The News Record 1.14.12

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THE 132-YEAR-OLD AWARD-WINNING INDEPENDENT STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

VOL. CXXXIII ISSUE LVVVVVV

Education reports released

The News Record MONDAY | JANUARY 14 | 2013

FREE - ADDITIONAL COPIES $1

Report on Ohio’s education prep programs show minimal variation BROOKE BEERY SENIOR REPORTER NEWSRECORDNEWS@GMAIL.COM A set of annual performance reports for each of Ohio’s educator preparation programs showed little variation between the University of Cincinnati and other Ohio institutions of higher learning. “[The reports] are intended to help a wide variety of people,” said Rebecca Watts, associate vice chancellor for the Ohio Board of Regents. “They will help prospective students and their parents — who can now compare programs side by side — as well as policy makers like legislators and the governor, who will be able to see how the programs in Ohio are performing.” The reports, collected by the Ohio Board of Regents board include data in a variety of areas including licensure test scores, field and clinical experience, as well as national accreditation. In most of the categories the differences between UC — the second largest public university in the state — and state averages are minimal, usually less than a percentage point. Teachers at UC passed licensure tests 95 percent of the time. The state average was 96 percent. For principals, the passing rate at UC was 100 percent while the state average was 96 percent. There are differences demonstrated in some of the performance metrics between large, public universities and small, private universities, but overall, there is not much variation across the state, Watts said. The reports also provided data on the demographics — school level, minority enrollment and poverty levels — of schools teachers ended up at. UC prepared teachers wound up teaching at elementary schools 10.24 percent more than the state average. The reports also show UC prepared teachers end up teaching at schools with a larger concentration of minority students and higher levels of poverty, compared to the state average. “The goal is to be transparent and provide accountability for our Educator Preparation Programs because they are preparing the next generation of Ohio educators,” Watts said. The board evaluated approximately 51 public and private institutions in Ohio. Future performance reports will be issued annually at the end of each year. The reports are currently available for public viewing at the Board of Regents website.

LAUREN PURKEY | PHOTO EDITOR

A FRESH START The African American Cultural and Resource Center at the University of Cincinnati will reopen Tuesday, after five months of construction. The renovations forced many students who use the center to relocate to other buildiongs around campus.

NEEDED RENOVATIONS AACRC opens doors after five months of construction KARA DRISCOLL NEWS EDITOR NEWSRECORDNEWS@GMAIL.COM After five months of renovation, and a tumultuous period of staff and student discontent over the center’s deterioration for years, the African American Cultural and Resource Center at the University of Cincinnati will reopen its doors Tuesday. “It’s not just a black cultural center,” said Eric Abercrumbie, AACRC director. “It’s a university gathering space. Everyone uses the center.” The university poured $325,000 into the renovation of the center, which started in August 2012. Renovations included “visually opening up the space,” adding new furniture, carpet, televisions and African artifacts. While remodeling occurred throughout the fall semester, employees and students who frequented the center were displaced to other buildings throughout campus. AACRC staff members were forced to relocate to parts of the Steger Student Life Center, said Ewaniki Moore-Hawkins, assistant director of the AACRC and Ethnic Programs and Services. “That was kind of tricky for us,” MooreHawkins said. “It didn’t actually allow us to do everything that we would like to do because we didn’t have our own space.” Many initiatives the AACRC supports, such as Brothers To Brothers and Sisters Impacting Sisters, couldn’t host meetings in the center. Instead, the initiatives held meetings

