Wednesday, January 17, 2018
THE INDEPENDENT
COLLEGIAN
99th year • Issue 16
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Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919
INSIDE
Toledo women’s basketball enters 2018 SPORTS / 5 »
HOLIDAY
FINANCE
By Bryce Buyakie
UT adopts tuition guarantee plan
Uniting the community News Editor
The voice of Senator Robert Kennedy echoed through the University of Toledo’s Savage Arena as a silent audience listened to his speech announcing the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. to an Indianapolis inner-city community in 1968.
This video was part of Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur’s speech during Monday’s 17th Annual Unity Celebration that marked the 50th Anniversary of King’s assassination. The University of Toledo, along with Toledo politicians, religious leaders and community members, honored his
‘Books Not Bombs’ campaigns
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COMMUNITY / 6 »
“The whole system can seem to be rigged against animals like this, especially as the temperature gets colder.” JESSICA HARKER
‘Congratulations, you’re a cat mom’ OPINION / 3 »
UT men tied for first in MAC West
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SPORTS / 5 »
“We should not have to fear the possibilities of mass shootings and terrorist attacks, but we should be afraid when we surrender our liberties...”
MARK MOSS
What is safety worth to you? OPINION / 3 »
BRYCE BUYAKIE / IC
memory with performances by the United Vision Baptist Church Choir, dancers from Toledo School for the Arts and songs from the upcoming rhythm and blues opera “I Dream.” The event featured speeches by Toledo community members, Kaptur, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, UT President Sharon Gaber and proclamations recognizing the holiday from Governor John Kasich’s and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor’s offices. “Fifty years after his death, and what do we remember about Dr. Martin Luther King?” asked Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz in his speech. Kapszukiewicz said we should remember that King was an educated young man who believed in reform, and who, at 26 years old, led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and was assassinated at 39 years old. Before he became a public figure, King
Jaleen Welborn, UT student, sang a song Monday written by James Weldon Johnson for the unity celebration.
See MLK / 4 »
By Samantha Gerlach Associate News Editor
Administrators and faculty across the University of Toledo’s campuses have worked since April to implement a tuition guarantee plan that will rework tuition for students. The plan establishes a fixed tuition rate for four years to provide price transparency and consistency for families, according to UT News. It also encourages students to complete their bachelor’s degree in four years. The UT Board of Trustees approved the Toledo Tuition Guarantee plan in December, according to Stephanie Sanders, interim vice president for enrollment management. “This tuition guarantee plan aligns our commitment to providing a high-quality education at an affordable price with efforts to support student success and raise retention and graduation rates,” said Larry Kelley in an interview with UT News. Kelley is UT’s executive vice president for finance and
administration and its chief financial officer. The plan will be effective in the fall semester 2018 for degree-seeking undergraduate students who enroll at UT as first-year students or transfer students. Students will have a fixed rate for tuition, the general fee and select miscellaneous fees. While oncampus housing and meal plan rates are also guaranteed for four years, residence hall space cannot be guaranteed past a student’s second year because of UT’s requirement that students live on campus during their first two years. The out-of-state surcharge is not included in the plan, and graduate students, non-degree seeking students, exchange students and students in College Credit Plus are not part of the guarantee either. Current UT students will not be impacted, said Sanders. The plan guarantees undergraduate students a fixed rate for four academic See Rate / 4 »
XX TOPIC XX
INFRASTRUCTURE
New VP of student affairs appointed
Campus construction becomes invisible By Benjamin Morse
By Olivia Rodriguez
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Phillip “Flapp” Cockrell was named vice president of the Division of Student Affairs, effective Jan. 1, after serving as the interim for the position since June. Cockrell was appointed to the role of interim vice president of student affairs after Kaye Patten, former vice president of student affairs, retired. The Division of Student Affairs covers a broad range of categories to help students have a positive out-of-class college experience, Cockrell said. Each part of the team focuses on a few aspects of students’ out-of-class experience, such as inclusion, diversity, resident life, the food pantry, the Latino Initiative, multicultural programs, cultural awareness months, student conduct, student involvement, reserving space in the union and the counseling center.
PHILLIP “FLAPP” COCKRELL Vice President of Student Affairs
office, and I am committed to the success of UT students,” Cockrell said. He is on medical leave until Feb. 1, but he says students can e-mail him as well. “Flapp is a passionate leader who is committed to student success and motivating his team to provide the best service possible,” said President Sha-
“I have an open-door policy. I have candy and snacks in my office, and I am committed to the success of UT students.”
Most of the ground on the University of Toledo’s campus stands fully intact, with some areas including an array of water lines surging underneath to provide heating and cooling to university buildings. In just a few months, parts of the ground will be broken and construction crews will rip out existing lines. According to Jason Toth, associate vice president of facilities and construction, the third phase of campus infrastructure, a part of the $30 million bond funds that were approved by the Board of Trustees approximately a year ago, will replace older sections of the underground steam, condensate and chilled water lines on Main Campus. Toth expects the project to begin “as soon as weather allows. Likely in March or April.” The $1.7 million project, described in an email from Toth, includes work in Lot 10 near the Larimer Athletic Complex, Lot 9 near Carter Hall, Lot 27A near Ottawa West and Lot 26 near the Main Campus Medical Center.
“We take the built environment, we try to give order to it, then Mother Nature starts breaking it down.”
MICHAEL TOOLE Dean of the College of Engineering
Although, this is not a construction project students will “see” Toth wrote, “it is one that they will feel.” With 83 percent of buildings on campus looped into underground utilities that provide heating and cooling to the buildings, “the improvements with the replacement of these underground utilities will provide better reliability and performance,” Toth wrote. Dean of the College of Engineering Michael Toole expanded upon the necessity of replacing the underground water lines. “We take the built environment, we try to give order to it, then Mother Nature starts breaking it down,” said Toole. “All manufacSee Water Lines / 4 »
PHILLIP “FLAPP” COCKRELL Vice President of Student Affairs
“Our focus is everything a student deals with outside of the classroom,” Cockrell said. To improve their college experience, he tells students two join one or two organizations that they love and are passionate about. Cockrell said the division provides four tenets for students to live by: dream big and aspire to those dreams, students engaging the university community, becoming leaders, and getting in the mindset of giving back. He also encourages students to invite him to their organizations and events. “I have an open-door policy. I have candy and snacks in my
ron Gaber in UT News. “I look forward to his continued leadership and the initiatives he will put in place to enhance student life on our campus.” The goals that he wants his staff to achieve for their students are the same goals he wants his staff to achieve. “I ask my staff how I can better serve them and think of ways that I can achieve these goals for my team and the students,” Cockrell said. Cockrell said his mission is to create global citizens and be a catalyst for change. His office is located in University Hall room 3630.
MEAGAN O’HARA / IC
Parking areas, such as Area 10, shown above, will be under construction as part of the initiative to replace underground water lines on campus.