Wednesday, September 11, 2013
95th year • Issue 5
COMMUNITY / 9 »
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INSIDE
international affairs
lawsuit
Student sues UT professor for alleged threats and ridicule
Rockets prepare for first home football game of the season UT will host Eastern Washington Saturday, Sept. 14, as the Rockets look to clinch their first win of the season. Sports /7»
By Samantha Rhodes News Editor bob taylor / IC
Annie Cigic, left, a second-year majoring in law and social thought, and UT alum Steve Miller protest against U.S. intervention in Syria. The pair were joined by a crowd of community members on Friday evening at the corner of Secor Road and Central Avenue, down the street from the university. The U.S. Congress is currently wrapped in debate over whether or not to use military action against Bashar al-Assad for alleged chemical attacks against his own people.
Toledo locals react to U.S. involvement in Syrian conflict By Lauren Gilbert
Interfaith dialogue The University of Toledo will host a Catholic-Muslim Dialogue on Sept. 19 in the Student Union Auditorium. NEWS / 4 »
Salman Khan comes to campus Educator Salman Khan will kick off UT’s Distinguished Lecture Series. NEWS / 3 »
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“I can’t quite describe the pain I felt that day. It was a mixture of solitude and desperate hope. The truth is, nobody knew if I would see my father again.”
Veralucia mendoza Tears like raindrops: How 9/11 changed my life opinion / 6 »
Copy Editor
A crowd of people, among them University of Toledo students and their families, gathered at the corner of Secor Road and Central Avenue the evening of Sept. 6 to protest possible U.S. military action in Syria. “We love America,” said Bouchra Doumet, a physician and native of Syria. “We love Syria too. We want peace for both countries.” This protest occurred hours after President Barack Obama made his case for military action concerning the existence of chemical weapons in Syria during a press conference in Russia.
Stephen Swade, a thirdyear biology major at UT, attended the protest with his cousin John Swade, a secondyear biology major. “I believe there shouldn’t be any bombings, no war by us in Syria,” Stephen Swade said. Joe Swade, who is Stephen’s father, said military action would put the U.S. on the side of rebels linked to AlQaida. “They are dangerous for everyone,” he said. “We don’t want Al-Qaida to win.” Doumet, who practices medicine in Spring Meadows, said the U.S. should “go for dialogue, and peaceful solutions.”
“We have to go for diplomatic solutions,” she said. Joe Swade summed up his position by saying, “Throughout the years, war shows that it doesn’t solve the problem. It just destroys cities and people.” Henry Naddaf, an alum of UTMC and Syrian native, talked about the history of the country and the dictatorship it has for its government in a phone interview. “Whatever rules they have in place, that’s what guides their country,” Naddaf said. “If you follow the rules and you didn’t question the government too much, they See Protest / 12 »
Student count
Enrollment down 3.3% from fall 2012 semester By Amaris Smith Staff Reporter
The University of Toledo’s enrollment has dropped 3.3 percent since last fall, according to the census released Sept. 3. The census, which is conducted on the 15th calendar day of each semester, stated UT has 20,782 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled for Fall 2013. In the fall of 2012, there were 21,501 students enrolled. Cam Cruickshank, vice president for enrollment management and online education, said the biggest challenge in enrollment is that fewer students are coming directly from high school
and the overall number of undergraduate students has decreased. Cruickshank said that in previous years, there were over 12,000 underclassmen who could re-enroll. However, in the fall of 2012, there were only 10,899 students eligible to re-enroll. Because the number of new students each year has been dropping, the number of returning students has dropped as well. The recruitment and enrollment department was not affected by UT’s recent budget cuts, Cruickshank said. Budgets for enrollment campaigns are based on predictions of enrollment for the upcoming
year, and Cruickshank said UT was prepared this year for the decrease in numbers. “Yes, we had fewer students, but we planned for it,” he said. “We knew these things were going to happen, so in the budgeting process we were planning on less students and therefore less revenue. That’s why you don’t see me panicking.” Main Campus Provost Scott Scarborough said UT’s focus, though still on overall numbers, also includes the quality of the students. “When you look at our enrollment results, you will See Enrollment / 12 »
A Chinese student is suing the University of Toledo and a UT professor, alleging that the professor mocked, humiliated and harassed her while she was taking his class. According to the lawsuit filed Aug. 30 of this year, Wanyun Zhong of Broadview Heights, also known as Emily Zhong, was “intentionally and purposely harassed, humiliated and frightened” in class on Sept. 4, 2012. The lawsuit alleges professor Vijay Devabhaktuni mocked Zhong because she was unable to understand his question in English, which is Zhong’s second language. It is also alleged that Devabhaktuni told Zhong if she did not understand what he was saying, he would use a gun to shoot her. Zhong is seeking in excess of $25,000 for damages “including but not limited physical, psychological, and/or psychic injury, mental distress and anguish, medical bills, wasteful tuitions and fees paid to UT, extra tuition, fees and living expenses, and other forms of damages compensable by law,” according to documents filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. Devabhaktuni, a current professor of electrical engineering at UT, is being sued “in both an official and an individual capacity,” according to court documents. The lawsuit also alleges that on or about Sept. 10, 2012, Devabhaktuni called Zhong an idiot and used abusive language toward her while she was visiting his office to ask homework questions. Zhong “genuinely and reasonably felt the threats of violence to her safety due to Devabhaktuni’s repeated references to guns and shooting toward her, other students or the class as a whole,” the lawsuit states, alleging See Lawsuit / 12 »