Feb. 4, 2015

8
By Colleen Anderson Associate News Editor is is the second part of a four part series, al- lowing individuals to voice what they want in the next president. e next installations in the series will be published in consecutive weeks. Now that we’ve looked at what the students want, we asked the University of Toledo faculty the same question: what do you want in the next UT president? Aſter talking to a few professors, these were their responses: Administration/ Faculty relations Sharon Barnes, interim chair and associate professor of women and gender studies, said she thinks the relationship between administra- tion and faculty is one of the big- gest challenges the new president will have to face, despite the prog- ress she said Interim President Nagi Naganthan’s administration made. “We need a leader who can listen, and who is willing to work with the faculty,” Barnes said. “I think we’ve just had a situation where a lot of decision-making was top down.” According to Barnes, there have been times when the faculty identified issues early on, but “getting word back up through administration rarely resulted in a change that was productive.” Karen Hoblet, president of fac- ulty senate and assistant professor of nursing, said one issue many faculty would like to be addressed is the faculty hiring contract. “I think one of the biggest challenges is that there’s not an agreed-upon contract in place with the faculty,” Hoblet said. “at’s going to be a challenge. And it might be a challenge even getting someone to come here, if the collective bargaining agree- ment is not finalized with faculty.” According to Linda Rouillard, executive member of faculty senate and associate professor of French, another way for administration to improve relations with faculty is by showing appreciation for them. “[e new president] can be committed to compensating faculty fairly and equitably. ey could make an effort to under- stand better what it is that faculty do for our students, as opposed to assuming that what happens in the classroom can simply be put on a computer,” Rouillard said. Finances Rouillard said she thinks the economic situation of UT and the country is “going to create chal- lenges for the new president.” According to Barnes, one source of financial tension stems from the recent lack of state funding to the Wednesday, February 4, 2015 Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919 96th year • Issue 20 www.IndependentCollegian.com INSIDE Fittin’ in nicely Sophomore guard Jonathan Williams is acclimating well in his starting role this year, averaging 10.8 points per game. SPORTS / 3 » Cancer shop opens on UT’s medical campus Breast cancer survivor Renee Schick opened her business to help cancer survivors find all the products they need in a comfort- able environment. COMMUNITY / 6 » “Whatever the out- come of the faculty hiring plan, we sincerely hope the deans and individual departments at UT understand how in- fluential their hiring decisions will be for students...” EDITORIAL Hiring plan raises concern OPINION / 4 » “Perhaps you do not have the opportunity to study abroad. But you have the oppor- tunity to study the abroad at home.” JEANNETTE BEERBOWER Learning about other cultures while living at home OPINION / 4 » “Looking ahead at either of UT’s basket- ball teams ... you will have to do a lot of guesswork.” ROBERT HEARONS It is anyone’s guess this season SPORTS / 3 » ANDREA HARRIS / IC Guest speaker Joseph Trahan III, president and CEO of Trahan and Associates, discusses the importance of leadership during the UT Public Relations Student Society of America’s sixth annual Student Organization Gala. The event honored all organizations on campus. Student org gala recognized outstanding groups Feb. 3 AMENDMENT PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH SERIES “We need a leader who can listen ... I think we’ve had a situation where a lot of decision- making was top down.” SHARON BARNES Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies Faculty speak out High school students could join SG By Colleen Anderson Associate News Editor High school students could be eligible to debate legislation and vote on campus issues if a proposed amendment reaches a three-fourths majority in favor when it reaches the floor in two weeks. If passed, it would change a section of the SG constitu- tion to allow high school students enrolled at UT to be part of senate. However, they would still have to meet all the requirements that current senators are held to under the governing document. e amendment, pro- posed by SG Senator Robert Worthington, must be read during three different SG sessions before it can be con- sidered in a vote. Worthington said he thinks recruiting members early on could ultimately be beneficial for SG. “I went to Toledo Early College High School; this is my seventh year here,” Worthington said. “I believe the students there will be here longer than a lot of people, so I believe that it’s a chance for student government to get a really good foundation, and then students can become leaders early on.” SG Internal Affairs Chair Cody Spoon said he thinks the input of a non-collegiate student might add a new perspective to SG. “I guess you could see maybe a huge difference in opinion, maybe students with collegiate experience on campus might have dif- fering views,” Spoon said. “But at the same time, that difference in opinion could actually turn into a benefit, as a variety of opinions is kind of what you want in a govern- ment.” Currently, the SG constitu- tion includes a section that forbids categorical discrimi- nation based on numerous TUTORING PROGRAM Math tutoring program offers discussion-based learning Swim laps for a cause COMMUNITY / 7 » UT faculty share their opinions on what they are looking for in the next president See Faculty / 7 » By Trevor Stearns and Amalie Farah Associate News Editor and Staff Reporter inkTank Tuesdays is a new resource in the Student Union available to University of Toledo students who are seeking free algebra tutoring. Organized by Michele Martinez, executive director of academic support, inkTank Tuesdays take place in Student Union Room 2562 every Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. Sessions focus on a different basic algebra topic each meeting. e discussion-based tutoring sessions began Jan. 20, according to Martinez. “e program was initiated ba- sically to take tutoring out of the library and take it to where the students are, and one of the places the students are is the Student Union,” Martinez said. Dan Ita, a fourth-year majoring in education, is the tutor who leads the meetings at inkTank Tuesdays. He said the focus was for students to get more reinforcement in the con- cepts they were learning in class. “The idea for it was to get more general reinforcement closer within people’s peer groups, can correct misconcep- tions or clarify things that need clarifying,” Ita said. “It’s just See Amendment / 7 » ANDREA HARRIS / IC Tutor Dan Ita, a fourth-year education major, leads the meetings at ThinkTank Tuesdays. Pictured above on Feb. 3, Ita teaches a lesson on linear equations, functions and their graphs. See ThinkTank / 7 »

description

The Independent Collegian, student newspaper for the University of Toledo community, for Feb. 4, 2015.

Transcript of Feb. 4, 2015

Page 1: Feb. 4, 2015

By Colleen AndersonAssociate News Editor

This is the second part of a four part series, al-lowing individuals to voice what they want in the next president. The next

installations in the series will be published in consecutive weeks.

Now that we’ve looked at what the students want, we asked the University of Toledo faculty the same question: what do you want in the next UT president? After talking to a few professors, these were their responses:

Administration/Faculty relations

Sharon Barnes, interim chair and associate professor of women and gender studies, said she thinks the

relationship between administra-tion and faculty is one of the big-gest challenges the new president will have to face, despite the prog-ress she said Interim President Nagi Naganthan’s administration made.

