University of Tampa
“Today” at UT Tuesday, Sept. 23
Vol. 75 No. 5
www.theminaretonline.com
minaret@ut.edu
September 19, 2008
Banana McCain Returns to Tampa Woes and Margarita Maladies
Live from UT:
“Today” to Broadcast By Josh Kratovil Features Editor
By Peter Arrabal Editor-in-Chief
More than a dozen UT students were arrested or cited for underage drinking at Banana Joe’s and Margarita Mama’s late last week. As a result, the two Channelside bars closed their doors to patrons under the age of 21. Lisa McCorkle, event coordinator for both restaurants, said that the decision to go to 21-and-up only was a business decision. Both Banana Joe’s and Margarita Mama’s decided to allow the 18-and-up crowd join the party on Thursday nights just this past August. “We changed to the 18-andover for the people who were 21 and older and who had friends in their groups who weren’t (of age), so they would all come,” she said. “With the fake IDs, it was just a business decision. They’d show us one ID and the ABT (Department of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco) guys another, and it is our fault. They hold us responsible.” McCorkle said that they had cut their ties with Fresh Entertainment, a popular promotion company used by a number of bars and clubs in the South Tampa area. “They were promoting to UT and USF, where only 25 percent of their population was of age, so we’ve severed our relationship with them,” she said. See
“Joe’s” [6]
See Pages 4 & 8 A John McCain event brought a clash between both parties
Photo by Mindy Tucker
Matt Lauer and Al Roker are scheduled to broadcast live from the University of Tampa on Tuesday, Sept. 23, as the “Today” show profiles key battleground states in the presidential election. An NBC press release called the election “one of the most extraordinary and hard-fought presidential campaigns in history” and called Florida “one of the “crucial ‘battleground states’ where the White House may be lost or won. UT Director of Public Information, Eric Càrdenas said he thinks this event is a great opportunity for UT. “I think this will be a fun event and will give UT some great exposure.” “Today” will be live in Philadelphia Monday, Sept. 22. The show will then travel to Tampa.
SG Committee Turns the Page on Book Prices By Sarah Gottlieb Asst. News Editor
Complaining about the cost of textbooks is practically a college tradition, and UT is certainly no different. Several years ago, a marketing research class found that the UT bookstore had the highest price markup on textbooks in the nation. Though this information is now out of date, it’s still a disturbing statistic. Currently, the Student Government’s Academic Affairs committee, headed by vice president Kelsie Huth, is drafting a resolution designed to cut book prices
for UT students. Huth said that she always hears her friends and other students complain about book prices, and thought the issue would fit in well with the Academic Affairs committee. “Who doesn’t want cheaper books?” Huth said. “I know I do.” She explained that there are three ways to make book prices cheaper: having the bookstore minimize its margin of profit, having UT minimize its margin of profit or turning the focus on professors. Since the first two options are difficult paths at best, the Academic Affairs committee has decided to focus on working with professors,
proposing a resolution requesting that professors turn in their book orders by the bookstore’s deadline. According to Huth, professors are supposed to turn in tentative class schedules to the registrar by Feb. 15. The deadline for fall book orders is April 15. This gives professors plenty of time to decide what books to use for their classes. Spring orders have a similar time frame. This gives profesors plenty of time to decide what books they want their students to have for class for the next semester. Huth, who met with bookstore manager Mike Comiskey, said the
amount of professors who actually put their book orders in on time is low. She explained that the missed deadline means the bookstore doesn’t know how many used books to order. As a result, by the time many professors order books, the used books are no longer available to the UT bookstore. “What we want to do is encourage faculty to get those books ordered in as soon as they know they’re going to teach a class,” said Huth. “Mike Comiskey has been great about meeting with Andrew [Learned] and I,” she continued. See
“Books” [8]
Fall Semester Enrollment Numbers Balloon By Charlie Hambos Asst. Editor-in-Chief
Leaving the poor economy in the dust, The University of Tampa not only received more than enough applications, but once again set another record. This year UT accepted 1,601 new students, bringing the total population to 5,790 undergraduate and graduate students. According to a press release, this year’s total is up 3.3 percent from 5,601 students last year. Undergraduate student numbers totaled 5,120, a rise of 4.6 percent
Inside ...
from last year. Graduate enrollment increased to 670 students. The 2008 enrollment numbers nearly doubled from the numbers 10 years ago at 3,028 students. Student population has increased steadily ever since at an average of 250 students per year. “The goal is set for 6,000 students in 2010,” said Eric Càrdenas, Director of Public Information. According to Director of Undergraduate Admissions Brent Benner, Dr. Ronald Vaughn gives the admissions staff goals they must achieve in accepting
Tentative Recylcing Program in Place[2]
students. For this year the goal was 1,220 freshman and 300 transfer students. After the drop and add period, there were 1,225 freshman and 329 transfer students registered for classes, but that was not an official record. Exceeding their goal, Benner pointed out that although the economy has not been its best, more than enough applications were submitted. “There were limited [student] choices because of the economy, and luckily it didn’t affect our incoming class,” Benner said.
Soccer Stadiums: Best and Worst [19] Election Diversity [15]
UT Aluma Fights Cancer [10] WUTV Set to Return
[7]
New Honors Director [6]
“Luckily, we are not a public institution,” Benner said citing the recent budget cuts to several of the state schools in Florida including University of South Florida and Florida State University. Benner believes that this is not only an economic factor but also a fact that students apply to more institutions each year. Only 49 percent of the students who applied were admitted, allowing UT to be more selective. “We were fortunate enough to have more applications and this was See
“Students” [2]
UT swells with new students. Illustration by Kassie Monsees
Ode to Cinema Paradiso [13]
“Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.” [Douglas Adams]
News....................[1-8] Features ..........[10-11] A&E................[12-14] Editorial .............. [15] Commentary ..[15-17] Sports .............[18-20]