfflfWrflflTITfflPM iai[«*MiiM»iiiJiiiwsiiM»i<aiw«iMwiiaaMi»iii«?Mwiw fS!