“We need a leader who can listen, and who is willing to work with the faculty,” Barnes said. “I think we’ve just had a situation where a lot of decision-making was top down.”

According to Barnes, there have been times when the faculty identified issues early on, but “getting word back up through administration rarely resulted in a change that was productive.”

Karen Hoblet, president of fac-ulty senate and assistant professor of nursing, said one issue many faculty would like to be addressed is the faculty hiring contract.

“I think one of the biggest challenges is that there’s not an agreed-upon contract in place with the faculty,” Hoblet said.

“That’s going to be a challenge. And it might be a challenge even getting someone to come here, if the collective bargaining agree-ment is not finalized with faculty.”

According to Linda Rouillard, executive member of faculty senate and associate professor of French, another way for administration to improve relations with faculty is by showing appreciation for them.

“[The new president] can be committed to compensating faculty fairly and equitably. They could make an effort to under-stand better what it is that faculty

do for our students, as opposed to assuming that what happens in the classroom can simply be put on a computer,” Rouillard said.

FinancesRouillard said she thinks the

economic situation of UT and the country is “going to create chal-lenges for the new president.”

According to Barnes, one source of financial tension stems from the recent lack of state funding to the

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919

96th year • Issue 20

www.IndependentCollegian.com

INSIDE

Fittin’ in nicelySophomore guard Jonathan

Williams is acclimating well in his starting role this year, averaging 10.8 points per game.

SPORTS / 3 »

Cancer shop opens on UT’s medical campus

Breast cancer survivor Renee Schick opened her business to help cancer survivors find all the products they need in a comfort-able environment.

COMMUNITY / 6 »

““

“Whatever the out-come of the faculty hiring plan, we sincerely hope the deans and individual departments at UT understand how in-fluential their hiring decisions will be for students...”

EDITORIALHiring plan raises concern

OPINION / 4 »

“Perhaps you do not have the opportunity to study abroad. But you have the oppor-tunity to study the abroad at home.”

JEANNETTE BEERBOWERLearning about other

cultures while living at home OPINION / 4 »

“Looking ahead at either of UT’s basket-ball teams ... you will have to do a lot of guesswork.”

ROBERT HEARONSIt is anyone’s guess

this seasonSPORTS / 3 »

ANDREA HARRIS / ICGuest speaker Joseph Trahan III, president and CEO of Trahan and Associates, discusses the importance of leadership during the UT Public Relations Student Society of America’s sixth annual Student Organization Gala. The event honored all organizations on campus.

Student org gala recognized outstanding groups Feb. 3

AMENDMENT

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH SERIES

“We need a leader who can listen ... I think we’ve had a situation where a lot of decision-making was top down.”

SHARON BARNESInterim Chair and Associate Professor

of Women and Gender Studies

Faculty speak out

High school students could join SGBy Colleen AndersonAssociate News Editor

High school students could be eligible to debate legislation and vote on campus issues if a proposed amendment reaches a three-fourths majority in favor when it reaches the floor in two weeks.

If passed, it would change a section of the SG constitu-tion to allow high school students enrolled at UT to be part of senate. However, they would still have to meet all the requirements that current senators are held to under the governing document.

The amendment, pro-posed by SG Senator Robert Worthington, must be read during three different SG sessions before it can be con-sidered in a vote.

Worthington said he thinks recruiting members early on could ultimately be beneficial for SG.

“I went to Toledo Early College High School; this is my seventh year here,” Worthington said. “I believe the students there will be here longer than a lot of people, so I believe that it’s a chance for student government to get a really good foundation, and then students can become leaders early on.”

SG Internal Affairs Chair Cody Spoon said he thinks the input of a non-collegiate student might add a new perspective to SG.

“I guess you could see maybe a huge difference in opinion, maybe students with collegiate experience on campus might have dif-fering views,” Spoon said. “But at the same time, that difference in opinion could actually turn into a benefit, as a variety of opinions is kind of what you want in a govern-ment.”

Currently, the SG constitu-tion includes a section that forbids categorical discrimi-nation based on numerous

TUTORING PROGRAM

Math tutoring program offers discussion-based learning

Swim laps for a cause COMMUNITY / 7 »

UT faculty share their opinions on what they are looking for in the next president

See Faculty / 7 »

By Trevor Stearns and Amalie FarahAssociate News Editor and Staff Reporter

ThinkTank Tuesdays is a new resource in the Student Union available to University of Toledo students who are seeking free algebra tutoring.

Organized by Michele Martinez, executive director of academic support, ThinkTank Tuesdays take place in Student Union Room 2562 every Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. Sessions focus on a different basic algebra topic each meeting.

The discussion-based tutoring sessions began Jan. 20, according to Martinez.

“The program was initiated ba-sically to take tutoring out of the library and take it to where the students are, and one of the places the students are is the Student Union,” Martinez said.

Dan Ita, a fourth-year majoring in education, is the tutor who leads the meetings at ThinkTank Tuesdays. He said the focus was for students to

get more reinforcement in the con-cepts they were learning in class.

“The idea for it was to get more general reinforcement closer within people’s peer

groups, can correct misconcep-tions or clarify things that need clarifying,” Ita said. “It’s just

See Amendment / 7 »

ANDREA HARRIS / ICTutor Dan Ita, a fourth-year education major, leads the meetings at ThinkTank Tuesdays. Pictured above on Feb. 3, Ita teaches a lesson on linear equations, functions and their graphs.

See ThinkTank / 7 »

Page 2: Feb. 4, 2015

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2 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, February 4, 2015

CAMPUS DIGEST

Facebook.com/ICollegian www.IndependentCollegian.com

EDITORIALEditor-in-ChiefAmanda Eggert Managing EditorSamantha RhodesNewsAmanda Pitrof, editorColleen Anderson and Trevor

Stearns, assoc. editorsSportsBlake Bacho, editorRobert Hearons, assoc. editor

CommunityAlexandria Saba, editorJoe Heidenescher, assoc.

editorOpinionMorgan Rinckey, editorCopy deskLauren Gilbert, editorJared Hightower, editorPhotographyAndrea Harris, director of

photography Addy McPheron, assoc.

director Alex Campos, director of

sports photography

COLLEGIAN MEDIA FOUNDATIONGeneral ManagerDanielle Gamble

The Independent Collegian is published by the Collegian Media Foundation, a private, not-for-profit corpo-ration. © 2014

BUSINESSAdvertisingZachary Hartenburg,

sales managerAnthony Maulorico, Philip

Nolletti and William Wood-son, account executives

DistributionSamuel Derkin, managerOperations Andrew Rassel, manager

The Independent Collegian staffVisit us at Carlson Library, Suite 1057Write to us at 2801 W. Bancroft St., Mail Stop 530

Toledo, OH 43606Contact the editor at [email protected] by emailing [email protected]: 419-530-7788 Fax: 419-530-7770

ANDREA HARRIS / IC

A blast from Batman’s pastAssistant Professor of Film Matt Yockey, held a book-signing and discussion about his new book, “Batman.” It is a reflection of the Batman comics and how they were comedic rather than tragic like they are today. The signing was Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Vault of Midnight book store in Ann Arbor.

