Wednesday, December 5, 2012
94th year • Issue 16
Rockets capture Glass City title / 3 Serving the University of Toledo since 1919
Inside
Student Affairs
Proposed uniforms for tutors spark debate By Danielle Gamble News Editor
‘It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine’ /8
www.IndependentCollegian.com
A hotly debated Student Government resolution was narrowly passed Tuesday night asking the administration to rethink a new dress code policy for student tutors and residence advisers. Under the policy, most
student staffers in the Division of Student Affairs would be required to wear khakis or dress pants with a university-provided polo starting at the beginning of next semester. Joe Ozeolt, senior double majoring in math and physics, brought concerns about the changes to SG Vice President
Chris Dykyj on Monday. Ozeolt, who has been a tutor in the Learning Enhancement Center for about a year, said all of the tutors and RAs he has spoken with are against the dress code. “One of the good things about working at this job is knowing that you don’t have to
wear a uniform,” he said. “It lets students feel like they’re coming to someone for help who’s a friend, not just some guy who works for some company.” The senate passed the resolution 16 to 10 after a 20-minute debate. Dean of Students Michele Martinez said senior staff
UT now responsible for full $36M of project cost
Staff Reporter
Seeking a reader for the end of the world / 4
In brief College of Business and Innovation ranked The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation is again internationally ranked by Eduniversal in its annual worldwide business school rankings. This year Eduniversal recognized 180 schools in North America in rankings of good, excellent, top and universal. Receiving a rating of excellent, the College of Business and Innovation is the only ranked business school in Northwest Ohio and one of four in the state. The results were announced at the annual Eduniversal convention in Lima, Peru, this fall. Headquartered in Paris, the international higher education ranking agency Eduniversal seeks to provide information for students that enables them to make the right decision about their future studies anywhere in the world. Eduniversal defines a business school’s international reputation “as its capacity to enhance the prestige of a student — and therefore improve his employment prospects — in his country of study and abroad.” Classification by Eduniversal as an excellent school is based on the internationalization criteria — which includes accreditations, such as by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; rankings by publications such as Business Week and The Wall Street Journal; membership in international academic associations; and university studies — and the vote by 1,000 business school deans around the world.
See Uniforms / 6
Sim Center in progress By Lindsay Mahaney
UT to play in Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Dec. 15 / 3
started discussing the idea over the summer. She said the student advisory board, a group within Division of Student Affairs that meets with senior staff to discuss ideas and concerns, supported the idea.
Work is continuing on the University of Toledo’s Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center, which broke ground over the summer. Mary Smith, senior associate dean for graduate medical education, said the center will be an innovative, safe learning environment. “The principles behind this are to let people learn in a safe environment,” Smith said. “And if we make a mistake, which you know novice learners do, we can just reprogram the simulator.” Jeffrey Gold, chancellor and executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs, said the center will help teach basic skills to students before they enter the field. The simulators, which are currently in use in other locations on campus, allow learners to practice surgical procedures. “In previous days, learners used to get their experience at the bedside initially and sometimes at the patient’s expense,” said Gold. “Those days are over now.” The center will house technology that places students in a real-life setting simulating a doctor visit. Participants must perform on a mock patient as they would a real patient. Cristina Alvara, clinical simulation and education resident assistant, said the center will be valuable from a medical education standpoint.
By Lindsay Mahaney Staff Reporter
Bob Taylor / IC
Andrew Melone, serving his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Toledo Medical Center, performs an intubation during a simulated emergency scenario.
The new technologies being incorporated, such as iPads and virtual reality equipment, are a new form of learning the medical world needs to appreciate, she said. “Our generation, this is the kind of language we use,” Alvara said. “You know, if you don’t know something what’s the first thing you do? You Google it.” Alvara said the space will continue to grow when phase two of the IISC is completed, allowing more
new technology to be included. One of the newest features in the system is a virtual reality simulator that lets students step into a three-dimensional setting where it appears they are actually performing surgery. “We’re in 12,000 square feet right now,” Alvara said. “The new building is going to have approximately 60,000 square feet. With the three elements that we have down here, which is medical simulation, virtual reality, and of course the surgi-
cal component.” Besides medical students, Gold said, the center can benefit nursing, pharmacy, engineering, visual performing arts, astronomy and other students. “The technology and the software are tightly tied into engineering,” Gold said. “The technology that we’re using is very applicable in astronomy in the planetarium and other areas. We are working with the people from the museum to do See Sim Center / 6
The University of Toledo is now responsible for the full $36 million cost of the new simulation center project on the Health Science Campus. Originally the costs for the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center were intended to be shared between UT and ProMedica, a regional health system that operates several hospitals in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. According to the original plan, the university was to put forth $18 million and Promedica was going to match that amount. “They were going to put money into the construction and we were going to put money into the construction,” said Jeffrey Gold, chancellor and executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs. “Then last spring they decided strategically to not proceed with that model. But that is not to say that they will not consider that in the future.” Tedra White, director of media relations for ProMedica, said the two organizations are maintaining an ongoing discussion on the possibility of future collaboration. See Cost / 6
Faculty News
Dean of Honors College set to retire after spring semester By Amanda Eggert Staff Reporter
Bob Taylor / IC
Dean of the Honors College Tom Barden stands in front of Sullivan Hall. Barden said he will retire following the spring 2013 semester after 35 years at UT.
In his 35 years at the University of Toledo, Tom Barden has influenced the lives of countless students. “There are times that I still look at him as my teacher,” said Daniel Compora, an associate English professor who was one of Barden’s students in the 1980s. “I realize I’m only here because of the influence he’s had on my life.” Barden, dean of the Honors College, will retire at the end of the spring semester in 2013. “It’s the greatest job in the world. I get to work with dedicated, talented, wonderful students and it’s amazing,”
Barden said. “My colleagues are so jealous. I’d say, ‘read these 70 pages’ and the next time everybody’s done it. It’s a professor’s dream.” Barden began his career at UT in 1977, starting with the English Department and has been an administrator since 1999. He oversaw the Honors Program since 2006 and oversaw its conversion to a separate college in 2010. Compora was an undergraduate student over 25 years ago and took Barden’s folklore modern drama class. “He got me into the field and that is really where my interest took off,” Compora said. “It was because of him.”
Compora recalled a time when Barden was excited about his research on an urban legend. “He saw the potentials and the possibilities on that. For me, he validated my ideas, he confirmed them, and made my ideas worthwhile and valid,” Compora said. Compora now teaches folklore and said he still considers Barden a mentor. “My kids have grown up knowing who Tom Barden is,” Compora said. “My father died before my kids could remember him, but they remember Tom Barden. See Retiring / 7