Wednesday, February 6, 2013
94th year • Issue 21
Buckley stays a Rocket for final year / 9 Serving the University of Toledo since 1919
Inside
www.IndependentCollegian.com Student Government
Gun proposal shot down
Community Service
Kertesz leaves UT to begin pro career / 10
Toledo students heading to Haiti for spring break By Lindsay Mahaney
Eberly Center to begin its Success Series / 7 Don’t limit Black History to just a month /4
In brief University competes in RecycleMania The recycling competition RecycleMania has hit the University of Toledo campus. From Feb. 3 until March 30 UT will be competing with over 6,000 schools in the United States and Canada in an effort to bring attention to colleges’ recycling programs, as well as motivate students to improve their recycling habits and reduce overall waste generation. Each week schools record the amount of recycling and trash collected and are ranked in various categories based on factors such as who recycles most on a per capita basis, who has the best recycling rate and who generates the least amount of waste. There will also be an e-waste collection in conjunction with the Toledo women’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 16. The e-waste collection will take place from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in Parking Lot 28. Items that can be recycled include cell phones, portable media players, computers and the other electronics. In addition, the Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Design Initiative is sponsoring office clutter cleanout days by providing special bins for those looking to tidy up their areas. The service is being offered to prevent discarded materials from landing exclusively in the trash. Those interested in RecycleMania, the ewaste collection or the office clutter cleanout days can contact Brooke Mason, interim sustainability specialist, at brooke.mason@ utoledo.edu.
Assistant News Editor
BOb Taylor / IC
UT senior Scott Mozzola, left, who is the president of College Republicans, and Connor Cress, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, distribute information on concealed carry Monday at the Student Union.
Student Government rejects endorsing concealed carry on college campuses By Ben Jendrzejak and Lindsay Mahaney Staff Reporter and Assistant News Editor
After weeks of campuswide deliberation and a heated debate, Student Government voted down a resolution that endorsed changing state law to allow concealed carry on college campuses. After senators tallied the votes cast by secret ballot, the final count was 9-18 with a majority opposing the resolution. Senator Clayton Notestine, the legislation’s sponsor, said he wanted to give students the opportunity to voice their opinions. Despite that, he said SG should be focusing on other issues. “I think Student Government could better use its time helping the student body doing non-partisan things,” Notestine said. “I feel as though national politics should take a backseat to . . . campus politics.” At the meeting, Justice Eman Al-Hassan spoke on behalf of SG’s Student Judicial Council, advising Senate to vote against the resolution because it was “unconstitutional.” Patrick Richardson, a member of UT’s College Republicans, asked Al-Hassan to point out what section of SG’s constitution the resolution would violate.
When 16 University of Toledo students leave for spring break, they’ll each take a carry-on with their own belongings — and two giant suitcases of donations for others. A group of UT students participating in a class called “Learning through Service” will be leaving on a service trip to Haiti on March 2. During the trip, students will be aiding Haitian natives in various service projects. The class started up three years ago in a living learning community by Sammy Spann, the assistant provost for the Center for International Studies and Programs,
and Sara Clark, the center’s assistant director. “The class really provides the students with an opportunity to explore who they are as a servant leader,” Clark said. “We talk a lot about what’s your path of service, how do you want to impact the world and what are the big goals that you want to change, the big social justice issues that you want to impact.” “We worked with that group to try to empower them and see how much power we all have to change the world,” she said. Andrew Kurtz, a junior communications and See Haiti / 6
Student Affairs
Student Affairs surveys students for opinions By IC Staff Bob Taylor / IC
Student Senator Ali Eltatawy debates concealed carry legislation in Tuesday’s Senate meeting.
Al-Hassan said SJC decided ahead of time not to debate their reasoning in the meeting, but they would address inquiries from individuals. Tate Stricklin, chief justice of Student Judicial Council, was unable to attend the meeting because of work, but was available to speak over the phone after. He did not disclose the section of the constitution in question, and said SJC had only planned on discussing their findings if the resolution passed. “The reason we will not discuss that is because the vote had not taken place,
and had the vote taken place and had it passed, whatever we would have disclosed with our findings, provided that it was unconstitutional, would have very clearly been the basis of a case that would be presented by any senator who would have contacted us regarding the constitutionality of it,” Stricklin said. Stricklin said he thought the resolution impacted “a pretty small portion of the student body.” “Do I think it’s a good idea to arm students, See Guns / 6
The Office for the Student Experience is sending out an online survey to freshmen and senior students, asking them how the university can better engage students. The National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE) is designed to measure the level of student participation at universities as it relates to learning. UT is one of 621 colleges and universities that are participating in NSSE this year. “The most important thing about NSSE, to me, is that it gives students an opportunity to tell us as a university what they like, don’t like, would like to see more of, less of, how we can improve,” said Kaye Patten Wallace, senior vice president for the student experience.
The survey will be sent out Feb. 5, 13, 21, 27 and March 12, and Patten Wallace said it takes about 15 minutes to complete. “It’s not too specific, it just tells us some of the things students are involved in and gives us a view of our type of students and their interests,” Patten Wallace said. Patten Wallace said UT sends out the NSSE survey every other year, but it’s challenging to get students to complete the survey. This year, her office is putting the names of those students into a drawing. Possible prizes include an iPad, as well as four $250 gift cards and 10 $100 gift cards to Barnes and Noble. “We want to get students’ attention and let them know their voice is really important to us,” she said.
Honors COllege
New Honors College dean takes the reins Angela Peluso Staff Reporter
Lakeesha Ransom started work Feb. 4 as the new dean of the University of Toledo Honors College. She was one of two finalists, narrowed down from a 40-person applicant pool. She replaced Tom Barden after he retired from his post as dean, though he continues to teach this semester. “I’m excited for the upcoming changes,” she said.
Ransom said she is excited to help meet the needs of students and use technology to enhance learning, like connecting digitally to classrooms Ransom around the world. She said this particular initiative is part of the Main Campus’s five-year plan.
“This program is an opportunity to place UT as the face of experiential learning, and will help reintroduce the Honors College and the University of Toledo so people outside the state and country know about us based on what we are creating,” Ransom said. The college will be renamed the Jesup Scott Honors College. See Dean / 6
Check out the IC’s Signing Day coverage online Head football coach Matt Campbell will welcome a new crop of Rockets today when members of the class of 2013 sign their National Letters of Intent. The Independent Collegian will have you covered throughout the day with tweets, an online story and an interactive recruiting map with player bios, pictures and highlight videos. IndependentCollegian.com