The Reporter

Wednesday, January 21, 1998 f-ORUM: Collective ignorance strikes again. Column, 4a Volume 110, issue 15 Forum Life ^ ^ ^ Spprfe"v:r= n 4 -5a I 1 -3bl http://the-reporter.home.ml.org %$i«8^.*: Stetson University, DeLand, Florida <3 '<!*%* €31 i the ODDOsition at a recent international tournamei { T r | he Stetson Chess Team captured I U second place in the small school '———' category at the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Tournament from Dec. 26-29,1997, in Bowling Green, Ky. One ofthe team members, Chris Portale, beat a near-master from the University of Western Ontario. "Think of a master as being a Ph.D. in chess," said Dr. John Rasp, associate professor of decision and information science at the School of Business Administration. "Chris' victory was one ofthe biggest upsets of the tournament," said Rasp. "Chris had been playing a good game and studying some tactics that paid off." "At one point I walked over to his game and saw him getting beat up. I saw him later'and he said, 'Hey. I beat a master!' " said Rasp with a laugh." "We needed that point that Chris earned," said Rasp. "It tied us with Bucknell for 2nd place, and while both teams lost their last round matches, we won because we had more game points." The tournament was held at Western Kentucky University. According to Rasp, the tournament was "...open to anyone in the Western hemisphere...there were teams from Canada, several from Peru, and one from trie Dominican Republic." "Think of this tournament as the World Series, or an NCAA basketball tournament of chess," said Rasp, who is the team's adviser. 'This is the big show. Some of the top players in the country are college students." Despite the strength of their opponents, Stetson's team was able to secure second place in the small school category. Stanford University (Calif.) narrowly defeated the team, taking first place. Rasp indicated that the team primarily prepared for' the tournament through practice. "We meet every Monday night in the CUB at 9:00 p.m and play chess." Dr. Erich Friedman, assistant professor of mathematics, designs chess problems for the team and maintains the team's web page. "In some cases, folk just went out and studied on their own," said Rasp. "There are numerous books out there on the subject." "At practice, though, we generally all look at everybody's game and say 'Okay, this would work better' and you start working through your game," said Rasp. Besides Chris Portale, the chess team consists of Antony Chan, Logan Nguyen, and Joe McGivern, the team's captain. Stetson's success at this year's Pan- American Intercollegiate Team Chess Tournament is not an isolated incident. Last year, the team won second place in the small school category. In both 1994 and 1995, the team won first place. "It's actually the oldest team tournament in the country...it's been going on since the middle ofthe century," said Rasp. "We'd like to give appropriate thanks to SAFAC and the Council of Deans for their support." Individuals are rated through a complex system. If they beat an opponent who is rated as a superior, their rating increases significantly. If they beat an opponent whose score is lower than their own, their rating does not increase at all. A team, composed of four individuals, plays four opposing individuals. The pairs are" matched from the highest-rated player to the lowest-rated player. Individuals who beat their opponents win a point; agreeing to a draw earns each player one-half of a point. The team with the highest number of individual points wins the team point, and the school ranking is derived from this number. Rasp said that while the team was playing, he participated in "a separate tournament that they hold for stray individuals." The university's victory comes at a time when engineers at International Business . Machines (IBM) have designed computers capable of beating humanity's greatest players. When asked whether chess was just about predicting moves, Rasp said that "It's not simply about crunching possibilities. The average person will ask a chess player 'How many moves do you think ahead?' Chess is more about thinking in terms of a general pattern...rooks placed here are particularly strong and pawns placed here are particularly weak." "It's actually fairly rare that you'll figure out 'If I do this, then he'll do that,' " Rasp added. Rasp thinks that computers fail to bring a distinctly human touch to the game of chess. "Computers don't make mistakes. People do. But computers use brute force analysis. Unfailingly. That means they can see things six steps ahead," said Rasp. "Computers can't see patterns that develop beyond their sight horizon...they're totally blind to them," said Rasp. ' When asked about the stereotype of a chess player, Rasp said that "...it sure hasn't happened here. We've had varsity baseball, tennis, and cross country players. Everyone here bathes at least once a week. These are folk who are active in any number of campus organizations... fraternities, sororities, you name it." The overall winner at this year's tour- namentis the Burrow of Manhattan Community College. The team, Rasp notes, "is See CHESS, page 3a By JEFF HAMRICK Photos by JOHN RASP and CHRIS PORTALE BATTLE: The team members, on the left side of the table, think carefully about their moves against rivals. They are, from foreground to background, Chris Portale, Joe McGivern, Antony Chan, and Logan Nguyen. -^fc^Vvadbi"! Money u Inaccuarate enrollment projections will result in an additional cost for most students this semester. By ANDY DEHNART Editor-in-Chief Over 1200 students will have to pay nearly $200 because the Florida Resident Access Grant has been lowered for the spring semester. The Florida Resident Access Grant, given to all Florida residents attending in-state private colleges, is being reduced $188 for the spring semester due to a greater number of eligible students. Students will be billed for the difference, because the figure used on billing statements for the spring semester was higher than the actual amount being distributed by the state. The FRAG was worth $800 last semester, and has been lowered to $612 for the spring. The PSAG was $521 in the fall and has been reduced to $436 for this semester. Although the schools were notified of the change at the end of December, Stetson students are being notified via memo mis week. Ruthanne Nalenzy, a counselor in the office of Student Financial Planning, said that's due to a number of factors. Financial planning didn't receive the memo until after the New Year's holiday, and that plus the time required to process the new financial aid notification forms resulted in memos being sent late last week, she said. For the spring semester, 1272 Stetson students are eligible for the FRAG: An additional 403 will receive the Private Student Assistant Grant, which is similar to the FRAG but need- based. \ According to a Dec. 30 memo from the Florida Department of Education sent to all private colleges, "First