Stetson University February 9,1993 Volume 105, Number 15
INSIDE
• Director of
Residential Life
supports
student's stand
on alternative
lifestyles.
Page 2
• Black History
mbnth is
celebrated with' a_
cajander of
events.
Page 6
• Photo montage
of Homecoming
events.
Page 8
x Baseball team
sweeps Mercer In
first three games
of season.
Page 13
Modifications may be made to save Winter Term
Serge Wk Desir
Staff Writer
In the final weeks before the
Faculty's decision on Winter Term,
Eric Carr has been a busy man.
Carr, Chair of the Student Government Student Association's Academic. Affairs committee, has been
the liaison between the Faculty and
the Student Body concerning this
hot subject. Recently in an interview, Carr discussed the history
and possible future of the Winter
Term conflict.
"Comes and goes," Carr replied to the history of keeping or
ending Winter Term. Carr explained that five years ago, Winter
Term was challengedby some members ofthe Faculty. Carr speculated
that to many ofthe Faculty, particularly the newer professors, Winter
Term was a large gap of time in
which very little teaching or learning could be done. However, Carr
believed that, like five years ago,
there is a chance that Winter Term
will continue to be an integral part
of Stetson because the Faculty
"...seems to feel adding a week to
or modifying [Winter Term] would
be fine."
Carr said, that in the long ran,
that the Faculty wants to compromise with students, especially after
the Winter Term Surveys, which
had been distributed last Novem-
Rumors unfounded:
numbers same as .'92
By Becky Bridges
Assistant Editor-in-Chief
With the return of students to
the campus for Winter Term, a
rumor started to circulate that there
were significantly fewer students
returning to Stetson than had left
after the fall semester. According
to the rumor, anywhere from 200 to
400 students were not returning to
Stetson for the remainder of the
academic year, for reasons ranging
from low GPAs to financial difficulties. Another part ofthe rumor
was that many ofthe students who
supposedly did not return were freshmen.
Thepercentage of students who
stay on at an institution until graduation is called the retention rate.
According to Dr. John Schorr, Director of Institutional Research for
Stetson, these rumors of a drastic
decrease in students returning to
Stetson after the fall semester are
unfounded. Dr. James Beasley,
Vice President and Dean of Cam
pus Life, also commented that the
rumors were unfounded. Beasley
noted that the number of students in
the residence halls during the first
week of this spring semester is the
exact same number, coincidentally,
as during the first week ofthe 1992
spring semester. This static reten-
tionrate inthe residence halls could
be used as an indicator ofthe university retention rate, according to
Beasley.
The retention rate of students
who enter Stetson and stay on until
they graduate is about 60%, according to Beasley. Schorr commented
that our retention rate is about average for an institution of our level of
selectivity. However Beasley commented that this is slightly below a
70% retention rate that universities
of our size and type average, and
: increasing our retention rate to 70%
. orMgher is a goal ofthe university.
Schorr said that there has been no
significant change in the
University's retention rate in the
past five years.
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
ber, revealed how students felt. Due
to the response ofthe students, Carr
explained, many ofthe opinions of
the Faculty have taken a change for
the better.
'"... seems to feel adding
a week to, or modifying
[Winter Term] "would be
fine."
—faculty response
to keeping Winter Temi
Carr strongly encouraged students to continue to show the same
interest in Winter Term again as
the final decision will be made. A
Winter Term Forum was held
on Monday, February 8 in the
ElizabethHall Auditorium. Carr
believes that a positive response
by the studentbody would greatly
influence thermal decision that
will be made by the Faculty
Monday, February 22.
Carr expects Winter Term
to be around for some time. '' If
nothing else," Carr said, "students interact with the Faculty
and community [during Winter
Term] moire that any other time
of the year." To him Winter
Term is a time that encourages
growth that without is "something you cannot teach.''
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This normally nocturnal raccoon has become a friend to the
residents of Stetson Hall. He scurries across the lawn and up
the trees surrounding the building and can be seen roaming
around during the lunch hour, (photo by Garrett Granroth)
