Florida’s Top College Paper
Vol. 76 No. 6
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149 Remain in HoJo After Room Change
www.theminaretonline.com
October 2, 2009
By Sarah Gottlieb News Editor
Over a month ago, 262 University of Tampa students and ten resident assistants moved into the Howard Johnson, occupying a full six floors of the hotel. Today 140 students and nine resident assistants remain in the hotel, occupying three floors. Like all residential students, those in the Howard Johnson were given the opportunity to participate in open room change in September. Ninety-nine Howard Johnson residents moved out of the hotel and onto campus, according to Krystal Schofield, director of Residence Life. Though many left the hotel for rooms on campus, the majority of Howard Johnson residents opted to stay where they were, many because they were comfortable, others because
Photo Illustration by Alex Vera/The Minaret
See page [3] for details Scholarships Provide Umbrella for Economic Downpour See “Hojo” [5]
By Mandy Carr Reporter
In this economy, the deciding factor for choosing a college for many prospective students is the cost. At The University of Tampa, most of the students are being relieved from that financial burden through scholarships. Ninety-one percent of all UT students received a portion of the $35 million in institutional aid last year. Robert Bruns, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, oversees and helps secure money for student scholarships such as the Presidential, Dean and Transfer scholarships. “Our job is to go out and raise money to backfill these scholarships," he said. Bruns said that his office raises money from corporations, foundations, alumni and friends of the university for two additional kinds of scholarships called the Annual and the Endowed Scholarship. The Annual Scholarship is named after a person or corporation donating at least $2,500 to establish a scholarship. These organizations and people donate money each year. The following year it is dis-
tributed through financial aid to the students' scholarships. During the process, the Financial Aid department looks at which students meet the criteria and were awarded either the Presidential, Dean or Transfer scholarships. The money then supplements the aid already given. Scholarship criteria is based on students' GPA, major, whether they are local or out-of-state residents and whether the aid is needbased or merit-based. The Endowed Scholarship works a little differently. The business or person donates a certain amount of money to have a Endowed Scholarship named after them. “It used to be $25,000…now the amount is $50,000…because the price of education goes up,” Bruns said. Then, the interest of the donation goes to scholarships each year. The donors are listed in the "UT Journal," according to Bruns. Financial Aid is making up letters to send out to students to inform them of what scholarships make up their combined financial aid. “What we do is we ask students to write thank-you letters to them...What we want them to
Inside ...
know is that there are real, living, breathing people behind… a lot of these scholarships and without that money…we could never provide the aid for them to come here,” Bruns said. Bruns said the donors and the students receiving money from them are invited to a scholarship luncheon on Nov. 19. Students can meet the donors and possibly find jobs and make connections. There are also two Endowed Scholarships that have not been given away much in recent years, according to Bruns. The first is the Julia I. Dickinson Scholarhsip, the criteria for
SG Not The Same Since No GA
By Nicole Robinson Columnist
which is to show a record of lineal descent from a confederate veteran. This is also renewable each year. The other scholarship is the Charles E. Goulding Jr. Scholarship. Students must show that they have a minimum of one-twelfth Native American blood to qualify. Bruns said that the biggest scholarship that UT offers is the University Scholar. It was given by a local foundation and awarded to Student Body President Kelsie Huth four years ago. The Admissions office will find another student to award it to when she graduates. This scholarship pays for tu-
I would like to thank SG. I know they are under a lot of criticism and speculation at the moment (even from me), but I would like to commend them on some level. As we all know, the format of Student Government has gone under drastic revision. Whereas last year students all met up in social committee meetings and then later for a general assembly meeting every week, now there are only committee meetings.
ition, room and board and books. There is only one local foundation funding this scholarship at the moment and they have donated over one million dollars. UT is in the process of finding other funding for this scholarship, so they can award it to more students. “We don’t raise that much money. Some of it we have to eat [ourselves]," Bruns said. "Some of it the university just accepts as the price of doing business. But, they ask us to go out and raise as much as we can.” For more information about scholarships or where they come from contact Robert Bruns at rbruns@ut.edu.
This was a point of a lot of discussion and ridicule during the first couple of meetings as not everyone was clear on the fact that there was going to be no interaction via SG between different interest groups. Talking with those within my own committee was similar to talking to a friend who always agrees with you; after five minutes, you’re bored. See “SG” [12]
News...................[1-5] A&E..................[8-10] Enrollment Records [5] Diversions...........[7] Beneath Her “Poker Face” [8] Commentary...[11-13] Leadership [13] Editorial..............[11] First Place Finish [15] Fighting for Privacy [12] UT Stays Unbeaten [15] Sports.............[15-16] Alpha Chi Wins Award [2]
Black Box Film Festival [8]
“Nothing was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson]