Wednesday, February 27, 2013
94th year • Issue 24
Annual fashion show hits the runway /3 Serving the University of Toledo since 1919
Inside
Faculty Senate
Trustee chair grilled by Faculty Senate By Danielle Gamble
Surviving spring break /3
News Editor
Koester
Backcourt duo built for success / 6 Editorial: Making SG elections better / 4 Scebbi: ‘I did it my way’ / 4 IC editorial leaders announced / 7
In brief Transit survey available for UT community A Transit Services and Bike survey is available in the myUT portal and open to faculty, staff and students until the March 11. After completing the survey, participants can enter for a chance to win a free iPad 2. The survey contains 30 questions and is meant to take about 10 minutes to complete. Topics include how students get to campus, what can be done to improve their commute, interest in a campus bike share and parking incentives for those who ride a bike or walk to campus.
Photographer, author to speak at library
Tension erupted at Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting as UT Board of Trustees Chairman William Koester fielded questions for over an hour about faculty workload changes, the university’s defi-
cit and administrative salaries. Faculty workload has been a hot-button issue since administrators proposed reducing parttime faculty, increasing class sizes and cutting back on research that isn’t funded by outside sources. The proposals are part
of “Imagine 2017,” UT’s main campus five-year plan. Koester said the trustees are “trying to do what we believe is best for the university and its staff.” See Grilled / 7
Behind the hijab
Check our website Wednesday night to find out who is running for Student Government president, vice president and senate. Independent Collegian.com
Candidates to declare for 2013-14 SG offices Assistant News Editor
Potential candidates for Student Government president and vice president should be preparing for ticket registration Wednesday, Feb. 27. Candidates must visit Student Union Building Room 2591 at 9 p.m. and bring the required candidate forms found in the SG Election Board Manual. According to the manual, presidential hopefuls must attend Wednesday’s mandatory registration meeting or face automatic disqualification. Current SG Vice President Chris Dykyj plans on running for president with Cabinet member Nikeya Wilson as his running mate. “We both have experience not only with our branch but all branches with student government as we both have written and passed legislation before,” Dykyj said. “We are confident and more ready than ever to lead and open to the ideas of students.” All tickets are required to get 200 signatures from students, which are then verified by the Office of the Dean of Students. Dykyj and Wilson said they started getting signatures immediately after the application forms were released last week. Seats in the legislative branch are also up for grabs. During election season, each senator vies for a chance to serve as one of 50 representatives for their respective colleges. Legislative candidates must fill out the required forms and attend Wednesday’s meeting. The amount of available seats per college determines how many candidates are required to hold an election. If not enough candidates are available to fill all open seats, individuals will be admitted to senate without an election process. Senator Clayton Notestine, public relations management chair, said more students should be involved in SG, specifically in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the College of Business and Innovation. “If you have free time and are available I think you have an obligation to join,” Notestine said. “Not nearly enough colleges are represented in Student Government.”
Muslim women at UT discuss meaning of traditional garment By Nell Tirone Staff Reporter
While some people might see it as just a fancy scarf, sophomore Shahrazad Hamdah believes wearing her hijab brings her closer to God. “I feel like it shows me that my personality is what appeals to people and the way I think and the way I act,” said the University of Toledo political science major. The hijab, a traditional veil or scarf worn around a woman’s head, is a symbol of modesty in the Islamic religion. However, a woman who is chosen to wear one is not required to wear it around everyone, only “unfamiliar” men, or any man that is not related to the woman or her husband. “The whole idea of a hijab is about modesty, so if you think that not wearing a hijab and being modest is OK, then that’s fine,” said Kareemah Ashiru, another Muslim UT student. Both students said wearing one is a personal decision made by the woman, not the family. Unlike a Christian baptism, there is no special ceremony that comes with wearing the hijab, nor is there a designated age that a girl must begin wearing one. According to Hamdah, the “mainstream” idea is to begin wearing a hijab at the age of puberty. “I feel like I have been taught that my personality and my intellect is more important than the way I look or me showing my skin, and I know that someone won’t like me as a friend or as a person just because of the way I look,” she said. Hamdah also said that she does not feel as though other students discriminate against her because of the hijab, though she has received a lot of questions about it. Ashiru also believes that wearing a hijab is a good, personal decision. She has officially been wearing one since her family came to America from Nigeria four years ago and said that she prefers it. While at school in Nigeria, Ashiru was not allowed to wear a hijab full-time because of her school’s uniform policy. As a result, most of her friends had never seen her with one on, which she said made her feels conflicted. “It was kind of bad because I wasn’t really confident in who I was, because I was living a double life of wearing and not wearing it and I didn’t know how people would perceive or react to me when they saw me wearing it,” she said. However, since coming to America, Ashiru said that she has felt more confident in wearing one consistently. “At first it was kind of nerve-wracking, because I’ve never really worn it full-time, and after a while I got used to it and I just realized that the hijab actually protects you from harassment from other people,” she said. Although she said that she has not felt discriminated against because of her hijab, Ashiru sometimes feels “left out” when her friends partake in drinking because See Hijab / 7 Shahrazad Hamdah poses for a photo in her hijab, a traditional head covering.
Online and breaking
By Lindsay Mahaney
s
Rosamond Purcell, a photographer and author, will offer a lecture at noon in the Carlson Library Thursday, Feb. 28. Purcell has authored or illustrated 17 books and her work has been exhibited in Chicago, Honolulu and Washington D.C. among other places. Her work focuses on natural history collections around the world. The event is hosted by the University of Toledo’s Art Department and the Friends of the Library. Admission is free and a reception with refreshments will be held after the lecture. For more information, contact Barbara Miner at 419-530-8315.
www.IndependentCollegian.com
Bob Taylor / ic