in the Tangeman University Center and offices in Steger. “Both of those initiatives took place in the Tangeman University Center when we could get it scheduled and within Steger,” Moore-Hawkins said. “Especially when it was in Tangeman, it was a challenge because in the [AACRC] we were allowed to have food and people can bring in different types of food whereas in [TUC], we couldn’t do that.” Without the full use of the facility, the importance of the center came into sharp focus for Moore-Hawkins. “Because when we didn’t have it, it really became a challenge for us to do everything that we do — even with students, it was hard to see all of the student base that we usually serve,” she said. The renovation marks a new era departing from past problems. “The center is 20 years old so you can imagine it needed freshening up years and years ago,” Moore-Hawkins said. “We’ve had students that have been speaking up and voicing their concerns for the deterioration of the center for years now. So, this has been an ongoing battle, and finally something was done about it.” In the 2011-12 academic year, sightings of rodents and animal control issues inundated the center. Rodent sightings peaked with approximately 20 mice trapped in the center from Dec. 1 to Dec. 10, 2011, and more than 10 found in the center in March, said AACRC student worker Mario Shaw in an interview in April.

Abercrumbie said the center hasn’t had a rodent problem since June. UC Facilities spent approximately $1,200 on pest control — $200 for traps and $540 on inspections per year — in the AACRC alone, said Bob Bauer, UC Facilities director for grounds, in an interview in April 2012. When the center opened in September 1991, university officials stated the location would be temporary, but 22 years later, the AACRC remains in its original site at 65 West Charlton Street. “I think right now we are happy with the renovations and really excited about it for our students,” Moore-Hawkins said. “As far as a master plan for the cultural center, it would be nice if one day we could be in a freestanding facility on campus.” A “home away from home” for students, Abercrumbie said he is excited to unveil the multifunctional center. With a mural on one wall detailing the history of significant contributions made by black UC students and graduates, he hopes the center will be educational for everyone who visits. The Undergraduate Student Government already requested to host meetings in the new center and Abercrumbie encourages the entire UC community to benefit from the AACRC. “There is no place on campus or in this city more beautiful and with more purpose than our African American Cultural and Resource Center,” he said. “Because now, it’s not just a building. There’s nothing like visiting the [AACRC] at the University of Cincinnati.”

Political opponents agree to disagree Local politicians with opposing views partcipate in lecture series aimed at increasing civility in political discourse BENJAMIN GOLDSCHMIDT CHIEF REPORTER NEWSRECORDNEWS@GMAIL.COM

PHIL DIDION | CHIEF REPORTER

BEYOND CIVILITY City Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld and Cincinnati Tea Party founder Mike Wilson discussed their political backgrounds and beliefs in an attempt to demonstrate civility in politics at Hebrew Union College Thursday.

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The Hebrew Union College, located on Clifton Avenue, hosted its second lecture aimed at increasing civility in local political discourse Thursday at Mayerson Hall. The event — the second in a series — featured Cincinnati City Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld and Cincinnati Tea Party President Mike Wilson. In an effort to gain a mutual respect for each other’s opposing political views, the two Cincinnati natives talked at length about their upbringings and the events that shaped their viewpoints. Wilson cited his younger sister’s perpetual illness and consequential hospital bills, as a defining time in is youth. Sittenfeld said his mother’s job as a teacher produced his political leanings. Both men discussed their views on negative campaign ads, and whether or not it is ever acceptable to use them. When Wilson ran for state representative in 2010, he said it was very tempting to run a negative ad on Connie Pillich — who won by five votes — in

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response to an ad against him. Wilson ultimately decided not to run it because the ad would have been “below the belt,” he said. “It wasn’t pointing out her record, it wasn’t pointing out the things that she had voted on … it was something that was related to her personal life,” Wilson said. While the event promoted political civility, Sittenfeld said friction in politics can often lead to better outcomes. “It is sort of a balancing act. I want to have a great conversation with Mike Wilson and say, ‘what’s all of the common ground we can stake out and work together to do something productive’,” Sittenfeld said. “But make no mistake, if I got too cozy, if we agreed too much, I think people would start to say ... what’s going on here.” The liberal Sittenfeld stated he regularly seeks the advice of Republicans when working for city council, and mentioned “neither side has a monopoly on good ideas,” he said. But both speakers agreed neither Republicans nor Democrats possess more compassion than the other, Wilson said. They simply disagree on the best way to solve the issues.


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