96th year • Issue 10
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 NDENT THE INDEPE
COLLEGIAN14 ng 20
Homecomi
Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919
INSIDE
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TITLE IX UPDATE
Students removed from board, protest for survivor support
Raising the curtain The play, The Adding Machine, will be performed the last two weekends of October. COMMUNITY / 6 »
Homecoming
Xxy yxx Inside this week’s issue The Indepenxxyy xyis dent Collegian publishing a special yxxy yediyxx Homecoming tion, which includes xyy 7at» a closer /look what Toledo’s players have had to deal with this season, as well as what they will have to deal with when UMass comes to town on Saturday. We did not include the usual Sports section in this week’s paper. INSIDE »
FELONY
UT law student accused of sexual conduct with minor By Amanda Pitrof
AMANDA PITROF / IC
Learning jiu-jitsu Student group focuses on selfdefense, technique in the club that was started last week. NEWS / 3»
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“What are the repercussions of closing the students’ workspace during peak hours of work for campus residents? Closing the library is akin to closing an office — the students’ office.”
EDITORIAL Hours need to be added
A group of UT students, which include Spectrum UT, Toledo Take Back the Night, UT Feminist Alliance, Toledo National Organization of Women and UT Women’s and Gender Studies Department stood outside University Hall to present a letter to the UT administration about the lack of information and services for survivors of sexual violence on UT campus Oct. 20. By Colleen Anderson and Amanda Pitrof Staff Reporter and News Editor
In the wake of the Title IX complaint filed against the University of Toledo, several changes have been proposed and enacted, with varying levels of approval from staff and students. According to a UT press release, Interim President Nagi Naganathan spoke to the Board of Trustees on the upcoming and completed changes at its Academic and Student Affairs Committee Meeting on Oct. 20. He announced the contracting of Bisi Okubadejo, former supervisory general attorney with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, to review UT’s response to sexual misconduct and matters concerning Title IX. “Ms. Okubadejo recently conducted a similar review at the University of Cincinnati,” Naganathan said, “and
Letter demands to administration • expulsion of the UT perpetrators found responsible by the Conduct Board, • expansion of the Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Program, including a full-time coordinator, fully-trained advocates and private office space, and • an independent investigation of Kevin West and Kaye Patten Wallace regarding their treatment of survivors, students and staff.
I believe this overview is consistent with The University of Toledo’s commitment to creating a culture of sexual assault prevention as well as a culture where survivors are encouraged to come forward and are well-supported through medical, academic, counseling, law enforcement and other
resources.” UT’s Student Senate recently passed a resolution calling for students to be taken off the student code of conduct adjudication panel for any cases concerning sexual misconduct or Title IX complaints. UT has dictated that instead, a single panel of specially trained faculty and staff will hear the cases. These staff members are not the only ones who have been specially trained; Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Kaye Patten Wallace and Associate Vice President for Human Resources and Talent Development Jovita Thomas-Williams underwent a week of advanced Title IX training. Another dozen UT employees took part in a training organized by the Ohio Attorney General’s office and led by Okubadejo last month. “Based on these sessions, it
News Editor
A third-year law student at the University of Toledo was indicted Friday, Oct. 17 for several felonious charges and is waiting in jail until his arraignment Wednesday, Oct. 22. Josef Vrtiska, 26, faces one VRTISKA second-degree charge for “illegal use of a minor and nudity oriented material,” three thirddegree charges for “unlawful sexual conduct with a minor” and one fifth-degree charge for importuning — the solicitation of a minor to engage in sex — according to Detective Deborah Mullin of the Hilliard Division of Police in Ohio. The severity of a felony is rated on a scale from one to five, Mullin said — the lower the number is, the greater the offense. The second-degree charge, or F2, pertains to nudity involving a
See Protest / 5 »
See Felony / 3 »
OPINION / 4 »
Science seminar connects students to industry jobs Jaume Pons will speak to graduate students at a seminar Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. in Student Union Room 2582. COMMUNITY / 7 »
UT talent show to be held Oct. 23 Students at the University of Toledo will bring their talents to Doermann Theatre Oct. 23 for the annual National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) talent show. NEWS / 3 »
Cultivating women’s self image through beauty and body The Eberly Center will host a lecture Oct. 30 from 5:307:30 p.m. at Doermann Theatre to promote self-image. COMMUNITY / 6 »
CARLSON LIBRARY
STUDENT HOUSING
Library hours extended to accommodate students
Housing changes made to better campus life
By Katelyn Montgomery Staff Reporter
Carlson Library will be open for extended hours during Oct. 19-23, and again from Oct. 26-30. The first floor of Carlson Library will be open from midnight to 7 a.m on those days. SG President Clayton Notestine explained SG’s objective in resuming this policy: “It is Student Government’s objective and intent to try and use these two weeks which are not finals weeks and they’re not really midterm weeks for a lot of people, to give the library and us a chance to gauge how much the students might use the library on a regular day of the week.” Student Government made the announcement via Twitter Oct. 15 about the temporary policy. Notestine said his long-term goal is to reinstate the library’s 24-hour policy either for next semester or, at the latest, next year. Vice Provost and Interim Director of University Libraries Marcia King-Blandford said students will be counted in the same way they were before when the 24-hour policy was permanently in effect. “We looked at how many students were actually swiping into the library from 12 to 7,” she said. “We were looking at patterns of student use …We go through the entire building and we headcount how many students are actually physically
By Amanda Pitrof News Editor
between Carlson Library, the Canaday Center and the Mulford Health Science Library. “There’s only a finite number of resources to spread around,” she said. Notestine emphasized that the library staff workers’ union will weigh in on the policy. “A big thing we have to go and take into account working at the library is that we have very professional, dedicated staff that also have a union,” he said. “So whatever changes we make to
Between renovations, construction and future plans, Academic House, the new Honors Academic Village and Carter Hall are the focus of changes to campus housing. A-House renovations include mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as painting, according to Jason Toth, associate vice president of facilities and construction. “We’ve upgraded light fixtures to more energy-efficient light fixtures in the facility,” he said. “We’ve been looking at exhaust fans, air handling units, electrical systems to make sure that … we’re addressing deferred maintenance items.” Toth said the interior painting is funded by the Office of Residence Life operating budget, and the rest is funded from existing operating expenses.
See Library hours / 3 »
See Housing / 5 »
ADELLYN MCPHERON / IC
Jessica Campbell, a fourth-year pharmacy major, studies in Carlson Library on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The library will be open for extended hours during Oct. 19-23, and again from Oct. 2630. The first floor will be open from midnight to 7 a.m.
sitting in the library.” With respect to the results of the count, Senior Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Margaret Traband, said there is no set target for the number of students using the library during the late hours. “I think that the numbers will be used during the spring term in the budget development process,” she said. According to King-Blandford, these hours were revoked last year in part due to limited resources. She explained that resources — such as library personnel — had to be divided