The
Kent Stater
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
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@kentwired KentWired.com
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2015
21-and-over classes
LARPing
Women’s golf wins
There are many reasons to look forward to turning 21: your first legal drink, a horizontal driver’s license and gambling. A bonus perk? The ability to register for three Kent State courses for students 21 and older.
Duelers stand just a few feet from their opponent. With stances set, they both grip their weapons tight enough to control but loose enough to shift and maneuver.
The Kent State women’s golf team ended its fall season on a high note with its third straight tournament win. The Flashes took first place at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational with a 5-under-par 859 score.
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CAN I SMOKE THAT HERE? Issues 2 and 3 raise questions about marijuana on campus
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No update on downtown weekend shooting Kent Stater Staff Report Police are still investigating an early Saturday morning shooting in downtown Kent. Lt. Michael Lewis said the department is not able to release any updates about the incident. Kent Police Captain Jim Prusha said a 24-yearold man was taken to a nearby hospital after being shot at around 2 a.m. Saturday morning near the intersection of East Main and South Depeyster streets near the Kent Stage. The man's condition remains unknown, and there no confirmed suspects. Students at Kent State were alerted by a FlashALERT message at about 2:15 a.m. advising them to avoid the area. The university announced via Twitter at 9:20 a.m. Saturday morning that citizens could return to the area. Follow @KentWired on Twitter for any updates to this story.
Pulitzer Prize winner to join Kent State faculty this spring Alexis Wohler CCI Reporter
Illustration by LaQuann Dawson
Ian Flickinger Administration Reporter A Kent State poll found that 56 percent of voters would vote “yes” on Issue 3, which would legalize the use of recreational and medicinal marijuana in Ohio. However, even if it legalized, students still would not be allowed to smoke on university property. “Issue 3 is a state issue,” said Kent State President Beverly Warren. “So, even if it passes, we have a federal prohibition for marijuana use, and because we receive federal funds and are governed by federal regulations, we would have to say, as a campus, we cannot condone the use of marijuana.” The poll, released last Tuesday and commissioned by Cleveland-based WKYC, notes that 54 percent also planned to support Issue 2, which in essence, prohibits Issue 3 from being enacted. “(Issue 2) is an anti-monopoly amendment that protects the initiative process from being used for personal economic benefit,” said Matt McClellan, press secretary for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. “So it will, if it’s passed, it will prevent monopolies from being put into the constitution for the personal economic benefit of a group or individual.” McClellan said that Issue 3 would establish a monopoly for the commercial production and sale of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes. He also said that if Issue 2 is passed, it would directly become enacted because it is a state-initiated bill. Issue 3 would have a 30-day waiting period because it was created by citizens. If both Issue 2 and Issue 3 pass, McClellan said the issue will most likely be decided by the courts. For students (and faculty) who believe the potential legalization of marijuana in Ohio
enables them to smoke on campus with the same smoking zones currently designated for tobacco use, this might come as a surprise. Warren said if the bill is passed, the university will communicate the message to students that pot smoking – legal or not — will still be considered unlawful on university property. “What I think most institutions are doing in Colorado and places where this is already having an effect on universities is making sure that students are aware,” Warren said, “so that they are not caught in a compromising circumstance where they just didn't know that it was not appropriate to have marijuana on a university campus that really does have federal funding.” However, Officer Tricia Knoles, community resource officer for the Kent State Police Department, said she has not heard anything forbidding marijuana from federal or state property. “The university may have areas designated, but the university is allowed to set up their policies. If they have policies that you can only smoke in a certain area, or whatever, just like you can’t smoke in a dorm. That’s a policy, not a law, but we can enforce the policy,” Knoles said. “As far as I know, if it does become legalized, I haven’t heard anything specifically about it not being allowed on state or federal property.” Knoles said if the law allowing recreational use should pass — understanding that the university has the right to create its own policies regarding use — then marijuana would be subject to a policy similar to the current tobacco-use policy, which prohibits smoking within 20 feet of openings to university buildings. “Obviously, you can’t smoke in the dorm. It would have to be a certain amount of feet away from any building,” Knoles said. “And the university would have to come up with other policies I’m sure, because unlike cigarette smoke,
