»' ■ **":\-z
i.1
Stetson University February 23, 1993 Volume 105, Number 17
• Plys/MInos
issoe once again
a point of contention in opinions
Page 3
# The "Bonlta
Belles" to perform for first
time on campus
Page 6
• Christian rock
group 4H1M and
Stetson sisters
to perform a
benefit concert
Pages
• Lady Hats to
take on UF
Gators tonight
In basketball
Page 14
By Kent Meckley
Editor-in-Chief
Yesterday morning at 10:50
a.m. the calendar system which
included a Winter Term was struck
down with a vote of 78 to 63. The
vote ended a twenty-seven year tradition designed to give stud ents the
chance to experience education in a
new and novel way.
In the last six years Winter
Term has faced challenges a number of times from faculty and ad-
minisfcration who felt Stetson should
take a new direction. Five years
ago Winter Term survived an attack by the faculty on the basis of
overwhelming student support.
This time around, while student
support was present, it was not in
the same form as the past.
As a general rule, the more
senior members ofthe College of
Arts and Sciences supported Winder Term while the younger faculty
members across the university felt
that a change in the calender was
needed.
According to Dr. Craig
Maddox, of the music school, the
last time a vote in the Senate the
vote was 51-50 against Winter
Term. The final vote found 78
members against it and 63 members for it.
The outcome was unknown
until the very end, although Drs
Musser and Reiter indicated that
Winter Term had been ended as
they left Davis Hall after voting.
"This is my prediction." said
Musser as he gave the thumbs
down sign.
Will Florida follow Pennsylvania's example?
By Derek Ashworth
Campus Life Editor
As Florida legislators contemplate the future ofthe State Tuition
Voucher, students attending private schools like Stetson should be
concerned that their political leaders don't follow the example set by
Pennsylvania last year when that
state eliminated a century-old subsidy program benefiting private
institutions.
Eleven private colleges and
universities in Pennsylvania were
forced to adjust to operating with
$76 million less than they expected
as a result ofthe elimination of the
state program.
Education experts said
Pennsylvania's program and similar aid programs in states, including Florida and Alabama, have been
justified more by tradition and local
politics than logic.
Frank Newman, president of
the Education Commission of the
States, a Denver-based group that
advises state officials on education
policy, commented, "I think it's
ultimately a good thing that Pennsylvania pulled out. but it makes for
a very tough 1993 forthese schools.
Meanwhile, the Bundy Aid
Program in the state of New York,
which gives more than 100 private
colleges and universities a grant for
every degree awarded lias also fallen
victim to the state's budget crunch.
The program has shrank in the last
two years from $114 million to $36
million.
Twenty-one states have a total
of 59 programs which subsidize
private colleges and universities,
according to Associate Professor
William Zumeta of the Graduate
School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, who recently
conducted a study on such programs.
"The overall logic of these
programs," said Professor
Zumeta, "is that unless states subsidize private schools, more students would go to public institutions, and that would cost the
states more money.
Describing the cuts in education spending, Stephen Gold
directoroftheCenterforthe Stud\
of States at Rockefeller Institute
in Albany added, "It's a sign of
the times.
"Higher education is getting
hit worse than any other large
area of state spending because it's
seen as a cash cow for the rest of
the budget."
