UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA’S NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1933
MINARET
THE
Volume 77 Number 4
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September 17, 2010
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ut.minaret@gmail.com
Freshman’s Money Mess
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minaretblog.com
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theminaretonline.com
“Silly Rabbit”- Trix Roams UT Campus
Student Arrives Lacking Financial Support; Now Unpacked, She Second-Guesses UT By KRISTI MARSILI The Minaret
TAMPA - On August 25, incoming freshmen and transfer students were welcomed to The University of Tampa. Among these excited and eager students was one freshman who didn’t get the warmest welcome. Like many students, freshman biology major Leyonna Dunbar was able to come to the university with the aid of a private student loan. Aware of the lengthy process, Dunbar applied for the $4,000 she owed a month prior to the first week of classes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t early enough. When Dunbar arrived on campus to get her housing key and Spartan Card, she was denied. The bursar’s office had not received the paperwork for her loan. She contacted her loan provider, Wells Fargo, and they explained that she hadn’t turned in the documentation they had requested. During the following two weeks, Dunbar didn’t have a meal plan, a laundry card or the voucher from financial aid to buy her books. “I just wanted to go home, I was so upset. I packed my bags and my mom came to pick me up,” said Dunbar. By Sept. 13, the last official day to pay financial dues, Dunbar’s loan still hadn’t been processed. She was automatically dropped from
her classes that day, and she immediately went to the Bursar’s Office when she found out. According to Dunbar, a bursar employee had told her that there was nothing they could do. Dunbar was told that she should have gone through the university to pay for her loans, instead of through a private lender. “[The bursar employee] told me that my classes were dropped and that there wasn’t a reason to go to class anymore,” Dunbar said. The bursar’s office has seen this situation time and time again, DJ Eubanks, a bursar employee, explained the process that students go through. Students are given until the end of move-in week to get their payments in, which was Sept. 13 this semester. If they are not in by then, their classes are dropped. If the student’s payment is in late, they must get their professor’s signatures in order to be re-enrolled in the class. “During this process we encourage the students to still attend classes, so when the money comes in they hadn’t missed anything,” said Eubanks. It turned out that Wells Fargo, her loan provider, hadn’t received the proper documentation from Dunbar. “My mother and I were crying to financial aid to help us, but no one could do anything,” Dunbar said. Dunbar and her mother went to the Howard Johnson Hotel where she was [See Financial Aid, 3]
See page 14 for “Mascot Madness”
UT Student Reacts to ResLife Statement Sophomore Enrique Rosado Comments After Media Hype By ALEX VERA Editor-in-Chief
See page 4 for Exclusive VMA Coverage NEWS
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
COMMENTARY
Stolen Equipment from Student Productions
Student Goes Backstage at NYC Fashion Week
The Truth Behind UT’s Mafia Front
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[Page 8]
[Page 12]
In the past week, University of Tampa sophomore Enrique Rosado received 150 friend requests on Facebook. He has been offered free drinks at The Kennedy and free VIP access at Prana. Rosado also appeared on the local evening news and CNN. The reason: an article published by The Minaret outlining Rosado’s brief homeless situation at the start of this semester. For six days Rosado slept behind the Jaeb Computer Center before finally attracting the attention of campus security. Since his situation became public, people have stopped him on campus to offer their support or, alternately, to accuse him of being lazy and a liar. “Some people sympathize for me and some people treat me as a little boy who doesn’t know how to take care of himself,” said Rosado. A Statement from ResLife A week ago, Krystal Schofield, director of Residence Life, released a statement to The Minaret, sharing, “If students miss the late-March sign-up and selection deadline, they can be added to the no-guarantee
wait-list. The remaining 30 students on the wait-list – including Enrique Rosado – were e-mailed in August with an offer of housing in the Howard Johnson. “Many of those 30 students chose to live off-campus and did not respond to the e-mail. Rosado did not respond either, and was assumed to have found appropriate off-campus housing.” Rosado said he did respond to the August e-mail, but that he was a bit late on his response. According to Schofield, “When Rosado did contact Residence Life during the first week of school, the staff confirmed his place on the wait-list, and subsequently worked to secure campus housing. Interim housing options — staying with a friend or in a hotel — were discussed, but the staff was not made aware of Rosado’s itinerant status until being notified by Campus Safety on Sept. 1. Rosado was offered a room in the Howard Johnson later that day.” Rosado disagrees with the latter portion of Schofield’s explanation. “Had that statement been true, I would have not been homeless for days,” he [See Rosado, 4]