marijuana smoke, you can get a contact buzz. So students who choose not to smoke, it’s not fair to them, they don’t want a buzz.” Jill Church, director of Residence Services, said the potential legalization of marijuana would not have any effect for the department because smoking any substance is prohibited in residence halls. “We would not change that (our policy). It will continue to stand: the halls are smoke-free,” she said. “ I can’t speak to the rest of campus, but I can tell you the residence halls would remain smoke-free.” Church said if the issue passes, she does not think students will begin smoking marijuana in the dorms because of the current policy prohibiting smoking in the residence halls. “I think we would probably wait to see if there was confusion or an assumption that students think they will be able to smoke in the halls if this is passed,” Church said. “If I’m getting the sense this is a common assumption, then we’d send out something that clarifies that nothing has changed and the halls are smoke-free.” Warren said she understands the need to communicate a clear message to students if legislation is passed but also recognizes the need to review current strategies to ensure an inclusive environment is available to all students. “I think that increased awareness, increased communication [will be necessary],” she said. “We’ll see if it passes; if it does pass, I think we’re going to have to really look at some of our policies. We’re going to have to be thoughtful about medicinal use of marijuana and what we do about that, but we’ll also need to be thoughtful about a communication plan (that shows) that it would still be illegal to use marijuana on campus.” iflickin@kent.edu
Trumbull enrollment declines by nearly 11 percent James Ritter, the director of enrollment management & student services at Trumbull, said the decrease in enrollment is part of a national trend, with schools fighting over students. Kent State Trumbull has declined in enroll“Due to the increase in competition, there has ment over the past few years, remaining in sec- been a decrease in enrollment,” Ritter said. “Espeond place behind the Stark campus in terms of cially with the increase in online education.” regional campus enrollment. Lance Grahn, dean and chief 5000 Stark administrative officer of the TrumTrumbull bull campus, said 4000 the enrollment has Tuscarawas declined because the number of Ashtabula 3000 high school graduates in the region Geauga has declined, as students look to 2000 join the workforce Salem immediately. Daniel Palmer, East Liverpool assistant dean of 1000 ‘10 - ‘11 ‘11 - ‘12 ‘12 - ‘13 ‘13 - ‘14 ‘14 - ‘15 academic affairs, Anthony Cornwell Regionals/Commuters Reporter
said that to keep enrollment stable the university must focus on two issues: retention and attracting more non-traditional students. “(With) improving retention rates, we need to replace fewer students every year and make sure that our students who enter are successful in getting their degrees,” Palmer said. “We also need to reach out even more to non-traditional students to make up for the difference in lost high school applicants.” With enrollment dropping, there have been programs, such as nursing, at Trumbull that remain consistent with enrollment with some on the rise. “The nursing program over the years has served students and employers well,” Grahn said. Other programs that remained consistent and on the rise are criminal justice, English, psychology and applied business in business management technology. Ritter said a program on the rise is the "Technical & Applied Studies" due to it being a relatively new degree program. The associate of arts (General Studies) and
Pulitzer Prize winner Connie Schultz is returning to Kent State’s College of Communication and Information to teach and mentor students in the spring of 2016. Schultz won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2005, and has been a columnist since 2002. She has also worked as a columnist and reporter for The Plain Dealer for almost 20 years. Even now, Schultz remains invested within journalism since her Pulitzer win. “It’s a lot of fun and it changed my life," Schultz said. "It was important to keep advocating; to keep writing about the issues I care about.” Schultz is a former Kent State graduate from the class of 1979. She was also the former editor of the Daily Kent Stater. When she graduated, she became a freelance writer for news organizations like "The New York Times," "The Chicago Tribune" and "Cosmopolitan." Schultz will be teaching Feature Writing and Multimedia Across Platforms in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “I love working with young adults,” Schultz said. “I wouldn’t be coming back to Kent if I didn’t feel loyalty to Kent State. It’s got a great vision and I want to be part of that vision.” awohler@kent.edu
Photo courtesy of Kent State University
associate of science (General Studies) are both on the rise due to the new Automatic Awarding of Associate Degrees program. This program automatically awards an associate degree to those pursuing a bachelor’s degree. The campus does try to keep the university enrollment numbers satisfied by hosting events and bringing in speakers. The campus plans to host events like community 5K runs, the National Day of Writing Program and Black History Month events in the winter. “We have Domestic Violence Awareness Week, concerts in November, a play in two weeks and public lecture by an astronaut next week,” Grahn said. Ritter said the campus is also trying to help students financially and advertise more by “constantly increasing scholarship dollars” as a marketing effort. Grahn also stated that the campus can always do more to promote Trumbull. “We are working to sharpen our brand and be a more visible preference in the Mahoning Valley,” Grahn said. “But I’m starting first with Warren (Ohio).” acornwe2@kent.edu