The Reporter

What's in this issue Faculty responds to Ukrainian unrest News, page 2 Overview of women's basketball season Sports, page 4 The unsung heroes of Stetson University Back, page 6 THE Vol. CXXI Issue 18 EPORTER Stetson University | DeLand, Fla. Public Safety follow-up Casey Kelly News Editor Three male students were written up after they admitted to Public Safety that they shot airsoft pellet guns on campus. Public Safety Officers Robert Casey and Dermis McGuire were dispatched to Gordis Hall at approximately 8 p.m. on Mar. 23 to investigate a call reporting that a student was seen with a pellet gun. An RA in Gordis Hall was doing rounds when he says he spotted a student running through the hallways with a pellet gun. The student was found and questioned by the officers. He claimed he and two other male students were shooting pellet guns in the field between Smith Hall and Gordis Hall. The pellet gun, a pink colored pistol, was confiscated by the officers. The officers then went to the rooms of the other two males and questioned them. Both admitted to shooting the pellet guns earlier. Their weapons, two pellet pistols, along with a cannister of pellet ammunition were also confiscated by the officers No further action was taken by Public Safety. •The students' names were redacted from the Public Safety incident report. TOP PHOTO: thereporter_su A #MissStetson contestant preparing for the pageant in her gown, which she made herself. The photo was taken in #1960 BOTTOM PHOTO: thereportersu A baby elephant takes the center stage during a winter skiing performance on #HatterHoliday, #1958 Study shows that credit transfers affect graduation rates Sarah Dean Staff Writer A new study found that the number of credits accepted by 4-year institutions from transfer students drastically affects how many of those students actually complete their bachelor's degrees. In addition, two in five transfers monitored in the study lost more than 10 percent of their earned credits during the transfer process. Stetson transfers have long voiced problems with losing their credits. However, The Reporter was unable to reach Stetson's Office of Admissions by press lime about how many students experience these situations. The study, conducted by City University of New York Education professor Dr. Paul Attewell and doctoral student David Monaghan, intended to measure students' success after they transfer from community colleges to 4-year institutions. The data was based on 13,000 records of freshman transfers who reported that they wanted to complete their bachelor's degrees. They found that the number of credits that students lost in the transfer process had a significant effect on whether or not those students actually finished their bachelor's degree in six years. Students who lost many credits were less likely to complete their degree than those whose credits transferred successfully. In addition", one in seven transfers actually had to restart their college careers because their new school accepted less than 10 percent of their earned credits. Some public four-year institutions are trying to address the problem of lost credits by making it simpler for students to transfer from community colleges. Currently, Stetson accepts up to 64 credits from other institutions. According to the Registrar's Office website, the credits "must be comparable with courses taught at Stetson." Simply passing the class or credit exam with a D- is not acceptable either. A student must have earned a C or above in the class or on the credit exam for Stetson to accept it. According to Enrollment Specialist Terri Richards, "Stetson does not accept technical or certificate type courses, courses taken to complete a technical degree, physical education cours.es, or any type of pre-college courses." Additionally, scores from Advanced Placement tests and the like must be above-average to transfer to Stetson. Freshman Galen McTaggart, who earned almost two whole semesters' worth of AICE and AP credits, said she had difficulty transferring her credits into Stetson. "I had to re-order them, and even then, the school would not accept them all," McTaggart said. Freshman Gigi Singh also said she had trouble transferring credits. In the end, Stetson only accepted 48 of her 64 earned credits. "After taking years of college courses in math, language and English, being told I have to do it again was very frustrating," Singh said. "It means instead of focusing on the courses I have now, I have to review and take other tests and stress to fight for credits I've already earned." A follow-up story will be posted online when more details about Stetson's transfer rates are available. # ThrowbackThursday Hatter Holiday LEFT PHOTO: thereporter_su Seniors swim in Deleon Springs during the #1965 #HatterHoliday BOTTOM PHOTO: thereporter_su Contestants for the #MissStetson pageant line up for the swimsuit round at #DeleonSprings. The photo was taken on #HatterHoliday in #1958. itm Stetson seniors knew how to party back in the day. In addition to spring break, seniors used to have an organized skip day each spring when the university oHk.'ialk cancelled classes and seniors met up at DcLeon Springs to enjoy Hatter Holiday. According to a 1965 edition of The Reporter, Hatter Holiday started after WWII as an organized senior skip day planned by the freshman class to celebrate being a Stetson Hatter. Judging by other articles through the years, everyone participated in the festivities, including faculty members and staff. Activities changed each year, but most of noteworthy ones happened in the 1960s. In 1965, the Stetson Skydiving Club supposedly I jumped from an airplane into the springs as an opening ceremony for Hatter Holiday that year, but we couldn't find any pictures to prove it. Seniors also participated in relay races against faculty members and water skiing, according to the archives. One year they even had a sunken treasure contest where raced to find prizes stashed all over the springs. But the most anticipated event appears to have been the crowning of Mr. and Mrs. Stetson each year. For the ladies, this meat going through a whole beauty competition, including a swimsuit round and an evening wear round (i.e., big d and even bigger hairdos). You can see more pictures of the latter in the archives. It's not clear why Stetson stopped celebrating Hatter Holiday, but we at The Reporter think it sounds like a fantastic idea. All photos courtesy Stetson University Library Archives Have your own idea for a WThrowbackThursday edition? Email it to [email protected] and it could be featured in our next issue!