The Reporter

Wednesday, February 11,1998 "ORUM > Diversity is necessarily inefficient. Column^ 6a Volume 110, Issue 18 1.1 I (904) 822-7224 • FAX: (904) 822-7233 m 'T! I® News: [email protected] Life: [email protected] Forum: [email protected] Sports: [email protected] Ads: [email protected] General: [email protected] http: / /the-reporter. home, ml.org fnt#.W0U.fe 18years later, the brothers are hack. Life, page 1b Stetson University, DeLand, Florida environmen By NATALIE SUWANPRAKORN Staff Writer After filing official grievances, contacting the women's advocate, and discussing their grievances in a meeting, two university employees have resigned because the university "minimized their issues" and made no effort to change their supervisor's alleged disruptive behavior. A Dec. 15 meeting reviewed complaints against Director of Administrative Affairs Ben. Wills. Present were Stetson employees: the two women who have resigned as well as the three women who have filed grievances against Wills. They reported that Jane Bradford, - © @ women's advocate; Dr. Leonard Nance, university adviser on diversity issues; Mack Cleveland, university attorney; and Judson Stryker, acting vice president for business and finance were all in attendance. ' When interviewed about the meeting, all of the women asked not to be identified by name or department. The women cited examples of Wills' alleged behavior. They described him as "power and control hungry." In subsequent interviews, three employees said he created "a hostile work environment." The employees testified to Wills' violent mood swings that ranged from extreme anger to a syrupy sweetness to literally crying in front of them. They also complained of unsolicited touching and violation of personal space. According to one woman who has resigned, "At this point, there is no credibility left in this person." Wills delivered an apology to the employees at the meeting. He also distributed a written apology to the employees in which he claimed no responsibility for his actions. Asked one ofthe women, "How can your apology have credence if you claim it wasn't your fault?" "Am I satisfied with the meeting?" said one former employee. "No, because nothing came of it." Another remarked, "The most disturbing thing that came of that meeting was Mack Cleveland said to me, 'but can you still treat him [Wills] like a director?" Since that meeting, two women have resigned, and another is seeking a different job. The fourth woman plans to continue working at Stetson. One former Stetson employee said, "I'm happy to be leaving, but what is going to happen? We're working in an environment that is not healthy at all. I love myself too much to be going through a nervous breakdown because of my employer." An employee reported that since Wills' arrival at Stetson in August 1997, "the whole office took on a paranoid atmosphere, there was open hostility, and there was no team cohesion anymore—which we tried so hard GREEK LIFE > After a two-year colonisation process, a homeless fraternity is hack. By JEFF HAMRICK News Editor The university released the latest draft of its "commitment to diversity" plan last week to members of the faculty and staff. The plan recommends diversity objectives ranging from alterations to the general education requirements to achieving minority representation at each college. The plan was not distributed to the student body. According to President H. Douglas Lee, all members of the faculty are welcome to "participate in the update to the plan. Interested faculty and staff members form the Diversity Committee, which is chaired by Dr. Leonard Nance, associate professor of sociology. There are no student representatives on the diversity committee. The plan states that the university recognizes that diversity is "fundamental to the process of education." '•The university should, according to the plan, "seek out and eradicate discriminatory structures and procedures and...combat intolerance within the institution...[and] curriculum" Specifically, the plan calls for the eradication of "racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, and religious discrimination." According to Lee, the primary purpose of the diversity committee is to function as "an advocacy group." The group, according to Lee, has no administrative authority and serves "purely as a body to make recommendations and evaluate the people on our campus who are hired to design and implement programs related to diversity." Lee said that the plan is undergoing extensive changes to include more issues "important to the women's caucus on campus." Lee said that the plan had previously been reviewed and redrafted in 1988 and 1993. Lee indicated that after the office of the provost, which had been responsible for diversity initiatives, had been eliminated last year during "an economically difficult time for the university." After the Council of Deans was formed to replace the office of the provost, Lee ac- j cepted responsibility for the diversity plan, j which he says is "at the top" of his agenda. I The plan calls for the establishment and | funding of a five-year program to achieve "minority representation in each college" and j each division ofthe College of Arts and Sci- j