Page 3: Feb. 4, 2015

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 3

SPORTSFollow us on Twitter @IC_Sports www.IndependentCollegian.comLike us at Facebook.com/ICollegian

IN BRIEF

Aubrey Williams to attend Leadership Forum

University of Toledo sophomore forward Au-brey Williams has been selected, along with Ohio’s Abby Gilleland, as the Mid-American Conference representa-tives for the 2015 NCAA Leadership Forum in Orlando, Fla., the MAC announced Tuesday.

Williams, a Bowie, Md. native who is majoring in finance with a minor in sales, is active in the SAAC, Black Student Union and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

“I am hoping to learn more about the lives and issues other student-ath-letes like myself are deal-ing with and to come away with suggestions on how to resolve them,” Williams said in a school statement. “I am also hoping to learn the different things that other student-athletes are doing to help their schools and communities.”

The NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum, created in 1997, brings together a diverse representation of student-athletes, coaches, faculty and administrators. It is a networking opportunity for student-athletes, with nearly 5,000 of them having experienced the Forum since it’s inception.

This year’s Leadership Forum will take place on April 9-12.

Rockets to face off against Bulls

The University of Toledo women’s basketball team is set to reach the midway point of their Mid-American Conference season Wednesday night with a road game against Buffalo.

UT (12-7, 5-3 MAC) defeated arch-rival Bowling Green 64-48 in front of 3,498 fans in the Stroh Center Saturday, while Buffalo (11-8, 4-4 MAC) has won back-to-back contests, most re-cently defeating Eastern Michigan 75-63.

The Bulls are 4-3 at home this season, but fell to the Rockets at Savage Arena just two weeks ago. Toledo defeated UB 75-63 on Wednesday, Jan. 21 and will be looking for another victory in the two team’s 22nd meeting.

The Rockets are 18-3 all-time in the series, hav-ing won nine of the last 11 contests against the Bulls. Tip-off for the con-test is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN3.

Rockets to announce 2015 recruiting class

The University of Toledo football team is about to get an infusion of fresh blood.

The Rockets will announce the 2015 recruiting class at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The announcement will take place on Rocket Vision on UTRockets.com, but an-nouncements of individual signees will be posted on Twitter as national letters of intent are received via fax, beginning at 7 a.m.

As part of the event, there will be a special pre-sentation from the coach-ing staff at 5:30 p.m. in the Fetterman Practice Facility in Savage Arena prior to the UT men’s basketball game against Eastern Michigan. Fans wishing to attend the event, which will be a presentation of the 2015 recruiting class, must have a ticket for the basketball game.

It’s not Rocket Science! (Trivia)

Who was the latest baseball player to be elected into the Varsity T Hall of Fame and in what year was he selected?

MEN’S BASKETBALL

ROBERTHEARONS

ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR

COMMENTARY

Fittin’ in nicely

UT sophomore guard acclimating well in his starting role this yearBy Blake BachoSports Editor

It hasn’t taken long for sophomore guard Jonathan Williams to acclimate himself with his new role this season on the University of Toledo men’s basketball team.

But being the youngest member of a starting five isn’t anything new for Jon Jon. It’s actually a role he has played his entire life as the little brother to four older sisters, Doretha, Vershanda, Kenyetta and Carlisha.

The quartet can be seen at many of the Rockets’ games and they are pretty hard to miss thanks to their custom attire.

“All of them actually got some shirts made that say ‘Jon Jon’s sisters,’ and they’ve got my jersey number written on it,” Jon Jon said. “They come to most of the home games or the nearby games around the Michigan area.”

“My family support system is great. They just try to pick me up, same thing my team-mates try to do. If I have a bad game, they don’t like to see me down, they just say I got to worry about the next game, maintain my confi-dence. They believe in me, I just have to believe in myself.”

Jon Jon was a member of last year’s All-MAC Freshman Team, but he has experienced some hiccups during his first collegiate season as a starter.

Against Miami on Tuesday, Jan. 27, however, Jon Jon was the hero. He scored a game-high 18 points and notched ten rebounds for his first collegiate double-double, capping the night off with a one-handed dunk just before the final buzzer to kill the RedHawks’ chances at a comeback.

“That Miami game gave him a lot of confidence,” said UT senior guard Justin

Drummond. “[Jon Jon] didn’t play well for about two games and he’s young so he’s learning how to handle that. I think he did a great job coming back and playing well in that game [against Miami] and he actually helped us win the game.

“He was playing extremely well and kind of gave us that extra push at the end. I’m glad he’s back on his game.”

Jon Jon carried the mo-mentum generated against Miami into Toledo’s road contest with Northern Illinois, finishing with 11 points and going 3-of-5 from three-point land.

“Jon Jon is still a young player learning how to deal with adversity within himself and with the team,” Drum-mond explained. “He was kind of forcing it a little bit, but that Miami game kind of smoothed it out for him. He’s been playing really well. He had two big threes against Northern Illinois for us that kind of were the dagger at the end of the game. He steps up and makes big shots, we just have to keep him positive and he’ll be fine.”

Keeping Jon Jon level-headed is a task Drummond has taken upon himself, with Drummond mentoring Jon Jon and taking him under his wing from day one. The pair’s friendship took on a larger level of importance this sea-son with Jon Jon making the leap from the bench to the starting five, a decision UT’s head coach said was a simple one to make.

“It was an easy decision,” said Tod Kowalczyk. “I think he is a guy that has gotten so much better de-fensively, he’s a natural scor-er and he worked extremely hard in the offseason.

“I feel very confident if he has an opportunity to score late in a game that he is going to be able to make shots for us and make big shots.”

For a couple weeks those big shots weren’t finding the

bottom of the net. Jon Jon finished UT’s overtime loss to Western Michigan earlier in January with only two points off of six attempts, an example of the inconsistency he has struggled with at times this season.

“Young players tend to just kind of be on and off in a sense at times, they’re learn-ing,” Drummond said. “[Jon Jon] being with us, we accept him and we just try to teach him. We don’t let him hang his head on his mistakes be-cause he is young and he will make those mistakes.”

