The Reporter

Wednesday, October 1, 1997 > FORUM: Should government regulate tobacco? Debate, 4a Volume 110, Issue 6 i '. News 2-3a & j i1 Forum 4-5a ]&--? Etcetera - , . 6a -"•=: ■ Life 1 -3b ^ i Sports 4-6b http://the-reporter.home.ml.org Birds of prey visit campus as part of the Audubon ECHO symposium. Life, page 1b Stetson University, DeLand, Florida By ANDY DEHNART Editor-in-Chief A $1 million project that is "providing for the future infrastructure" began Monday to network the campus with miles of fiber-optic cable, officials said. Fifty-eight buildings across the 1,162- acre DeLand campus will be connected during the three to four month project. Workers started Monday at Edmunds Center and moved south towards Chaudoin Hall, then east to Conrad, digging a trench and laying conduits and cables. The conduit duct bank system being placed in the trench will "contain and protect the new fiber optic cable that is being installed," David Noyes, director of facilities management, said. A total of 13.7 miles of fiber optic cable will be laid down throughout the project, which is slated for an early February completion. Noyes said they are aiming for an earlier completion date, however. The 2.75 miles of trench will be dug both by hand and using underground directional boar equipment, Noyes said. Noyes said they are attempting to minimize inconvenience to the campus community. "That's at the forefront of our thinking," he said. Dr. Shahram Amiri, vice president for information technology, said the next step following the laying of the cable backbone is the- wiring of the residence halls. Workers will begin to "systematically start wiring the dorms" as soon as possible, Amiri said. "All the campus will be wired" by the beginning of next year, he said Amiri said that the voice, data, and audio cabling will provide every residence hall access "to video on demand, satellite programming, and Internet resources." The cable is category five twisted pair cable, which provides high-speed fiber optic communications. 1 The status of construction projects on campus is as follows, according to David Noyes: Hollis Center: The pool is expected to be completed in late Oct. or early Nov. Equipment and furniture will arrive in Dec. The facility will be ready for use immediately after winter break. Wilson Center: Furniture and equipment will arrive in November. The facility, which is located adjacent to the Edmunds Center, will be available following the Thanksgiving holiday. duPont-Ball Library: The 13,400 square foot addition to the library is currently in the design phase. Construction on the project, which includes replacement of the existing roof and AC/heating system, could begin as early as Jan. or- Feb. - Cleaning up the mess *w|c?%V >\ **** -*i->1IM Photo by Paul Davis VANDALISM: Afacilities management worker cleans the fountain after someone poured mortar mix, presumably from the Hollis Center construction site, into it. an we Over the summer, we lost our familiar on- campus phone service. Now, we have a new company and a new system. Is this new service a better deal? Or was the old way cheaper? And are calling cards cheaper? \ }\ / ho ever knew that making a '"If wf long distance call could be v * such a complicated issue? The clarity of this issue changed recently when Stetson announced a new agreement with the Telesoft Corporation. The agreement created a university-sanctioned long-distance carrier for students known as Student Telephone Services. According to a letter written by Shahram Amiri and Ann Graham, STS is "a new long-distance service for residence hall students that replaces plus improves upon the long distance service we previously offered." The service enhancements include no monthly fees, no per call service charges, low rates, personal authorization codes, individual billing by student, automated balance access available 24 hours a day, and a home billing option. The letter from the Center of Information Technology states that returning students were given an authorization code earlier this year that could be activated when they arrived on campus for the fall semester. Returning students who used their account codes would automatically be bound by the terms and conditions of Stetson's agreement with Telesoft Corporation. Shannon MacLaughlan, a senior biology major and business manager for The Reporter, countered the letter, though, saying that "I didn't receive that letter until I had been on campus for a week. And when I did receive it [the letter] and tried to use the code, it hadn't been activated yet." MacLaughlan noted, though, that she did arrive on campus early to attend to her duties as anRA. However, she believes that Stetson should have had the codes activated by then. Incoming students were given the option to sign up for the plan at FOCUS. The plan is based on a 190 per minute flat rate. In other words, students calling Washington, D.C., would pay the same amount for a 5-minute call in the morning and a 5-minute call at midnight. The ACUS (AT&T College & University Solutions) plan operates in a similar fashion and was the university-sanctioned telephone service last year. It operates with an authorization code as well. Under the ACUS plan, a daytime call costs 250 per minute, an