CELEBRATION: Pi Kappa Phi's rechartering culminated in a ceremony and dinner in the Stetson Room this past weekend. Photo by Ryan Padnuk By JEFF HAMRICK News Editor * Last weekend, Pi Kappa Phi, the university's second oldest fraternity, completed the processes and rituals necessary for rechartering. The rechartering process climaxed during Stetson Weekend, when Pi Kappa Phi alumni could return for the events. Pi Kappa Phi had its charter revoked in 1991 due to a series of hazing incidents which violated university policy and the policies of its national fraternal organization. The fraternity began the recolonization process two years ago under the direction ofthe Pi Kappa Phi national fraternal organization. The recolonization was initiated by Michael Loy, then-director ofthe national fraternity's expansion. Loy visited the university two years ago and selected a group of ten men to recolonize the fraternity. Loy's requirements for inclusion in the recolonized fraternity were (1) a 2.7 grade point average; (2) the qualities of a Southern gentleman, and (3) involvement in a variety of campus activities. This weekend, Pi Kappa Phi was re- chartered with 28 members after meeting the requirements ofthe national fraternity and the university. The fraternity also initiated four alumni. A university committee, formed under the auspices of the Department of Campus Life, approved the final rechartering last Monday, Feb. 2. The voting committee had to formally approve the charter via telephone because some ofthe members were absent, according to Ryan Padnuk, vice archon ofthe fraternity. One of the requirements for the rechartering ofthe fraternity was that all of its members—a minimum of 25 to 30—had to have a cumulative grade point average of 2.25 last semester. -*—- The fraternity instituted mandatory study halls for all members in order to meet this requirement, said Padnuk. "We instituted no-drinking policies during the week," said Padnuk. "We were good about it. We had to be." Representatives from the national fraternity flew down last Wednesday, including a chartering officer, Dr. Patrick Figley, who is a Chi chapter alumnus. He is also the national president-elect ofthe fraternity. Members of the fraternity took a two- hour written exam on Thursday night. The exam required members to know information about the national organization, the inner workings ofthe chapter, standards of the journey chapter, risk management policy, and Pi Kappa Phi history. On Friday night, the members took a four-hour oral exam which required them to express information extemporaneously in front of the rechartering officers and their brothers. That evening, the members of Pi Kappa Phi conducted their rituals at the First Baptist Church behind the Edmunds Center. The rituals lasted over seven hours— and then resumed again the following morning. According to Padnuk, "After, we completed the rituals we all went to the Hollis ■ Center to support the university and one of our alumni, Mark Hollis and his son." The Hollises have donated millions of dollars to create the Hollis Center, run the Hollis International Scholars' Program, and support numerous student scholarships. "Everyone in the organization has devoted effort, time, energy, and a lot of heart in order to meet our goal of rechartering," said Padnuk. "This, however, is just the beginning of what will become one of the strongest fraternities on Stetson's campus." Pi Kappa Phi's Vision Statement Pi Kappa will become America's leading Fra- ternity-'augmenting the education of America's finest men at campuses across the nation, through its uncompromising passion to maintain the lofty standards which teach all members the true meaning of brotherhood. As our students and alumni begin this lifelong journey of Brotherhood, Pi Kappa Phi will foster the developement, while providing a network of opportunity for career and life planning. Pi Kappa Phi will kindle alumni involvement by providing avenues for direct interaction with collegians as the alumni assist them in their personal development. This interaction will give both students and alumni a better understanding of The Journey of Pi Kappa Phi. "The Chi chapter of Pi Kappa Phi has regained its charter in an extraordinary fashion after two years of hard work." —The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi See UPDATE, page 3a ! to build." "They [the administration] should be worried about a process they have set up for employees to reconcile issues that does not work. We followed the advice of other individuals and went to Women's Advocate. We followed the process. It didn't work. The process doesn't work. That's what the University should be worried about." After repeated attempts to contact him, Wills' secretary said he was not available to .comment Stryker, Cleveland and Nance declined to comment. Jane Bradford confirmed that she was in attendance at a meeting, but also declined to comment and did not confirm the date. Longdistance problems due to transition By ANDY DEHNART Editor-in-Chief Problems with activation of long-distance access codes and billing by Student Telephone Services, the company contracted at the beginning of the year to take over the accounting aspect of