The growing pains were to be expected. Jon Jon was tasked with replacing former Rocket Rian Pearson, who finished his three-year career at Toledo ranked sixth all-time in scoring.

Jon Jon knew exactly what he needed to work on when he was told he’d be filling Pearson’s vacant starting slot.

“[I knew] I had to mature,” he said. “Freshman year I felt like I was a little immature, that’s what Coach wanted me to grow as; he wanted me to be a better team player. I had some big shoes to fill in Rian Pearson, so I just

wanted to get my maturity level up during the summer and come back as a better all-around team player.”

Jon Jon’s maturation will pay dividends for the Rockets next year, as three of the team’s starters are set to graduate at the end of this season. Beyond the on-court production, UT will also be in need of a new vocal leader to fill the departed players’ shoes.

Throughout everything, Jon Jon has maintained a belief in his own abilities and a confidence in what he can achieve. When the time comes to become a leader for his team, he says he is ready for the chal-lenge.

“I’m a confident guy,” Jon Jon said. “Just like in high school, my role changed just about every year so every year I had to step up and be a bigger player. I feel like that comes with more matu-rity and confidence and hard work ethic over the summer and offseason.

“I feel like I can fill those shoes, even though they are big shoes to fill. I feel like I can step up and be a bigger player.”

“I’m a confident guy...”

JON JON WILLIAMSUT sophomore guard

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSSophomore guard Jonathan Williams (pictured above against Northern Arizona) was named a UT starter prior to the beginning of the season to replace departed Rocket Rian Pearson. Jon Jon is averaging 10.8 points per game.

“He steps up and makes big shots, we just have to keep him positive and he’ll be fine.”

JUSTIN DRUMMONDUT senior guard

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSJon Jon (shown driving to the basket against Akron) scored 18 points and notched 10 rebounds against Miami last week, his first collegiate double double.

It is anyone’s

guess this

season The University of Toledo

men and women’s basketball teams have been here, there and everywhere in between this season.

From blow-out victories to head-scratching losses, it’s tough to grasp just where these two programs are heading as we make our way into the month of February and beyond. Good streaks followed by bad streaks, sub-par play followed by breathtaking effort — at this point, it’s really anyone’s guess as to where these teams finish.

But I’m going to take a stab at it anyway.

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who saw the men’s basketball team dropping three out of their first five conference games. The sub-par record coming off a difficult non-conference schedule was to be expected; in fact, matchups versus the likes of Duke, VCU and Oregon should have rendered the Rockets battle-ready for conference play.

In reality, they have seemed battle-weary. The first half of conference play has simply been a struggle, and while fans would hope that the newly-minted winning streak is a sign of things to come, it’s difficult to have confidence yet in this sporadic group.

The winning streak will be put on the line Wednes-day night when UT hosts Eastern Michigan, a team that enters Savage Arena boasting a 14-7 record.

The Eagles will no doubt be a challenge for Toledo’s defense. The Rockets have struggled on that side of the ball all season, but as of late they have begun to clean up their act. Junior center Nathan Boothe has been engaged on both ends of the floor the past few games, and when he is, Toledo becomes tough to score on down low.

On offense, the Rockets are as potent as ever. They still sometimes sink into scoring draughts, but teams always have to put up big numbers if they want to match UT stride for stride.

Ok, so we’ve covered the men’s team, but they are only half the equation on this campus. The women’s team has had its share of ups and downs this season as well.

The Rockets have left many only able to guess what may come next. A couple weeks in, they

See Guess / 7 »

Looking ahead at either of UT’s basketball teams...you will have to do a lot of guesswork.

Troy Keegan in 2010

Page 4: Feb. 4, 2015

Take a look at your professors now — they could be part of the estimated 100 retiring this year. While you might be happy to hear this, news of a hiring plan leaves us questioning how well the new professors will teach.

The university plans on having individual departments and deans decide whom they would prefer to hire and then they will get the administration’s approval to hire them. This sounds like a smart plan because the decision of who will become new lec-turers won’t be outsourced to people who don’t have a clue how the department is run. If the department doesn’t select the can-didates, there is no real way to tell if the new professor is going to teach the required material or mesh with the other professors’

teaching styles. The problem with

the plan is that The University of Toledo is probably looking into hiring lecturers who are not on the tenure track. It’s no secret — it costs less in the long run to hire potentially tem-porary lecturers rath-er than those who will become tenured. Tenured professors are paid more be-cause they have been

at UT longer and because they usually are involved in research that keeps them qualified and most capable in their field. And when those 100 most likely tenured professors retire, they will be replaced with others who are paid considerably less and are cheaper to maintain. Even Interim Provost John Barrett said it in last week’s front page story — by following this faculty hir-ing plan, UT is looking at saving around one million dollars.

Tenure is a controversial issue at universities for students, depending on who you ask. Most of us have stories about ten-ured professors who take advantage of their status, don’t effec-tively teach the material and expect you to know information that wasn’t covered in the notes, lecture or textbook for the exam. Some of our staff even recall having tenured professors who love to ramble endlessly about off-topic subjects during class time that we paid for.

As a result, we’re sure some students are excited to see some of these professors swapped out for new teachers who are more in tune with modern teaching styles. But is raising a crop of non-tenure-track professors the best option? Tenured professors are the ones who will stay rooted here until retire-ment, providing the university with knowledgeable first-hand experience and expertise in each field. Without them, how can the university maintain such a high academic profile?

On the other hand, the potential professors UT is looking into hiring might not be so prepared. Many of the professors who are interested in tenure won’t come here because it’s currently unclear if they will ever be granted tenure. In some cases, this could leave departments scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find someone to work at the university. And those professors probably won’t be the worst, but they won’t be the best either.

So next year where does that leave we students? Well, it could mean sitting in class and hearing a rough lecture from a new professor who is just learning how to teach effectively and getting used to the UT classroom environment. But it could also mean being involved in office-hour conversations and answering questions in class because the new professor is able to spark participation.

The University of Toledo has both good and bad professors. Some are tenured and some are not. Whatever the outcome of the faculty hiring plan, we sincerely hope the deans and individual departments at UT understand how influential their hiring deci-sions will be for students, especially incoming freshmen in the fall. These decisions matter and deserve the utmost attention.

It was a cold spring evening. Over a dozen Chinese students, visiting scholars and their families milled about my family’s almost-an-acre yard. A few young boys jumped on our trampoline with my younger brothers. Women stood around chatting about the garden in the fast-paced tones of Chinese. An adorable little two-year-old named something like Mau-Mau giggled and patted the cat. Communi-cating with a two-year-old is difficult at best, and with one who does not speak your language, it is even more so. But it is amazing how much one can com-municate with smiles and gestures and speech, even if one can-not understand the words.

