The Reporter

wed mar-04 i M S I D http://: s c-r'T^.stetson.edu WHAT'S .News 2a Opinions 45. Life is Classifieds 2 a Sports 5 3 Etcetera 6a issue IT volume 11® 1-AaJliAl^^Ai^iAAiA^i^i^ SPORTS'! Hatters sweep Glenville State in softball page 5:0 OPINIONS! Church should maintain anti-homosexual attitude page 4« Nominations requested for teaching award By Jamie Kinsley ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR The McEniry Award for Excellence in Teaching, the university's most prestigious teaching award, has been given every year since 1974. This award is based on votes from students and faculty members who vote for the person they think have done the best job for the year. All faculty members are eligible for the award, with the exception of the most recent winners. These faculty members are Greg McCann, Phillip Lucas, Robert Sitler, Terri Witek, and David Dysart. In the past, voting for this award has been solely through paper ballot, but this year arrangements have been made to allow students and faculty to vote through Blackboard. "Everyone has access to Blackboard. Once you log in and take the survey you will not be able to log in again; therefore, we will not have a problem with double voting," said Dr. Hari Pulapaka, chair of the McEniry nominations committee. Pulapaka hopes to get all the voting done by Mar. 23rd. When all the votes are submitted, the nominations committee will tally all the votes, look at the nominations, and draft a report that will be submitted to the faculty senate by Mar. 24th. The nominations committee's only responsibility is to tally the votes and write a small summary of each candidate's nominations. A secret committee is then formed, made up of members of the faculty senate, who reviews the report of the nominations committee and selects a winner. "There is a section on essay, so we will look at that and say, 'Well, this person got several votes, but people had very little to say about them.' So we will try to make this clear in the final report," commented Pulapaka. Stetson students and faculty will ideally look at the faculty member who they feel has a nice combination of excellence in classroom teaching, professional growth, intellectual stimulation, gives to the academic community outside the classroom, and gives service to the university as a whole. "It is possible that students will simply pick their favorite teachers, but we are hoping that students can expound on some of these qualities, not just pick a name, but associate that name with why that name was chosen," remarked Pulapaka. Voter turnout in the past has not been as good as the committee would POLITICAL "o.t-t.a-ym c!, - _-«,&**-Si. h J -■ \ "-wa •a V,.-» ■"•'< :y,-Ay:.\wk :'. ^,*V_-;.*'.;-!i ',.&--» « Vjt PROCEDURE: Allison Turk, portraying Vice-President Dick Cheney, asks the parliamentarian to clarify a point of procedure at Model Senate, photo by wesley sun By Liz Chaille ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR ast Thursday through Saturday, Stetson Until versity held the 33rd Annual Model US Senate, which students learned what it is like to be a senator by simulating everything that an actual senator participates in. The events included committee hearings, party caucuses, and Senate sessions modeled after things that are really happening in the Senate. Students who participated were assigned the senator they were to portray in advance, so as to research that senator and his or her views. This allowed the students to more accurately represent their assigned senator in the events. -• Of the approximately 100 students who participated in this event, about 50 were from Stetson. The other 50 came from five different schools: " """ Ridgewater College in Boston, Valdosta State in Georgia, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Lake Sumter Community College, and a graduate student from the University of North Carolina. Unexpectedly, the senators were "Model Senate is a prime opportunity to learn more about... all that Senators must go through to pass not always the same sex as the person who was portraying them; for example, Sen. Hillary Cljnton (D-NY) was portrayed by a male student, first-year political science and philosophy major Greg Nolan. "I value integrity quite highly, and in order to honestly portray Hillary Clinton, I thought that I was morally obligated to wear female clothing," said Nolan. The Senate sessions were set up like the real Senate, with Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other. The sessions were also conducted as if it was the real Senate, following all of the rales, such as Robert's Rules of Order, setting the procedures for everything from the call to order and a roll call to making motions. Runners even delivered notes between the senators, so that they could communicate. As senators got a chance to speak, they were able to display the little "quirks" that their assigned senator might have, such as Sen. Clinton reading an e-mail -..