evening call costs 190 per minute, and a late evening or weekend call costs 150 per minute. So now, students are being penalized 40 per minute for calls they make late at night or on the weekends—although they do save substantially on daytime calls. The Center for Information Technology has countered this notion, though, saying in a statement that the "190 per minute rate is significantly less than what the students were paying last year." Other plans researched by The Reporter indicate that personal calling cards and collect calls are significantly more expensive than either STS or ACUS. The main disadvantage of the STS plan is the penalty that students are enduring for weekend and late evening calls. Stephanie Adduci, a freshman psychology major, said that she felt "cheated because I make all of my phone calls to home on the weekends." Adduci favors last year's ACUS plan over the STS plan. "I never was under the ACUS plan, but from what I've heard it sounds really good," Adduci said. In the same statement, Jim Snyder, a senior staff member at the Center for Information Technology, said that "this contract was negotiated by the Independent College and Universities of Florida (ICUF), of which Stetson is a member." Snyder said that Stetson "informed...AT&T...[that]wewouldnotbe renewing the long distance contract, in its existing format, when it expired in 1997." Snyder indicated that Stetson negotiated with several competitors in order to select the best deal for Stetson students. "Telesoft [STS] came highly recommended from a number of small and large universities across the country," Snyder said in the statement. "AT&T/ACUS would not offer anything less then a 3- year contract. ICI/Telesol't was offering a one-year contract, and the flexibility of a one-year contract was very important to Stetson." "[We] believed with last years' plan it was too confusing to the students," Snyder said. He additionally noted that unlike many universities, Stetson does not charge students for local service, telephone line connectivity, telephone hand sets, and cable television. Snyder also said that Stetson continually compares its student telephone plan with other universities. By JEFF HAMRICK News Editor j8fflig<3)gamBggM ' ~ company surcharge day* evening late night/weekend* STS {Stetson's plan) none 19* 19?: 19* STS (example prorated plan) none 30* 19* 16* ACUS none 25* 19* 15* AT& T calling card none 85* first minu.te, 25* each additional minute ATaTcollect (1st min. fee) $2.52 first minute $2.44 first $2.40 first 27* each addtl. 19*eachaddtl. 15* eachaddtl. 1-800-COLLECT $1.59 25* 10* 10* * price per minute based upon call to Tampa, Florida; charges are per minute unless otherwise noted SDonsors wee By HEATHER DANIELL Staff Writer Last week, Alpha Chi Omega conducted " a series of activities directed against domestic violence and spousal abuse. According to Amy Hendrie, President of • Alpha Chi Omega, in 1992 Alpha Chi Omega > decided to adopt the Support Victims in Violence organization. This encouraged them to provide service to victims of domestic vio- . lence. Many people think that violence only oc- N curs during marriage or before separation— but that notion is incorrect. About 73 % of the women injured in domestic violence cases are injured after separation, according to a report released by the Metro Nashville Police Department. According to Hendrie, everyone should get involved in organizations and community service projects that help prevent and protect ■ against domestic violence. Hendrie believes that domestic violence can happen to anybody—especially somebody close to you. For this reason, says Hendrie, "the Al- . pha Chi's got involved to help inform students of the horrors of domestic violence." Throughout the past week, AXQ sponsored numerous events to educate people about the effects of domestic abuse and how to prevent it. The week included the following events: On Monday, purple ribbons were handed out in front of the CUB to students, along with pamphlets on domestic abuse. Tuesday, Jeanne M. Rademacher of the Domestic Abuse Council spoke about the standard signs of domestic abuse. On Wednesday, boxes for the toiletries drive that were distributed during the previous week were collected. Last Thursday, a fundraiser was conducted at Smith Hall called. This "Sunraiser"consisted of a volleyball game, a Twister tournament, and a Human Snowman contest, where fraternity members were covered in whipped cream. The Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the Delta Delta Delta sorority won. On Friday, students signed away one of their meals or points to be given to the Deland Domestic Violence Council. Students who did this were given a hand to sign that will be put on a poster in the Commons. Students can call the Deland Domestic Violence Council at 904-738-4055 for more information on how they may become involved. Domestic violence affects everyone, not just the victim. inside FORUM: Our love affair with technology and computers, 4a AXQ: Judy Wytrwal pins a purple ribbon on a passerby to bring awareness to domestic violence. Photo by | Paul Davis L / ? * "1 3 1 J >■ •*■■ I * 1 V *. „ LIFE: 'Tubthumping,' Chumbawamba's latest single, Review 1b SPORTS: Baseball stadium fundraising on track, 4b