My dad and one of the visiting schol-ars father wandered below the trees and through the fallen leaves. Jabbering to each other, they pointed at things. Laughing and nodding, they talked on and on. The fact that they did not understand one word the other said did not faze them. They went on as if they were old friends.

Here at the University of Toledo, we have the amazing opportunity of being able to experience the world without having to leave the comfort of our own homes — or more often, our dorms, the Student Union or a classroom. Many international students, particu-larly Chinese and Saudi Arabian, come to study at UT, bringing the opportu-nity for students to experience their culture with them.

Imagine, especially if you have never learned another language, though hopefully you have, going to a country you have never been to, where you do not know the language, the culture or the people. Besides the difficulties of simply surviving, you will miss the comfort of a familiar language and easy communication. Would you not be delighted if a

someone native to the country took an interest in you? But you will find that if you invest in a relationship with an

international student, you won’t be the only one benefiting.

That day last spring, my family had invited the Campus Bible Fel-lowship Interna-tional Bible study over for a potluck

and bonfire. We enjoyed the authen-tic food: a delightful Chinese pancake, which was more like a tortilla, spicy fried vegetables, their ever-popular dump-lings and, as always,

rice. We also enjoyed watching them have strawberry shortcake for the first time. Some of them had it without shortcake, as they generally do not like sweets. At the announcement of ice cream, however, the irrepressible squealing showed that the appeal of ice cream does indeed cut across cultures.

Then we moved to the sandbox in the backyard and lit the wood for the bonfire. I think none of them had been to a bonfire before, and they were fascinated. We sang songs for them. They knew many Ameri-can pop songs that my family did not. American pop culture is popular in China as well. When it was time for s’mores, they were eager to try them. Little Mau-Mau cupped a raw marshmal-low in her hand for the first time. She took a bite and then stood staring at it wonderingly. Then she quickly ate up the rest.

Later, I heard from one of the visi-tors that the man my dad had talked

with still talks about going to our house. Despite being unable to talk to any of us without someone translat-ing, he said that visiting an American family was one of his favorite parts of his trip to America. My younger brother sometimes exchanges emails with one of the boys he connected with. When the boy showed pictures to his friends back in China, they questioned him. They envied him for having an American friend.

School always comes up in con-versation, so I tried to explain home-schooling to women who are used to a compulsory system so different from American culture. For example, in China, sports (already usually limited to a few hours per week) are stopped for a few weeks before midterm exams. Teachers really push the students, I have been told by a number of women. “I think it is very hard for the kids,” they tell me. But the kids are very dedicated. They have to be because the expectations for school are so high. As young as eight or nine, a Chinese student’s life consists mainly of school with very little free time. While the

women agreed that they don’t really like this ar-rangement, American students, who are idle in comparison, could learn a lot from this different perspective.

These are the sorts of things one learns while discussing culture with non-Americans. Enlightening, challeng-ing, fascinating — these conversations broaden your mind to different ways of thinking and

living. Perhaps you do not have the opportunity to study abroad. But you have the opportunity to study the abroad at home. Next time you come into contact with an international student, make a new friend and ask to join in each other’s worlds.

Jeannette Beerbower is a third-year majoring in English.

4 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, February 4, 2015

OPINIONSend letters to the editor to [email protected] www.IndependentCollegian.com

EDITORIAL

COMMENTARY

Hiring plan raises concern

Learning about other cultures while living at home

JEANNETTE BEERBOWER

IC COLUMNIST

The new hiring plan will lead to excess work for lecturers

To the editor: I wish to add to the comments I made to the IC last week ("UT Plans for Loss of about 100 Profes-sors"). While I appreciate some characteristics of Provost Barrett's hiring plan, I remain concerned about other aspects, namely the consequences of potentially replac-ing too many tenure-track lines with lecturer positions. My concern is not with the level of commitment or quali-fication of lecturers, for I take it as self-evident that UT lecturers are dedicated to their disciplines, students and the institution. Lecturers already have a heavy teaching load, often teaching multiple sections with hundreds of students. A reduction in tenure-track faculty will likely add increased pressure for lecturers to perform even more service and committee work than they already do. Faculty are asked to provide more service learning and internships opportuni-ties, in addition to traditional practicums, and clinical training for our students, activities which require coordina-tion, supervision and evaluation. I fear that the decline in the number of tenured/tenure track faculty will mean that lecturers will have to shoulder even more of these respon-sibilities than they already do. My question is this: will UT respond to the commitments of tenure-track and lecturer faculty with the same level of commitment by creating a good working environment? Remember, faculty working conditions are student learning conditions.

— Linda Rouillard, Associate Professor

Time is a very important factor that everyone, especially students, wishes they had total control over, but unfortunately it has turned out to be one of a student’s worst enemies. This is mainly because it goes faster during the holidays and slower when taking bor-ing classes. Moreover, most students hold strongly to the belief that being a student is a job on its own because of how cumbersome the school workload is. But, as intense as school work is, students never hesitate to procrastinate.

I, as a student, have virtu-ally loafed through all my days in school, which has prevented me from achiev-ing a lot of the results I have desired. Hence, at the beginning of the fall se-mester, I decided to be accountable for every second I spent, especially with my school work, even though I was aware of how difficult it would be.

I started my travail with time man-agement by committing everything into God’s hands, as my parents often advised me each time I was faced with a difficult task. Then I set certain rules and regulations that I intended to strictly adhere to. Knowing fully well the kind of person I am, I definitely needed someone to help me oblige these rules, so I sought the help of a

very close friend.The next step I took was identify-

ing the unproductive activities that I spent a major part of my time on.

And just like most students, social media was re-sponsible for about 60 percent of my habit as a chronic procrastinator. I just always got distracted from whatever I found

myself doing each time I got notifi-cations from my Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Face-book and several other social media accounts. Then I decided to both take the bold step

of deleting most of the applications on my phone that always kept me un-necessarily occupied and to generally stay away from my phone. Initially, it felt like I was never going to survive it, but it soon became a part of me as time went on.

Afterwards, I bought a pack of plan-ners to complement my determination to “write it all out.” I decided to plan my week before I went to bed every Sunday night by making a list of my tasks ahead for the week. And in doing so, I ensured that I made myself a scale of preference by doing the quick and more important tasks first before doing

the others which are of less impor-tance. Considering my nature as a very bemused person, I wrote out every-thing that came to mind into my plan-ner, since I not only took it everywhere I went but also went through it more than 20 times in a day.

