The Reporter

wed WHAT'S IMS5PE News 2a Opinions 4a Etcetera 6a Life IB Classifieds 3B Sports SB http://rapcrJor.stetson.edu IEWS: Stetson ranked in US News top college list page |(ilpr:ida^|l^irstll3r!.yatei(3Q!leg&N issue 2 volume LIFE: Local teen becomes screenwriter page ll Stetson Law receives ABA honors By Liz Erlenbach NEWS EDITOR The Stetson University College of Law received numerous honors from the American Bar Association (ABA) at their annual meeting from August 7th through the 12th, including the Student Bar Association of the Year award for 2002-2003. This award, according to the ABA website, is based on overall organization and structure of the student bar association; performance by members as a team; total number of programs; quality of events; interaction with faculty and administration; extent to which student government voices and addresses concerns of students; and interaction with local legal and non-legal community. "The ABA looks for schools that, aggressively promote diversity. Stetson Law not only has numerous minority organizations, but additionally, a broad spectrum of organizations related to different types of law, such as maritime, business and international law," said Frank Klim, executive director of communications for the College of Law. "We are tremendously honored to win this award. We know that the ABA looks at student bar associations that promote diversity on campus, community service, and professionalism. Our students work very hard to present interesting programs on campus and to serve the greater community," said Interim University Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson in a College of Law press release. The College of Law, one of 187 ABA-approved law schools, also won this award in the 1999-2000 year. The College of Law was selected for this honor from 19 nominees, in see ABA HQriQRS, page 2a % 2§c'-"i| m if Slllilt * pi m 1111 »■ •8s 'wialilillk: v' r t ii ^^^^SU^t^ '' % 'l*fSraHrais§k ji^- ^fs^tHlilte ¥ A^^^^^^ ytttWm ! ^Ifpl^,^ fillip Corrections 1. SPORTS, Issue 1. We mispelled Annie Cline's name. 2. "FOCUS offers glimpse of college life" NEWS, Issue 1. Mr. Darald Stubbs official title is associate dean of students. C ONTACT U S 421 N. Woodland Blvd. #8409 DeLand, FL 32720-3751 386.822.7224 FAX 386.822.7233 reporters tctson.edu rep ottcr_ne\vs'?£ stctson.edu opinions.'*/1 stetson.edu life;r stetson.edu e tee tera$J,s tetson.edu sport sestet son.edu online^'stetson.edu advcrtiscfcstetson.edu TRUSTEE SENATOR By Bryan Funk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ne of the university's most distinguished alumni was on campus recendy to attend a meeting of the board of trustees. Former United States Senator Max Cleland returned .to campus as a member of that board, 39 years after he graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in history. After graduating from Stetson, Cleland went on to earn a master's degree in history from Emory University. Shortly after, he volunteered for duty in "Vietnam, where he would serve until grievous injury cost him both his legs and his right arm. Returning to his home state of Georgia, he was the youngest person to ever be elected into that state's Senate. He then went on to head the Veteran's Administration during Jimmy Carter's presidency, and in 1982 was elected to become Georgia's secretary of state, again the youngest in the state's history. In 1996 he was elected to the United States Senate where he would represent Georgia constituents for six years before being ousted in an election known for its nasty politics. Currently, Cleland is an adjunct professor and research fellow at American University, where he works heavily with the Washington Semester Program. He is also the author of two books, "Strong at the Broken Places" —^-—zztt^z and "Going for the Max!: 12 Principles for Living Life to the Fullest." When asked about his future political aspirations, Cleland said that his only goal now was to support Massachusetts !=?zz=i== Senator John F. Kerry in his bid for the presidency. "I don't have any plans to run again for the United States Senate. I did that, and worked hard at it for 8 years. I loved my years in the Senate, the six years I spent there, but it was not to be in terms of reelec- SENATOR: Former Senator and trustee Max Cleland meets with press in business dean's office, photo by bryan funk "Stetson is an affair of the heart. The people who are here... are here because they love it, and the students are here because they love it." tion." His past at Stetson, however, is a happier topic for Cleland, who said, "It's private, it's personal, it has the personal touch... Stetson is an affair of the heart. The people who are here, from Doug Lee on down, are here because they love it, and the students are here because they love it." Arriving at Stetson 43 years ago, Cleland changed his initial major within days of stepping onto campus. He also performed poorly on several initial competency exams, causing him to be placed into remedial English