MINARET UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA’S NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1933
THE
Volume 78 Number 4
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September 22, 2011
Faculty vs. Administration: A Debate on UT’s Future
By MIKEY ANGELO RUMORE and RICH SOLOMON Asst. Opinion Editor and Opinion Editor
The Faculty Senate drafted a letter to President Vaughn on September 13 urging University of Tampa administration “to engage in dialogue with the faculty” on issues of academics and growth. “[W]e understand the University is growing far more quickly than the faculty or administration expected,” the letter stated. “Although many faculty have heard a projected enrollment goal of 10,000 students, we have not been informed of the plan to support this size student body and the timeline to achieve such a goal.” The letter addressed a number of faculty concerns including: poor academic space, a growing dependency on non-tenured adjunct professors, lax admissions standards, and the absence of a “clearly defined vision of The University of Tampa of the future.” “Our concern,” the letter noted, “is whether or not we are providing our students the kind of education we claim to provide.” Implying low faculty satisfaction, the letter said, “If faculty are fully informed of the direction the University is moving, they can be encouraged to become engaged in the goals and, as a byproduct, overall morale may rise as well.” On admissions standards, the letter expressed some skepticism about the methodology that the administration uses to maintain academic standards for students’ test scores. “SAT/ACT averages may have kept us in line with our peer institutions, but we are also aware that the average is made up of extreme variations in scores—the low scores are quite low while the high scores are quite high,” the letter started. “This is evidenced in the number of preparatory classes we continue to add year after year to accommodate the incoming class with more and more remedial learning needs.” In addition, the letter said that rapid growth of administration has led to “a decrease of adequate academic space.” “Many classrooms are filled to capacity. . . . If enough desks are available, it is because the desks have been crammed into the room and students have very little space to work with.” The letter raised concerns about whether high enrollment and lack of academic space would lead the University toward less personalized teaching methods. “Of course you [President Ronald Vaughn] realize the current limitations we experience in academic space may impact delivery of curriculum—potentially hybrid courses using distance education technologies will be offered. How does such a delivery method align with our mission?”
See FACULTY, Page 4
In Other News...
3 Father, Son
to Receive Diplomas Together in December
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Three UT Students Robbed at Gunpoint Near Campus
Violent encounter during walk home from house party By CHANNING HAILEY Asst. News Editor
At approximately 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, three University of Tampa students were robbed at gunpoint on the corner of North Boulevard and Ross Avenue as they walked back to campus from a party. The suspects have not yet been apprehended. The students, Esteban Roman, Courtney Loftus and Dillon Maag, had walked to a house party on West Amelia Avenue Saturday night with a large group of friends. “We looked up [the route] on my phone,” Roman, a sophomore transfer student from Aurora, Ill., said. “It was like 20 minutes away. We didn’t know what area we’d be walking through; we just decided, you know, we’ll save cab money and we’ll walk.” The group made it to the party without any trouble, even though, as Roman noted, “The area we walked through was kind of sketchy.” As it got later, the group separated with some deciding to leave early and some deciding to stay. By around midnight, Roman, his roommate Maag and their friend Loftus were ready to leave. “We were deciding if we should cab. There were a lot of cabs parked in front of the house because there were a lot of UT students there,” Roman said. “We decided we’d walk; we walked there and nothing had happened, so we’d walk back.” Roman was walking slightly ahead with Loftus, a freshman from Canton, Mass., and Maag, a sophomore Samantha Battersby/The Minaret transfer from Naperville, Ill., following closely behind. Esteban Roman and two other students were victims of a robbery As the three were crossing Ross Avenue, Roman noticed early Sunday morning while walking on North Boulevard. something out of the corner of his eye. Describing the area, he said, “There’s a palm tree station where they called the police. After giving a statement to the police, Roman called and a telephone pole on the corner of Ross and North his credit card company to put a hold on his cards that Boulevard. I saw the two men run behind the tree.” The two men, both described by Roman as being were stolen. He said they informed him that two of his African-American and between the ages of 19 and 23, cards had been used at a nearby 7-Eleven less than an came out from behind the tree as Roman, Loftus and hour after the robbery. The detective on the case, Detective Jay Reese of Maag walked by. “Since I was in front, one approached me, and the the Tampa Police Department, was able to obtain video other approached [Courtney and Dillon] since they were surveillance footage of one of the attackers using the kind of next to each other,” Roman said. “The one who cards at the 7-Eleven. Reese is currently working on trying to identify the approached me had a mask on and he had a gun pointed robbers. “When the man was attacking Dillon, I was at me.” According to Roman, the masked man told him to be making sure to notice every detail about him, from his quiet or he would shoot him. He asked Roman for his earrings to the gray v-neck he was wearing,” Loftus said. Reese hopes that more of Loftus’ descriptions can be money, and held his gun on him until he gave up his used in identifying the two men. wallet. “It’s a bad stretch of road where kids are walking back to Roman continued to explain that the second man, who was not wearing a mask, approached Loftus and Maag UT,” Reese added. “Even if you are in a group, if someone and told them to give him their wallets. While Maag was has a gun, there’s no longer power in numbers.” Dean of Students Stephanie Russel Holz was informed getting his out of his pocket, the robber punched him in the side. The attacker then turned to Loftus and forcefully of the robbery early Sunday morning. “As dean of students, student safety is my number one took her wallet, breaking the wallet’s strap she had concern,” she said. “When instances like this happen, I wrapped around her wrist. The two men ran to their car that was parked down always think what could have been done to avoid this the block on Ross and drove away. A passerby witnessing situation.” the suspects flee the scene pulled over and offered to help See TOP STORY, Page 2 Roman, Maag and Loftus, taking them to a nearby gas
Subheading
8 Slammin’ Poet: Asia Project 10 Moneyball: Winning Story of the Underdog Athletics
14 The Twin Towers: Why We Should Rebuild
News..................................2
19 NCAA Football 12 Minaret Giveaway
Opinion............................12
Diversions.........................7 A+E....................................8 Sports..............................17