In addition, at the end of every week, I would look back at the list that I had made for the week and account for the things I achieved by being time conscious, things that I did not do properly, things that I needed to pay more attention to and those that I totally neglected. Then, I constantly tried to remind myself of the conse-quences that I could face if I did not manage my time properly.

As often as I did all of these, I regularly tried to encourage myself. I never ceased to remind myself that my sacrifices would definitely not be in vain and that in the end it will all be worth it. I compensated myself by looking at things from the brighter perspective that it was going to make me a more responsible, diligent and accountable person and above all get better grades.

In the end, I was extremely overwhelmed at the outcome of this approach to effective time manage-ment and I believe every student should also exhibit this habitude especially since the semester just began as it immensely contributes to getting good grades.

Lasisi Oreoluwa is a second-year majoring in pharmacy.

LASISI OREOLUWA

IC COLUMNIST

COMMENTARY

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

My attempt to not procrastinate

Is the upcoming plan to hire mainly non-tenure track

professors best for the university?

Whatever the outcome of the faculty hiring plan, we sincerely hope the deans and individual departments at UT understand how influential their hiring decisions will be for students.

Perhaps you do not have the opportunity to study abroad. But you have the opportunity to study the abroad at home.

Editorials appearing on this page represent the consensus view of the editorial staff. Columns and letters to the editor reflect the opinions

of their authors, not those of The Independent Collegian.

EDITORIAL BOARDAmanda Eggert

Trevor StearnsAmanda Pitrof

Samantha Rhodes Morgan Rinckey Colleen Anderson

Page 5: Feb. 4, 2015

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 5

PUZZLESTHEME: BE MY

VALENTINE

ACROSS1. Range rovers6. Effervescence9. “Hamlet” has five of

these13. Heads-up14. Hula necklace15. Accustom16. Relating to moon17. Big coffee holder18. Three-masted vessel

formerly used in Mediterranean

19. *A top Valentine’s Day seller

21. *”How do I love thee? Let me count ___ ____”

23. It follows the note soh

24. *In the ____ for love25. Golf’s Ryder ____28. Flexible mineral30. *He officiates many

weddings35. Bryce Canyon state37. Grannies39. *Love in Paris40. It distinguishes a

father from a son in French

41. Lowest deck43. Away from port44. Annoyed46. Kind of pickle47. Calf-length skirt48. Broadband

predecessor50. Capital of Ukraine52. Bottom line53. Jab55. “___, borrow or steal”57. Desdemona’s

suspicious husband61. Properly deserved65. Innocent66. *It’s the loneliest

number?68. Egg-shaped69. The Dow, e.g.70. *Barbie’s beau71. Sherpa’s land72. Subsequently or

soon afterwards73. *I love ___74. Anoint

DOWN1. One of two equal

parts2. Twelfth month of

Jewish year3. Known for gambling4. A southern _____5. “Islands in the

______,” by Rogers and Parton

6. *Bring a date or a ____ one

7. Ever, to a poet8. Spotted bean9. Again10. Target of Bay of Pigs

invasion11. Deuce topper12. Seconds15. Outdoor stone

seating20. Endangered species22. Before skip and a

jump24. Resembling a

human25. *His aim is true?26. Wombs27. Winter wear29. *It often

accompanies #19 Across

31. Prayer leader in

mosque32. Fluorescent red dye33. Elvis’s “Blue _____

Shoes”34. Distinguishing

feature36. Last piece of a loaf38. Musical composition

for one, pl.42. A military trainee45. 2-unit house49. One who’s active in

politics51. *Romeo and Juliet’s

hometown54. Like the Addams

Family56. Established fact57. “Put a lid __ __!”58. Hyperbolic tangent59. What those on the

lam do60. 2 and 4, e.g.61. *It’s usually full of

romantic fare on Valentine’s Day

62. Broken at finish line63. And others, for short64. To erase or cancel67. “New” prefix

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Last week’s solution

CLASSIFIEDSTo place a classified ad call 419-530-7788 or email [email protected]. Ads must be received by 5 p.m. Monday. Please read your ad on the first day of publication and call immediately if there are any errors; we accept responsibility only for the first day of

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Page 6: Feb. 4, 2015

6 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, February 4, 2015

COMMUNITYCALENDAR

Wednesday, Feb. 44 p.m. -- Multifaith

service-learning project, the Center for Religious Understanding will be organizing students to help tutor and mentor 4th-8th graders from Chase Academy, a Toledo Public School in the Old North End, after school. Contact Sabina Serratos at [email protected] or 419-530-2992 to register as a volunteer or for more information.

Saturday, Feb. 71 p.m. -- Spike Out

Arthritis, hosted by Alpha Omicron Pi, is an annual volleyball tournament fundraiser that raises money for the Arthritis Foundation. The event will be held at the Health Education Building.

Monday, Feb. 97:30 p.m. -- UT Jazz

Night, the UT jazz faculty group CrossCurrents and student jazz group will per-form at Crystal’s Lounge in the Ramada Hotel & Con-ference Center. Tickets are $5 at the door for general public, students will be charged $3. Thursday, Feb. 12

10 p.m. -- Pizza for Patients, hosted by Delta Delta Delta, is a philanthro-py event that raises money for Mercy Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Miracle Network. Tickets are $4 in advance and $5 at the door.

Friday, Feb. 209 a.m. -- Project Prom

Dress, The Catholic Stu-dent Association will be collecting prom dresses to donate to Toledo Public Schools students. Drop off dresses at Corpus Christi University Parish by Feb. 20. in advance and $5 at the door.

Follow us on Twitter @TheICToledo www.IndependentCollegian.comLike us at Facebook.com/ICollegian

SURVIVOR SHOP

Cancer shop opens on UT’s medical campusBy Josie SchreiberStaff Reporter

Renee Schick cares about people battling cancer — and about their ability to find cancer-related products with ease.

The University of Toledo’s Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center welcomed Renee’s Sur-vivor Shop with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 15.

Schick, the shop’s manager and owner of the original Renee’s Survivor Shop, opened her busi-ness to help cancer survivors find all the products they need in a comfortable environment.

The store carries items to ease treatment side effects, such as mastectomy products, chemotherapy and radiation related items, wigs and head coverings, lymphedema sleeves and post-surgical camisoles as well as other comfort products and gifts.

Schick is also a certified mastectomy fitter and said she consistently keeps up with her certification renewal. As a result, the shop offers mastectomy fittings by appointment.

The fittings as well as many of the store’s other products can be billed to insurance.

Schick is very familiar with cancer-related hardships — she’s a breast cancer survivor.

She said was diagnosed at 36 years old with breast cancer.

“At the time I was diagnosed, my doctor mentioned that there was about a five per-cent chance that someone at my age would get this cancer,” Schick said.

