96th year • Issue 20
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Swim laps for a cause COMMUNITY / 7 » www.IndependentCollegian.com
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INSIDE
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH SERIES
Faculty speak out UT faculty share their opinions on what they are looking for in the next president
By Colleen Anderson Associate News Editor
Fittin’ in nicely Sophomore guard Jonathan Williams is acclimating well in his starting role this year, averaging 10.8 points per game.
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SPORTS / 3 »
“Whatever the outcome of the faculty hiring plan, we sincerely hope the deans and individual departments at UT understand how influential their hiring decisions will be for students...”
EDITORIAL Hiring plan raises concern OPINION / 4 »
This is the second part of a four part series, allowing individuals to voice what they want in the next president. The next installations in the series will be published in consecutive weeks. Now that we’ve looked at what the students want, we asked the University of Toledo faculty the same question: what do you want in the next UT president? After talking to a few professors, these were their responses:
Administration/ Faculty relations Sharon Barnes, interim chair and associate professor of women and gender studies, said she thinks the
relationship between administration and faculty is one of the biggest challenges the new president will have to face, despite the progress she said Interim President Nagi Naganthan’s administration made. “We need a leader who can listen, and who is willing to work with the faculty,” Barnes said. “I think we’ve just had a situation where a lot of decision-making was top down.” According to Barnes, there have been times when the faculty identified issues early on, but “getting word back up through administration rarely resulted in a change that was productive.” Karen Hoblet, president of faculty senate and assistant professor of nursing, said one issue many faculty would like to be addressed is the faculty hiring contract. “I think one of the biggest challenges is that there’s not an agreed-upon contract in place with the faculty,” Hoblet said.
“We need a leader who can listen ... I think we’ve had a situation where a lot of decisionmaking was top down.” SHARON BARNES Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies
“That’s going to be a challenge. And it might be a challenge even getting someone to come here, if the collective bargaining agreement is not finalized with faculty.” According to Linda Rouillard, executive member of faculty senate and associate professor of French, another way for administration to improve relations with faculty is by showing appreciation for them. “[The new president] can be committed to compensating faculty fairly and equitably. They could make an effort to understand better what it is that faculty
Student org gala recognized outstanding groups Feb. 3
do for our students, as opposed to assuming that what happens in the classroom can simply be put on a computer,” Rouillard said.
Finances Rouillard said she thinks the economic situation of UT and the country is “going to create challenges for the new president.” According to Barnes, one source of financial tension stems from the recent lack of state funding to the See Faculty / 7 »
AMENDMENT
High school students could join SG By Colleen Anderson Associate News Editor
Cancer shop opens on UT’s medical campus Breast cancer survivor Renee Schick opened her business to help cancer survivors find all the products they need in a comfortable environment.
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COMMUNITY / 6 »
“Perhaps you do not have the opportunity to study abroad. But you have the opportunity to study the abroad at home.” JEANNETTE BEERBOWER Learning about other cultures while living at home OPINION / 4 »
“Looking ahead at either of UT’s basketball teams ... you will have to do a lot of guesswork.”
ROBERT HEARONS It is anyone’s guess this season SPORTS / 3 »
ANDREA HARRIS / IC
Guest speaker Joseph Trahan III, president and CEO of Trahan and Associates, discusses the importance of leadership during the UT Public Relations Student Society of America’s sixth annual Student Organization Gala. The event honored all organizations on campus.
TUTORING PROGRAM
Math tutoring program offers discussion-based learning
By Trevor Stearns and Amalie Farah
Associate News Editor and Staff Reporter
ThinkTank Tuesdays is a new resource in the Student Union available to University of Toledo students who are seeking free algebra tutoring. Organized by Michele Martinez, executive director of academic support, ThinkTank Tuesdays take place in Student Union Room 2562 every Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. Sessions focus on a different basic algebra topic each meeting. The discussion-based tutoring sessions began Jan. 20, according to Martinez. “The program was initiated basically to take tutoring out of the library and take it to where the students are, and one of the places the students are is the Student Union,” Martinez said. Dan Ita, a fourth-year majoring in education, is the tutor who leads the meetings at ThinkTank Tuesdays. He said the focus was for students to
ANDREA HARRIS / IC
Tutor Dan Ita, a fourth-year education major, leads the meetings at ThinkTank Tuesdays. Pictured above on Feb. 3, Ita teaches a lesson on linear equations, functions and their graphs.
get more reinforcement in the concepts they were learning in class. “The idea for it was to get more general reinforcement closer within people’s peer
groups, can correct misconceptions or clarify things that need clarifying,” Ita said. “It’s just See ThinkTank / 7 »
High school students could be eligible to debate legislation and vote on campus issues if a proposed amendment reaches a three-fourths majority in favor when it reaches the floor in two weeks. If passed, it would change a section of the SG constitution to allow high school students enrolled at UT to be part of senate. However, they would still have to meet all the requirements that current senators are held to under the governing document. The amendment, proposed by SG Senator Robert Worthington, must be read during three different SG sessions before it can be considered in a vote. Worthington said he thinks recruiting members early on could ultimately be beneficial for SG. “I went to Toledo Early College High School; this is my seventh year here,” Worthington said. “I believe the students there will be here longer than a lot of people, so I believe that it’s a chance for student government to get a really good foundation, and then students can become leaders early on.” SG Internal Affairs Chair Cody Spoon said he thinks the input of a non-collegiate student might add a new perspective to SG. “I guess you could see maybe a huge difference in opinion, maybe students with collegiate experience on campus might have differing views,” Spoon said. “But at the same time, that difference in opinion could actually turn into a benefit, as a variety of opinions is kind of what you want in a government.” Currently, the SG constitution includes a section that forbids categorical discrimination based on numerous See Amendment / 7 »