Wednesday, April 10, 2013
94th year • Issue 29
Trent Voss looks to be focal point of defense / B4 Serving the University of Toledo since 1919
Inside
UT medical center
Faculty senate
UT decision could force Faculty in power abortion clinics to close By Danielle Gamble Editor-in-Chief
UT musicians balance schoolwork and play / B1
www.IndependentCollegian.com
After receiving criticism from an anti-abortion group, the University of Toledo Medical Center is cancelling a transfer agreement with an area abortion clinic and ending negotiations with another, an action which could force the clinics to close.
UT President Lloyd Jacobs sent a letter dated March 4 to the Capital Care Network of Toledo that said the university would not renew an agreement with the abortion clinic in July. He also sent a letter to Center for Choice, saying UTMC would no longer consider signing a transfer agree-
ment with the clinic. While UT representatives did not comment specifically on the topic, Larry Burns, vice president for external affairs, issued a statement saying the university “takes no position on the issue [of abortion] and respects the views of all.” The statement read,
“That said, the University of Toledo Medical Center will in every circumstance provide medical care to any patient regardless of the reason that care is needed or the choices a patient makes prior to his or her arrival at our hospital.” See Abortion / A8
world record
‘TITLE’ WAVE
Winners of Student Government election look ahead / A3 Editorial: ‘Rocket Pride’ so vague it’s meaningless / A4
In brief UT Student Appreciation Day is April 22 The second annual Student Appreciation Day at the University of Toledo will take place on Monday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Centennial Mall. There will be free food, games, prizes and activities in the presence of the president, vice presidents, and deans of UT. The raffle prizes for this year will include free parking for an entire semester, and one-on-one lunches with UT administrators and coaches. The celebrations are sponsored by the Office of the Senior VP for the Student Experience.
Discounted tickets for Red Wings games offered to students, faculty, staff The Detroit Red Wings games for Monday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. against Phoenix Coyotes and for Thursday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. against Nashville Predators will have discounted tickets for University of Toledo students, faculty and staff. Tickets for the Coyotes’ game are available for $25, $30 and $40 and for the Predators’ game are available for $35, $40, $45 and $50. A charge of $1.25 per ticket handling fee will be added to each order. The discount is only available at www. detroitredwings.com/ utoledo with the promo code: Toledo.
Bob Taylor / IC
Members of the University of Toledo scuba diving club, Dive UT, pose Tuesday in front of the 330-gallon tote they used to break the world record for longest continuous time underwater between a group of divers.
UT scuba club breaks world record By IC Staff
A team that included the University of Toledo student scuba diving club broke the world record Tuesday morning for longest continual time underwater between a group of divers in an enclosed environment.
The group of about 25 certified divers spent April 1 through 9 taking turns underwater in a 330-gallon tank housed on UT’s campus in the Student Union next to the Trimble Lounge. The session began Monday, April 1, around 6:20, and lasted until early
Tuesday morning around 3:30 a.m. The previous world record was 6 days and 21 hours, which the group surpassed by about 3 hours. Clayton Moore, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said the group must now submit the week’s worth of video and other
paper work to Guinness World Record officials. He expects to hear the final verdict in about a month. However, he is confident he already knows the outcome. “No matter what, we got this record,” he said. “We followed everything dot for dot.”
struggle with trustees By Lindsay Mahaney News Editor
Members of the Faculty Senate say the University of Toledo Board of Trustees is strongarming the group into voting to amend the Senate’s constitution, a move they fear will strip the faculty of its voice. The Board of Trustees decided in January that every organization on campus must add a clause to its constitution stating that its power is delegated to it by the trustees. An organization that does not comply by June 30 will have its constitution suspended. Senate members unanimously voted on Tuesday to include the clause in their constitution as ordered, saying the alternative was to risk being dissolved. But they followed that action by approving a statement of protest that read, “A coerced vote under threat of suspension is not deemed appropriate or fair.” UT archivist Barbara Floyd said while she does not agree with the clause, the senate must consider to the risks of voting against the constitution change. “We risk the suspension of Faculty Senate,” she said. “To vote it down is to ignore reality.” The board of trustees also said campus organizations’ constitutions cannot conflict with the governing rules of the University Council. The council is a group approved by the trustees and made up of administrators, faculty members and students. In the event of a conflict, the University Council must prevail. Don Wedding, associate management professor, asked if Faculty Senate would cease to function if the constitution is not approved. John Barrett, interim vice provost for college and faculty relations, said when the trustees See Faculty / A8
ACADEMICS
Eight-week sessions let students condense language courses By Amanda Eggert Staff Reporter
Students who want to ace a class in half the usual time have to be prepared for an intense experience, said foreign language Chair Ruth Hottell. “It’s like removing a band aid; you’ll have a somewhat painful but a faster experience if you really want to finish this and get on to other things,” she said. But it’s an option that’s becoming increasingly popular. Accelerated eight-week courses offer a new approach in foreign languages for students who are willing to increase their course load to get basic classes out of the way quicker than the standard 16-week semester allows.
The eight-week foreign language classes began in the fall semester of 2012 with Spanish and French, Hottell said, when the initiative was brought up last spring by Jamie Barlowe, dean of the College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences. “We bought into it to help anybody in any major, but we were also thinking that it had a possibility for recruiting majors and minors,” Hottell said. “We got on board and became enthusiastic about it because it would help people get through the foreign language requirement quickly and also could spark interest in them,” she said. Alex Bour, a senior majoring in biology, chose to
participate in the eight-week courses offered in Spanish simply because he could complete four semesters worth of foreign language in two. Because the courses are set up with a break halfway through the class time, Bour said the structure gives students time to stay focused throughout the 100-minute class. “What I definitely like about the classes is it allows us to both work in groups and get to understand the foreign language much better than self-recitation or rote memorization of individual assignments,” he said. “I like that as a requirement of the See Classes / A7
Danielle Gamble / IC
Taylor Allman, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, is pictured April 8 during an eight-week Spanish class.