She said she had four chemotherapy treatments every three weeks while battling cancer and 36 radiation treatments in total.

“I realized that with everything I experienced from my surgeries and treatments, there was not a place that carried what I needed for the side effects I experi-enced,” Schick said.

Her cancer-related struggles inspired her to open the first Re-nee’s Survivor Shop at 5401 Secor Rd. How-ever, she said the shop had been closed for the past five months before moving to UT.

According to Schick, she closed the shop because she found herself getting sidetracked from her main goal.

“With all the changes with health care, I found myself being distracted and drawn away from why I originally started my business and that was to help other cancer patients,” she said.

Schick said she decided to reopen the shop for the same reason she started it, and that being a part of UT has allowed her business proximity to those who really need her products.

Customer Patricia Kohn gave the shop positive reviews after searching for hats and eventually a wig due to alopecia, a condition that causes a person’s hair to fall out.

“Renee and her staff treated me with such kindness and dignity,” Kohn said.

According to Kohn, Schick and her staff are highly knowledgeable and very helpful to all of their customers.

“I always left the shop feeling better about myself,” Kohn said. “If there was anything that I needed and they didn’t have it in stock, they would order it.”

According to Schick, her favorite part about the shop is that everyone who volunteers there is either a cancer survivor or has been impacted by cancer in some way.

“We all feel the same as far as helping cancer patients, and that is what it’s all about,” she said.

Renee’s Survivor Shop, located on the first floor

of the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Private evening appointments are available upon request.

To make an appointment with Schick, call 419-383-5243 or email [email protected].

PHILANTHROPY EVENT

Swim laps for a causeUT students are invited to swim laps to raise money to send children with diabetes to campBy Anna GloreStaff Reporter

For the second year, University of Toledo students will swim laps to raise money that will send diabetic children to camp.

The event is hosted by UT’s Lamb-da Sigma National Honor Society and will be on Feb. 21 and 22 at the Student Rec Center pool.

Jacob Pawelczyk, a third-year business major, member of Lambda Sigma and in charge of the marketing for this event, said that 45 swimmers took part in the event last year.

“This year we are looking to in-crease that number to 80,” he said.

Students and members of the com-munity are invited to participate and can sign up throughout the day to swim.

“All the money raised is donated to a great cause. The money raised gives the opportunity for a kid with diabetes to be sent to camp for a week.” said Toebben Bolte, second-year pharmacy major and a member of Lamda Sigma who helped plan the event.

Bolte said that the goal this year is to raise at least $1,500 in order to send two children Camp Ho Mita Koda, put on by the Diabetes Partnership of Cleveland.

“Our goal this year is to attract more of the student body, faculty and everyone from the surrounding community,” said Gabe Widener, a third-year phar-macy major and the founder of UT Laps for Diabetes.

According to Pawelczyk, swimming

is not the only way to raise money for this cause.

“Anyone who would like to partici-pate, but not swim, is also welcomed to donate to the cause. Last year we had 73 people donate and raised

$1,300,” Pawel-czyk said.

Pawelczyk said that the event origi-nated because the founders said he realized there weren’t any philanthro-pies on UT’s campus which

supported diabetes. “Being the only or one of the few

diabetes philanthropy events on cam-pus, UT Laps for Diabetes is a great

way for those who have been affected by diabetes or who know someone who has been affected by diabetes to give back,” Pawelczyk said.

Widener said that he hopes this event will show the community the great things that students do.

Widener founded this event be-cause of how personal it is to him.

“My father was diagnosed with type one diabetes when he was 21 and then my uncle was diagnosed at the age of 8,” Widener said. “It has been something that has indirectly affected me my entire life.”

Since this is only the second year the event has been held, members of Lambda Sigma hope it will be an annual event.

“This is another event for students to get involved in and change the life of a kid for just $10. It gives the students the opportunity to make a

difference in the world,” Bolte said.The events on Saturday, Feb. 21 will

go from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 22 from noon to 4 p.m.

Pawelczyk said that “mini events” will be held on Feb. 21, such as a relay race, diving contest, biggest splash contest and water basketball.

More information about the event, as well as sign-up informa-tion can be found on the UT Laps for Diabetes Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/laps-fordiabetes.

COURTESY OF UT LAPS FOR DIABETESParticipants at last year’s event swim at the UT Rec Center. They raised around $1,300 to send children with diabetes to a camp that teaches them how to better manage their diets and lifestyles.

ANDREA HARRIS / ICRenee Schick fixes one of the scarves on a mannequin at her store.

If you goWhat: UT Laps for Diabetes.Where: UT Rec Center. When: Feb. 21 and 22.Sponsored by: Lambda

Sigma National Honor Society.

“It has been something that has indirectly affected me my entire life.”

GABE WIDENERA third-year pharmacy major and

the founder of UT Laps for Diabetes

“We all feel the same as far as helping cancer patients, and that is what it’s all about.”

RENEE SCHICKOwner of Renee’s Survivor Shop

Page 7: Feb. 4, 2015

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 7

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The change worked to per-fection, with UT winning five straight games and opening up conference play with a pair of victories. Unpredictability, how-ever, has once again reared its ugly head as of late, with Toledo 3-3 over their last six contests.

The Rockets are riding high after defeating Bowling Green on the road last weekend, but heading into Wednesday’s game

at Buffalo, it’s anyone’s guess as to what you will see from this squad.

Last season, the men’s team earned a bye all the way to the semifinal game, winning that match-up but falling in the Championship round against Western Michigan.

The women’s team had to start from the bottom of the bracket and won one game before being booted from contention.

This year, neither squad has experienced large quantities

of consistency, but both have shown the ability to persevere and emerge victorious. With the MAC Tournament just around the corner, Cullop and Kowalczyk have their work cut out for them. But neither is wet behind the ears and both know what it takes to win.

I still believe both of Toledo’s teams will make waves in the MAC Tournament, but how far they will go is another question entirely.

My prediction? Don’t bet against either one.

Guess from page 3

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university. “Stepping back from the fac-

ulty perspective, I think the lack of state support for education is just creating a lot of financial pressures,” Barnes said. “We are a public, state institution, but we do not get a lot of state support, and so it makes it really hard.”

Vijaya Devabhaktuni, pro-fessor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, said the handling of budget cuts has been a financial issue in the past and is one he thinks faculty will continue to be interested in researching.

“In the last couple of years, when Lloyd Jacobs was presi-dent, there were a lot of cuts at the colleges,” Devabhak-tuni said. “The effect was that when we lost faculty to retire-ment and relegation to other places, we couldn’t replace those positions.”

Devabhaktuni said the important questions to ask are what will happen next and how the new president will handle the cuts.