semester utilization in the (FRAG) and (PSAG) programs exceeded our projections." The Florida Legislature "gives a set amount of money, and we divide it up amongst the number of students" that private schools Eroject will enroll for the academic year, said eslie Thurman, program specialist for the Office of Student Financial Assistance. "Student population went up beyond what the schools estimated," she said. "Orice we disbursed" funds for the first semester, "we were significanUy over the half mark," Thurman said. They then had to redistribute the remaining money based on the actual number of recipients, resulting in the decrease. The repeal of the CLAST, the test Florida college sophomores are required to take and pass in order to receive state aid like the FRAG, has contributed to the increased number of students eligible for the award, Thurman said. Stetson's enrollment projection to the state was about 40 students under the actual number of enrollees, Nalenzy said. The memo to students from Director of Student Financial Planning Doug Minter, dated January 1998, says students "should be receiving a bill reflecting this reduction in aid by February." And so It begins.., THE OPENING: The Victory Bell, perched high on one end of the Hollis Center, stands ready for ringing as of last week. In the articulation agreement with the Hollises, the university agreed to ring the beel whenever Stetson achieves a victory. For more on the Hollis Center's opening, see our special insert section. Photo by Paul Davis By STEPHANIE ADDUCI Associate News Editor The Department of Residential Life decided recently to create a new position to alleviate difficulties occuring since the departure of Michael Almeida. The departure of Almeida from the Department of Residential Life resulted in a search for a replacement but ended in the development of a new residential life position. Michelle Espinosa, director of residential life, was left with only one assistant director, Aurelio Valente, and was unable to locate a qualified replacement to fill Almeida's vacant spot as assistant director. This left the staff short-handed and unable to effectively help the student body, according to Espinosa. Lynne Gentile stepped in as associate director while maintaining her original position as director of student judicial affairs. Currently, Gentile is supervising and interacting with the residential assistants in the campus' west area. Valente is supervising the residential assistants of the east area. The pair also are responsible for conducting staff training as well as staff development. In addition, Gentile and Valente have the responsi bility of coordinating and enforcing Stetson's judicial processes within their designated areas. According to Espinosa, Gentile's assistance was helpful but did not restore Residential Life to a comfortable level of operation. Then, the decision was made to close the search for Almeida's replacement and form a new temporary position, entitled graduate assistant-in-residence. This position was filled by Kristen Rutherford, a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in accountancy at the School of Business Administration. Rutherford, who earned her Bachelor's degree last May, will graduate with her master's degree this May, and then the position will be dissolved. At that point, Residential Life will reinstitute the search for a new assistant director. Once Rutherford's position of graduate assistant-in-residence is dissolved, Gentile will take over all of those responsibilities in addition to the ones that she currently has. Generally, recruiting for a position such as the one left vacant by Almeida occurs during the month of June. According to Espinosa, it is very rare to have to fill a posi tion mid-academic year—which explains why it proved impossible to fill Almeida's position at the present time. Once the summer approaches, Espinosa will be able to attend summer conferences where she will have more of a selection from which to choose a new assistant director. According to Espinosa, Rutherford was chosen for this position for a number of reasons. She is extremely experienced, having served on the Residential Life staff all of her undergraduate career. Rutherford's experience and availability also added to her qualifications. Rutherford will work in the Residential Life office. She will meet directly with Gentile and together they will deal with the administrative responsibilities that need to be addressed. Like the resident assistants, Rutherford occupies a single room in Chadouin Hall, and receives a stipend for her efforts. Rutherford's personal objective is to "help out the department." When asked her opinion about her newly formed position, Rutherford replied that "it's a great experience forme." The Residential Life professional staff, consisting of Michelle Espinosa, Lynne Gen tile, Kristen Rutherford, and Aurelio Valente, are ready to take on the new semester fully staffed and excited to be members of such a cohesive and new team, according to Espinosa. When asked about her feelings in regard to the situation, Espinosa said "I am very excited and very hopeful about the goals that we have set for the semester. I feel that we now have the staff and support that you need to be a resource for the students." Residential Life is currently in the process of residential assistant selection. James ■ DiCallo has recendy been named head resident assistant for Stetson Hall. A student will be chosen to fill DiCallo's empty resident assistant position. According to Espinosa, residential assistant selection is based on the following criteria: residential assistants must be good role models among their peers, be familiar with the campus and all it has to offer, and be organized and creative while being academically successful. An equal balance of all these at- "My position is more administrative than supervising. I will work with the operational activities of residential life, like room change week, room selection, the production of the RA newsletter, as well as various other projects." tributes is a necessity. A residential assistant must be willing to devote a lot of time and energy to their position. The current selections are being pulled from those applicants that were classified as 'alternates' after the last residential assistant selection. There are many good prospects, according to Espinosa. In April, the Department of Residential Life will be involved with room selections. They will also be involved with the closing of all halls in May after the academic year has come to a close. Residential Life will also be busy throughout the remainder ofthe semesterplan- ning and making possible a number of residence hall programs. They also hope to co- program larger events with the Council for Student Activities, according to Espinosa. FORUM: Year's fbest movie' is too politically indoctrinating, 5a LIFE: 'Deconstructing Harry' basically self-destructs, 2b SPORTS: Men's basketball drops two conference games after 4-0 start, 6b