-.."....-.--.-..r, zr.z— she received from her daughter. s v ;% ;&?*£• if. ft'«5--y:"' y- ■ > f-< ^ISiSI i ^'.Kp^ \v~'"^ -.*&v>&$E ?l£&t.:. legislation." The Senate session held on Friday afternoon discussed Bill 245, a bill that deals with human cloning and stem cell research. Students made motions and discussed the bill as they believed their assigned senator would have based on the research they conducted earlier. When asked about their thoughts on the Model US Senate, students had only positive comments to share. Michael Davis, junior political science major, who portrayed Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), said that, "It's [model senate] a great opportunity to have an opportunity to learn about the real Senate is run. It's different from what you see on TV. You don't know exactly what it entails, until, you experience it." First-year discovery student, Randall Judt, who was assigned the role of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), said that he was participating because "It's interesting and really cool." Junior political science major Debbie Faulkner, who represented Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), mentioned that, "Model Senate is a prime opportunity to VOTE: Greg Nolan, portraying Senator Hillary Clinton, votes in the mock senate session held on Saturday afternoon in the Stetson Room, photo by wesley sun leam more about the US Senate and experience all that Senators must go through to pass legislation." And Ryan Hutson, a first-year political science major, who portrayed Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO) said, "The model Senate is one of the most exciting things that I've done so far at Stetson. It really brings into light what I want to do as a future career. And I really appreciate everything appreciate everything that Stetson and Dr. Hallum and Dr. Bailey do every year to keep the model Senate running well each year." Contact Liz Chaille at echaille@stetson. edu. see i 1GEN1RY, page 2a ^Reporter Corrections "Apocalpytic production parodies worldviews of fanatic religions," LIFE, Issue 16. 84% of university students do not ascribe to a form of Christianity. Approximately 40% of Stetson students have no religious affiliation. C ONTACT U S 421 N. Woodland Blvd. #8409 DeLand, FL 32720-3751 386.822.7224 FAX 386.822.7233 reporter^" stctson.edu reporter_ne\vs .".stetson.edu opinions'?, stetson.edu lifers tetson.edu etcetera'/;" stetson, edu sports('f stetson.edu online'/? stctson.edu advettise's stetson edu flit f©r By Liz Erlenbach NEWS EDITOR University president Doug Lee, along with several other members of the university's administration and Reporter editor-in-chief Bryan Funk, traveled to Tallahassee on Wednesday, March 10, for the Florida legislature's Stetson University Day, in which the university lobbied for increases to the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG). Lee, Dr. Wayne Bailey, professor of political science, Mary Anne Rogers, executive director of public relations and communications, and Funic met with legislators throughout the day to encourage them to increase the FRAG. "For the most part, they were very supportive of it, saying 'yes, I'm totally on board with this effort.' Exactly how far they could say they were able to commit to it was still up for debate, but they were all in favor of keeping it. Just the level of the commitment has yet to be determined," said Rogers. Lee also described the support of alumni in the legislature. "Our alums in the legislature have committed to help, but this is a difficult process," he said. This is the second year that Lee has taken students to Tallahassee for the purpose of meeting with legislators. "Students are always the best ambassadors because legislators assume I am there for vested interest... which I am. Students and parents are part of the electorate, so [the legislators] listen," said Lee. In addition to meeting with legislators, the group brought 532 signed letters from the university's students, requesting that the FRAG be increased. The 1-day letter drive was organized last minute by the Student Government Association, who learned of the trip less than a week beforehand. "Our goal was 500, so we met our goal and superceded it... We were very pleased because the students really cared about it and it showed," said SGA President Michael Davis. The letters were presented to Representatives Joyce Cusack and Susanne Kosmas. Cusack is a friend of the university, while Kosmas gradu ated from the university in 1998 with a and representatives in the Florida Leg- bachelor of arts degree in political sci- islature, as well as four friends of the ence. The university has eight senators see ,page, ^>A* / A . , *|~ 4 < i*'\'\Af. /•'-«• * . -J ,-s-Ss Jm..,..A.,^&^lAAJiK&iaA LETTERS: Doug Lee addresses the press prior to giving 532 letters from students to Representatives Joyce Cusack and Susanne Kosmas. photo by mary anne rogers