EnrollmentWhile university enhance-

ment includes many different topics, several faculty members

gave specific aspects of the uni-versity that could be improved upon, such as enrollment numbers.

“I think we need to look at our structures; who’s succeed-ing in increasing or maintaining enrollment? Who’s not?” Hoblet asked. “Are students wanting to come to the University of Toledo? Yes or no? And why do they want to come here?”

Hoblet said UT needs to de-cide what this institution is best at and promote it more.

“We need to capitalize on community relationships and other relationships that extend far beyond our state borders,” Hoblet said.

Devabhaktuni said enroll-ment has been declining gradually since 2008; however, he thinks that if enrollment increases, it will result in “an extremely healthy university academically and financially.”

At higher levels of enroll-

ment, Devabhaktuni said, “we could again start hiring faculty, we could open up more services for our students that have been closed, we can spend more resources on instructional facilities, scholarships.”

CollaborationRouillard said one of the

most important qualities for the new president to possess will be the ability to collabo-rate with faculty.

“I hope that the new presi-dent will make a concerted, genuine effort to listen to facul-ty, to take counsel from faculty regarding the direction of the institution,” Rouillard said.

Her view is shared by Hoblet, who said there are numerous ways for the new president to include not only the faculty, but also the students in the decision-making process.

“I think they need to hold faculty forums, talk to faculty, meet with Faculty Senate, in-volve Faculty Senate and faculty in committee structure that they create within the univer-sity,” Hoblet said.

Barnes said the recent faculty and administration relationship “wasn’t too good,” which makes collaboration between these two groups essential.

“We’re all here for educa-tional purposes but that it’s

really important that we work together, that it’s not ‘my way or the highway,’” Barnes said.

Student-centeredness“I would like to see some-

one who is interested first and foremost in the welfare of the institution, the students and the faculty and staff,” Rouillard said. “That’s not a given, because we have certainly seen in the past how administrators come and go, and use the institution and its resources for their own career purposes.”

Barnes said she wants someone who understands and appreciates the diversity of UT’s community.

“We want the president to be culturally aware of the needs of our student commu-nity, and faculty and staff too, but especially our students,” Barnes said. “Somebody sensi-tive to diversity and interested in what positive, productive things happen out of the strange and glorious mix of people we have here.”

Devabhaktuni said another way for the president to be more student-centered is to work on creating more jobs off-campus for students.

DecisivenessOne quality Devabhaktuni

would like to see in the new president is for him or her to pri-oritize the university’s problems.

“The newcomer has to set our priorities such that when they address those priorities, all our problems are solved,” Dev-abhaktuni said. “But you can’t have a hundred priorities; if you have a hundred problems, by setting five priorities, you cure a hundred problems.”

Hoblet said the presidential candidate must have a good ethical compass and “involve people, be transparent about decisions and make hard, dif-ficult decisions that often need to be made.”

She said the new president must be able to act decisively, rather than getting caught up in details.

“When there are prob-lems, don’t get mired in paralysis from analysis; otherwise, you analyze the Dickens out of something and can’t make a decision or act upon data,” Hoblet said.

More on the search“I think the job that the

search committee has done receives my highest con-gratulations and accolades,” Devabhaktuni said. “This candidate pool is a five-star pool of candidates.”

On the other hand, Rouillard voiced her concerns about the performance of the search firm hired by the university.

“Many of us are concerned that the search firm that was hired to do this search could only bring to us 29 viable candidates for this position,” Rouillard said.

Some faculty, Barnes said, were surprised to see that Naganathan was not one of the finalists.

“I think some folks have been disappointed,” Barnes said. “I didn’t know Nagi really well, but my sense was that the atmosphere on campus was a lot better this year, and so in that sense I’m disappointed.”

Faculty from page 1

to fill in the nooks and crannies with whatever questions they may have lingering once they get out of lecture.”

Joe McVeen, a fourth-year electrical engineering major, doesn’t think this new program is different from the UT tutor-ing sessions in place now.

“I don’t see how much it differs from the study tables downstairs in terms of ef-fectiveness on the student end,” McVeen said.

Robert Kiser, a first-year engineering major and one

of the students who attends ThinkTank Tuesdays, said there is nothing wrong with the pro-gram, just that he wishes more students would use it.

“I knew that he [Ita] was going to be teaching here today and he just puts math in terms that I can understand and I’ve been away from school for so long that I need that,” he said.

However, Ita said the pro-gram is being underutilized. So far, no students attended the first week, one student attended the second week, and two students attended Feb. 3.

“People who struggle in math tend to be people

who aren’t very social about wanting to practice math,” McVeen said. “They kind of think like ‘I suck at math’ and people aren’t usually willing to express their weaknesses.”

McVeen also said the time the program is held may con-tribute to the lack of attendance.

“In my experience probably a little bit later, between five and seven, would be more universal-ly available to people,” McVeen said. “Three to five, a lot of classes are finishing up then.”

Ita said part of the reason why so few students have used this program is because if they spend enough time at the study

tables over the semester, they receive extra credit.

McVeen said the two-hour-long sessions were just short enough to keep students’ atten-tion for the duration; how-ever, if there were incentives involved, he thinks the classes could go longer.

Ita said students who want to come to the sessions should have some questions ready.

“So far it has been pretty fluid,” he said. “People will come in and we can talk about whatever they want. Really, just prepared to come here as they would be to go to their profes-sor’s office hours.”

ThinkTankfrom page 1

factors, including sex, orienta-tion and age.

Chief Justice Sebastian Wright said Worthington noticed the original line in the constitution concerning age and decided to propose an amendment.

“He does come from that background, Toledo Early

[College] High School,” Wright said. “I guess just nobody really thought about it before, and he’s trying to make sure that everybody gets representation, because that’s just the kind of guy he is.”

Spoon said a possible issue with the amendment would be an imbalance of high school and college students.

“I think it should be revised to allow a limited number of them to join, just

in case the situation should arise where there’s more high school students involved than actual college,” Spoon said. “Other than that, I would say it seems like a pretty good idea.”

Worthington said he thinks the amendment will be passed.

“I think if it doesn’t pass, we show discrimination based on age, and our constitution is pointless either way,” Worthing-ton said.

Amendment from page 1

“Who’s succeeding in increasing or maintaining enrollment? Who’s not?”

KAREN HOBLETFaculty Senate President

“The newcomer has to set our priorities such that when they address those priorities, all our problems are solved.”

VIJAYA DEVABHAKTUNI

Professor of Electrical Engineering and

Computer Sciences

Page 8: Feb. 4, 2015

8 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, February 4, 2015