long- distance calls, resulted primarily from problems with the transition, officials said. In a teleconference, The Reporter discussed these issues with representatives of the firms handling the long distance service, including STS, Intermedia Communications and the university. "It was closer to the first week in September before everything was really ironed out," said Jim Snyder, a senior staff member in Stetson's Center for Information Technology, which oversees telecommunications on campus. Problems with.._the shipment of state-. ments, which were not sent to the correct departments on campus, caused some to not receive bills or notices, leading to many of the problems students had. "I guess I need to go into detail with Jim (Snyder) and the university to see what the situation is with delivery," Lonnie Zinder of Telesoft, STS's parent company, said. Synder told Zinder that statements should "go to the post office," not to his office, where some shipments had been sent. "That's what should be happening, Jim; they should not be going to your attention," Zinder replied. There were other glitches in the transition, Snyder said, in the overall implementation process began in May. "It actually went, by. comparative standards, fairly smoothly. It's a very complex process to try and move from one service to another. There were some glitches and they caused a few headaches in the beginning but it's working very smoothly now," said Ken ' Anderson, director for agent programs for Intermedia Communications, a company similar to AT&T who handles the long distance traffic for calls made on campus. "We had a real tough time just with the technical side of it—AT&T dropping off; coordination of the services. That was a very stressful time just getting it all up and running and coordinated," Snyder said. Initial communication ofthe change-over to the new service to students was delayed. STS, who provides billing for 74 colleges throughout the United States, was to provide a letter to the students announcing the new program. "The challenge that occurred" was that STS "mailed that information" to Stetson, and corrections and approvals weren't returned immediately, said Mahlan Houghton, the consultant from GlobalNet Communications who negotiated the change in service'The list [of student names and addresses] that STS got was not all-inclusive," Houghton said. To communicate with students, STS was "on campus the firsrtwo or three days that See PHONES, page 2a ovations, exp o begin on duPont-Ball library By ANDY DEHNART Editor-in-Chief LIBRARY: Construction begins soon. Expansion ofthe duPont-Ball library is "moving forward," according to officials. Construction on three-story, 15,400 square foot addition, plus the renovation of the interior of the library, is expected to begin by late February, when contractors will begin work on the roof drain pipes, said David Noyes, vice president for facilities management. The parking lot east ofthe library will be closed within a few weeks, Noyes said. That, area will be used for construction equipment and trailers. Student parking at nearby Carson-Hollis Hall will not be affected. A fence will be placed around the perimeter of the library to designate the construction site. The library will remain "in operation throughout the project," which will last 14-15 months, Noyes said. The addition will include a new media center on the basement level, accessible through a sunken courtyard that will face Stetson Hall. A new circulation desk plus a video studio and presentation room are among the highlights ofthe renovation. The lighting in the basement and mezzanine will be replaced, as will the entire roof and the air conditioning and heating system. In order to facilitate better drainage from the moat area surrounding the library, a pond will be created in the Forest of Arden, near Sampson Hall. Overflow storm water will flow to the pond rather than flood the moat area, Noyes said. The proximity of Stetson Hall will contribute to the "certain level of inconvenience associated with trie construction process," Noyes said. Work will be conducted from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and some jobs will done at night. Noyes promoted to VP At their latest meeting, the trustees formally approved the promotion of David Noyes, director of facilities management for three years. Noyes is now vice president for facilities management. In addition to areas he managed previously—such as public safety and the physical plant—Noyes is now responsible for the business services division; which includes the bookstore^ post office, print shop, purchasing, the warehouse, and auxiliary housing. President H. Douglas Lee said in a statement that "Noyes has done an excellent job in leading his department, as well as in keeping the university's three-year, $9.5 million building initiative on track in a competitive construction market." Prior to working at Stetson, Noyes was director of facilities management at Philadelphia's Drexel University. He graduated from the Marine Maritime Academy in 1965. inside FORUM: Administration's credit card hypocrisy strikes again, 4a LIFE: Country artists rocked Stetson Weekend, 3b SPORTS: Hatters win basketball game, 4b ^l Forum 4 - 7a