97th year • Issue 12
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Chowing down on Centennial Mall COMMUNITY / 6 »
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INSIDE
Rockets Defused The Rockets fell to the Huskies for the sixth year running in a close 32-27 game.
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SPORTS / 3 »
“We need to take pride in who we are and show that we have a right to exist and be as different as we want.” JESSICA HARKER Gender and sexuality are not the same OPINION / 4 »
STUDENT LIFE
Housing changes Updated policy adjusts the campus living requirements By Colleen Anderson Managing Editor
The University of Toledo’s on-campus community may be growing next year in response to a change in housing policy that requires anyone living outside 25 miles of the university to live on campus for two years. The announcement was made Oct. 20 at a Student Government meeting, and will be put into action next academic year. Currently, the mandatory oncampus living period is only for freshmen, and the radius is 50 miles instead of 25. Kaye Patten Wallace, senior vice president for student affairs, said the goal behind the change is to increase retention and aid student success.
“Quite honestly, our major goal is when we recruit students here and we admit them, we are committed to them graduating from the University of Toledo,” Patten Wallace said. “We don’t want them to come and stay one or two years, we want them to come in, have a great college experience and graduate.” According to Patten Wallace, retention rate and student success have both increased in first- and second-year students, which is one of the reasons they chose to go forward with the initiative. UT spokesperson Meghan Cunningham said that of the 2,472 students currently living on campus, 876 of them are upperclassmen. The other 65
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
percent of students living on campus are freshmen. Other schools, including Bowling Green, Ohio State University and Ohio University have similar measures in place, requiring students to live on campus for two years unless they are granted an exemption. “The research is telling us that the sophomore year is just as important in terms of retention as the freshman year, so this initiative is designed to focus on the sophomore year,” Patten Wallace said. As of now, Patten Wallace
COUNSELING CENTER
Sexual assault and substance UT Student abuse coordinator moves Government begins work to forward with new initiatives remove student textbook taxes By Trevor Stearns News Editor
By Riley Sproul Staff Reporter
Toledo falls to WMU The Rockets played well at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Invite in Kalamazoo, Michigan. SPORTS / 3 »
Culture in a new light The Indian Students Cultural Organization celebrates their annual event Diya.
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COMMUNITY / 6 »
“Yes, it naturally seemed a bit exhausting and overwhelming and definitely not as rewarding.” MAISHA RASHID Don’t waste your twenties OPINION / 4 »
IC FILE PHOTO
Parks Tower is one of the many See Two years / 5 » campus dorms that students can occupy during their first year.
The University of Toledo’s Student Government has embarked on a large-scale endeavor to remove the sales tax on student textbooks for universities in Ohio. Currently, the state of Ohio is able to charge textbooks with a standard sales tax of 5.75 percent. In a study conducted by the National Association of College of Stores, the average price of new textbooks in 2013 rose to $79 per book. For a student buying five textbooks per semester, they will be paying close to $23 in taxes alone. Cody Spoon, SG president, wrote in an email interview that the plan includes working not only with the UT community, but with other student governments around the state as well. “In the near future, we are planning to obtain plenty of student feedback/support through petitioning and other forms of outreach,” Spoon wrote. “We are also plan on collaborating with Student Government Associations across Ohio, as we meet with many of them on a monthly basis.” This idea was first brought up during an SG meeting discussing how the cost of attendance can be lowered, not only for UT but for the state. The goal brings several challenges with it, including convincing the state to accept the proposal. Ian Michalak, SG vice president, wrote in an email interview that removing taxes on books would also affect how much money the state receives as well. “Our biggest challenge will be that this will cause a revenue decrease for the state and we have to stress the importance of lowering the cost of attendance for students,” Michalak wrote. Both Spoon and Michalak have been in
See Tax / 5 »
LINDSAY TUTTLE
Sexual Assault and Substance Abuse Prevention Education Coordinator
Earlier this year, the University of Toledo Counseling Center combined two coordinating positions dealing with the Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Program and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug prevention program into one job. Lindsay Tuttle, the Sexual Assault and Substance Abuse Prevention Education Coordinator, now handles both of these programs under the new position. Tuttle was hired Sept. 8, filling the shoes of Angela Daigneault, a former clinical social worker at the Counseling Center, and Will Pecsok, the associate director of the Counseling Center.
In this new position, Tuttle is responsible forsetting up awareness events, education and training around campus for SAEPP and ATOD. Stanley Edwards, director of the Counseling Center, wrote in an email interview that the position was created so one person would be able to devote all of their time to the needs of the two programs. “Lindsay’s position was again created to have the focus of those two programs coordinated by one individual,” Edwards wrote. “The goal is to devote more focus to those programs by having one person focused on them.” Tuttle said that in her new position they will continue some of the
Election results in
Paula Hicks-Hudson was elected as the new mayor of Toledo in the Toledo Mayoral elections. Hicks-Hudson ended the race with 34 percent of the votes with 85 percent of the precincts reporting. The state of Ohio also voted on three different issues. Issue One dealt with the Ohio Bipartisan Redistricting Commission and had 71 percent voting for. Issue Two, the AntiMonopoly issue, had 52 percent of participants voting in favor. Issue Three, the Sale of Recreational and Medical Marijuana issue, had 64 percent of voters against. All three issues had 95 percent of precincts reporting, which is how the above percentages were calculated.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SPELMAN COLLEGE
See Tuttle / 5 »