classes. :=—-„:: i Despite initial set backs, his career on campus was a positive one on the whole. "I would have gotten lost, run over, and left for road kill at a huge institution ... but Stetson exposed me to teachers in smaller classes that cared about students." On what he took away from the university, Cleland said, "I always wanted to be somebody, but I needed the education, I needed the training to do that. I got that here." On his appointment to the board of trustees, Cleland is modest, saying. "I didn't think I was going to make it out of my freshman year, much less onto the board of trustees." He knew some of his fellow trustees while he attended Stetson as a student, and said, "It's a scary thing to think that our class is taking over the future of Stetson." His outlook remains upbeat, however. "As a kid who came here 43 years ago, it's marvelous here, just having turned 61, to have the chance to help influence the direction of this great university positively because it influenced my life so powerfully in the right direction." He takes an approving view of the current administration of the university, saying, "Doug Lee has really put Stetson forward into the 21st century. It's been his leadership and his talent, his staff, and with the support of the trustees and the great community here that has really launched Stetson into the 21st century. They've made more progress in the 10 or 15 years that Doug Lee's been here than in maybe the 50 years before." As a trustee, however, he acknowledges the existence of issues facing the campus, especially persistent budget woes. "The big issue, of course, is the future of Stetson. It's a private school and it doesn't have guaranteed funding, it's something we have to work at all the time. The great citizens of this nation, and especially of Florida, have kept it alive since 1883." He also made mention of another building campaign, and said of the trustees, "Our goal as the board of trustees is to make it [Stetson] bigger and better than ever, and to keep its history going." Despite looming changes in education and the Florida political scene, Cleland is optimistic about Stetson's future. "The purpose of this institution, as far as I can tell, is not only to be Florida's first private university, but its foremost." Bryan Funk can be contacted at [email protected]. BUtt© in no rflflikflQT) By Bryan Funk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Underage drinking is a fact of life at most college campuses, and the university is no different in this regard. For the men and women who have to enforce the laws against such activities, however, the issue can't be taken lightly. Lieutenant Jack Waples, a 19-year veteran of the DeLand Police Department (DPD), said, "Our goal is that nobody from that campus or anywhere in DeLand dies because somebody's driving drunk." With a new school year beginning and many incoming first-years experiencing their first taste of the freedom that college offers, enforcement of alcohol related crimes remains strict. "At the beginning of the school year, there's usually a little burst of activity and a learning curve. Once we get past that, everything settles down. Everybody's back to school, some people for the first time are away from home and have forgotten their manners," said Lieutenant David J. Hiers of the DPD. "We're in the education business." Instead of a physical arrest at the time of an offense, an underage individual found to be intoxicated or in the possession of alcohol is issued a notice to appear. This represents a criminal citation, a $108 fine and a second-degree misdemeanor. "We don't see any difference in citing anybody for being in public drinking or being disorderly or fighting. Especially in the downtown business district we'll issue citations there," said Hiers. The problem, he asserts, is often one of littering. "We have a lot of folks who forget where the restroom is when they have a few drinks," said Waples. These sorts of actions, along with the litter from discarded beer bottles and other refuse, cause local businesses to put pressure on the police department to mitigate this sort of behavior in the downtown area. An underage drinking problem exists on campus, as well. One recent night, police took calls for two students who had to be transported by ambulance from Smith Hall to a local hospital due to alcohol poisoning. A far more dangerous occurrence is that of drinking and driving, for ™,a>>*»- ~^>* Y^^vs ^' * "' '^'" ^V" s^o> , • "..i ,/- ..> -- PATROL: DeLand Police Department cars are a common sight, photo by bryan funk which the consequences are much more harsh than for underage drinking. "We have a zero tolerance attitude towards drinking and driving. We will arrest you and put you in jail for drinking and driving, no ifs, ands, or buts," said Hiers. To deal with these problems, at least so far as they relate to the campus, the DPD maintains strong ties to administration officials. Said Hiers, "We have an outstanding relationship seeDRI^KI^Q,page2a PfiPiS^ipPlPfi