Arts and Life, A6
Sports, A5
‘Queen of Mean’ takes Toledo
Rockets roll over Temple 36-13 at Lincoln Financial
Independent Collegian IC The
www.IndependentCollegian.com 92nd year Issue 12
Monday, October 3, 2011
Serving the University of Toledo since 1919
UT shows low retention rate for African American males By Abbey Agler For the IC
The national average of graduation rates among African American males in the United States has steadily increased over the past four years. The opposite has been occurring at the University of Toledo. According to a recent study conducted by the UT Office of Institutional Research, only 10.8 percent of African Ameri-
can male students will graduate in five years from UT. Since this year’s numbers were at an all-time low, Rubin Patterson, chair of the Department of African Studies and chair of the Department of Sociology, and Willie McKether, assistant professor of anthropology, decided to take action. Patterson has been doing this by interviewing African American male professors and professional employees.
Kasich and Bell rally in support of Issue 2 Opponents of Issue 2 protest against rally By Allison Seney IC Staff Writer
Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Toledo Mayor Mike Bell rallied supporters for Issue 2 Thursday with one crowd cheering “Go John, go” and another shouting “Our town, union town.” Seventy-five protestors stood outside of the Omni Midwest Annex on Bancroft in the rain, opposing Kasich and Bell who gathered supporters to boost moral for Issue 2 after recent polls displayed unpopularity for it.
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Kasich
wouldn’t be locked in classified contracts. Bell said by voting yes to Issue 2, he is saving tax payers jobs and money.
We have one out of every four children that lives in poverty and we can’t live with that
John Kasich Governor, Ohio
solve problems with state money and will allow Ohio to keep more people employed since money
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Kasich and Bell were joined by Ohio Senator Mark Wagoner at the ticket-only event. . At the rally, Bell said he doesn’t agree with laying more people off and he is afraid that we might revisit that road. “This city started off with a $40 million deficit. If we don’t fix this thing, it doesn’t only hurt the city of Toledo, it hurts everything around us,” Bell said. According to Wagoner, Issue 2 will allow the government to
Bell
With the state having an $8 billion deficit, both Toledo and Ohio have a lot of similar issues to handle. “We have one out of every four — Rally, Page A2
We developed concrete and doable recommendation that not only flowed from the investigation, but would likely have a substantial positive impact on the graduation rates of black males and other groups on campus,” he said. Patterson said the key part of his recommendations is the involvement in the Office of Student Development. “[The Office of Student Development] had a summerbridge program to help
students with transitioning, and it provided academic support throughout the academic year, including counseling, skill development and other critical services,” he said. “In its later years, however, it was allowed to come off the rails for a lot of reason and was subsequently cancelled.” The Office of Institutional Research conducts a survey every year for the retention — Retention, Page A2
Adjustments made to parking lots By IC Staff
sounded like a good idea and I do understand the impact. Now, everyone has that option.” Gramling said she was expecting more complaints from employees but was more surprised when she began received complaints from upperclass-commuter students, C Passes, who wanted to park closer to the railroad tracks. In addition to those changes, Gramling said freshmen-commuter students, K passes, were moved out of Lot 25 and given spaces in Lots 3, 4 and 5, located near Savage Arena in addition to the East Parking Garage. “Because we took [the UT Gateway Project] up, we moved K’s to the East Ramp and lots surrounding Savage,” Gramling said. Gramling said the new signs depicting the correct parking designations are being delivered and will be put up as soon as they are in.
Most parking changes made to Lot 25 located near Rocket Hall have been reversed. In order to make the lot become more “student-centered” and allow parking to be “smoother” during the Gateway Project construction, employees with A Passes were forced to park in the north end of Lot 25, the area closest to the railroad tracks and Main Campus Medical Center said Joy Gramling, director of Auxiliary Services. Gramling said due to complaints from faculty and students regarding the amount of empty spaces, the lot is no longer segregated. “[Employees] complained all summer and the decision to change wasn’t until students started to complain and when we saw that we could satisfy both customers,” Gramling said. “It
Courtesy of Utoledo.edu
Students with K passes will now be able to park in lots 3, 4 and 5 and the East Parking garage according to Director of Auxiliary Services Joy Gramling.
Eighth annual sex trafficking conference hosted at UT By Russell Axon For the IC
Toledo is an established hub for sex trafficking and prostitution, but it is also at the center of several initiatives to address and solve these issues. One of these initiatives taking place at UT is the One Dress, One Month Project where students wear the same dress every day for the whole month of October. Several other projects used to address Toledo’s sex trafficking issue were addressed at the eighth-annual Human Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Work Conference hosted by UT last Thursday and Friday. The conference established a meeting place for experts and professionals to share and develop ideas, research and solutions for Toledo’s sex trade problem, according to the conference’s website. According to the 2011
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Da Vinci Code and Angles and Demons
Jonathan Burt
retention rate for African American men, filling the Office of Student development with more qualified staff and getting more involvement from African American men through dialogue and mentors. Patterson said the overall university retention rate can be increased with these suggestions. “The campus average fiveyear graduation rate isn’t high either in the upper 30 percent.
Trafficking in Persons Report, sex trafficking generates approximately $58 billion annually in the U.S. and is considered the world’s fastest-growing illegal enterprise. The report ranks Toledo as the third-largest American city in human trafficking and/or sex trade. Approximately over 1,800 children are trafficked through Ohio annually. Daniella Soriano, a senior majoring in social work who has participated in the One Dress, One Month Project, said she hopes the event will spur a conversation among college students about how serious sex trafficking is “in [their] own backyard.” The project is hosted by the UT chapter of the International Justice Mission, Soriano said. It began Saturday and will last for 30 days. Soriano said approximately
50 to 60 girls are participating this year and will wear their dresses both on and off campus. “They can put on whatever accessories they want and, of course, they’re allowed to wash the dress,” Soriano said. The project was also held last March and April to raise funds for the Daughter Project, a faith-based, non-profit group in Northwest Ohio currently building a halfway house for sex trade victims, according to the group’s website. Christopher Dean, a senior majoring in history, said he was impressed with the global scope of this year’s sex trafficking conference. “These really are global issues, and it’s cool that Toledo is at the center of all these initiatives to confront those issues,” Dean said. The conference lasted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Three
lectures occurred simultaneously during the conference, each lasting an hour and a half. Multiple lectures were packed to the door with students, faculty and visitors. Topics included debunking common myths about the sex trade, recognizing individuals involved in prostitution and strategies for ending the sex trade. Lecturers included professors and government workers from other states and countries, such as Canada, Ghana, Liberia and Russia. The south wing of the Union was also filled with information and merchandise booths. The information booths offered highlights from several of the lectures, and the merchandise booth sold jewelry and topic-related books, with a portion of the profits benefitting charities and shelters in the To— Conference, Page A2
What is your favorite banned book?
“ Fresh., pre. pharmacy
Approximately 30 African American male students were randomly selected and placed into two groups — those above and below a 2.5 grade point average. The students were all incoming freshmen in the fall of 2010 and received structured interviews. From the results, Patterson concluded reasonable recommendations to help raise the percentage. He suggested expanding African Studies into majors that have a higher
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Of Mice and Men
Joe Thon
Junior, criminal justice
Johnathan Meadows Fresh., pre-pharmacy
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Catcher in the Rye
The House of Secrets
Hayley Shelton
Fresh., biomedical eng.
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Check out Arts and Life to see the IC staff’s favorite banned books on page 6.
1984
Katie Sims
Sen., supply chain man.
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