Mar. 5 2008 | The Reflector

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University of Indianapolis

Post-season play UIndy women’s basketball advances Page 4

Art interpretations New art exhibit opens in CDFAC Page 7

THE

reflector .uindy. edu

Reflector

Vol . 86/ Issue 9

March 5, 2008

Tuition rises, again Tuition and room and board rise 3.72 percent By Adrian Kendrick Feature Editor

Fangfang Li/The Reflector

David Hiller, Los Angeles Times publisher, president and chief executive officer was the guest lecturer of the Jerry and Carol Israel Lecture on Public Policy on Feb. 21 in Ransburg Auditorium. Hiller spoke on the future of news media.

L.A. Times CEO speaks as part of annual Israel Lecture By Marcus Whalbring Entertainment Editor

Publisher, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times, David Hiller, was the guest speaker for the second annual Jerry and Carol Israel Lecture on Public Policy in Ransburg Auditorium Feb. 21. Hiller spoke to University of Indianapolis students and faculty about the business of news media and the importance of news in society. According to President Beverley Pitts, the Israel lecture series was started in honor of former President Jerry Israel, who retired in 2005, and his wife Carol. The goal of the series is to inform students about national issues and public policy. “I want students to be interested in what’s happening around them and be politically involved,” Pitts said. “I’m really hoping our students support this.” Before Hiller started at the Los Angeles Times in October 2006, he was the president and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. Before that, he worked in a law firm after receiving his bachelor’s and law degrees from Harvard University. Hiller’s lecture covered various aspects of the news media. He began by discussing new forms of media

and how they have affected America’s citizens, specifically the Internet and the increasing dependence that many have placed on it. “It’s nice to see us all sitting together rather than sitting at our computers,” Hiller said. Hiller mentioned that the growth of technology has affected the news media in positive ways. He said there’s more news being covered than there was in the past because of the number of radio and television stations, publications and the Internet. Hiller also discussed other positive signs in the success of the news media. One was that the present interest in news among adults is at about 50 percent. But Hiller also said that the news business faces challenges as well. “If we’re going to be successful and prosperous, we have to make more headway in the state of education,” Hiller said. “We can’t be successful in the news if we’re not well educated.” Aside from the responsibility of educators and parents, Hiller mentioned that the Los Angeles Times was involved in “Reading by 9,” program that aids parents and teachers in getting students reading at grade-level by the age of nine, according to the L.A. Times Web site (latimes.com). “When I was growing up, we had newspapers and magazines, and it was important to read them and know what was going on,” Hiller said. The lecture then transitioned to the

changing relationship between news media and its consumers and a quote by Arthur Miller that’s engraved in the Chicago Tribune tower: “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” Hiller connected this quote to all forms of media and said that consumers and advertisers are influencing the news more than editors. He said editors used to think, “It’s not a news story unless we say it is.” And now that technology has grown and given consumers more options, consumers are looking for a news source they can trust. “As we look at the new media, we have to realize that what we do and how we connect means more than what medium we use,” Hiller said. Hiller said that news media can maintain the trust of their consumers in two ways: they have to make sure that no opinion flows into the news story, and they have to be more open to consumers. In other words, they must explain the internal workings and decisions to the consumers. Hiller ended the lecture by explaining that students who study media will be a large part of keeping the business going. Israel said he was pleased with the lecture. “I think Mr. Hiller put it well that there are not enough opportunities to sit down and actually reflect on these issues,” Israel said. “It’s important that the University has an opportunity like this for students.”

The University of Indianapolis Administration and Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has decided to raise tuition and room and board rates for the 2008-09 school year. Tuition will be $20,320 and room and board will be $7,790, with the 19 mealplan option, which is a total of $28,110 for the year. This is an increase of 3.72 percent from last year’s rates. Last year, tuition was $19,540 with a room and board cost of $7,560 with the 19 meal-plan option. “The Administration and the Board of Trustees really made an attempt to keep the tuition and room and board as minimal as we could,” said Mark Weigand, vice president of enrollment and student affairs. According to UIndy President Beverley Pitts, a number of factors influenced the tuition increase. Those factors included the predicted 15 percent higher electric bill, a $220,000 increase for computer software licenses and a three percent increase for Polk Food Service’s food. Another expense involved faculty pay raises. According to Pitts, the university

wants to make sure faculty have adequate pay increases. Also, the university made set increases needed to meet the budget. Pitts said that the increase is essentially the smallest increase that the university could do. “We have to pay the utility bills,” Weigand said. “We can’t turn the heat off. Those kinds of things we have no control over, and those [expenses] went up faster than we would have liked to see.” According to Weigand, even though the university would prefer not to increase tuition, the increase was lower than most private schools in Indiana. For example, total cost at Wabash College is $35,550. Butler University costs $35,541, University of Evansville costs $35,572, and University of Notre Dame costs $49,030. “The increase has put us in good shape compared to the other private universities,” Weigand said. “If you look over the past 10 years, we have done a better job of maintaining cost than some of the other private universities. We hope with the moderate increase likely being lower than our competition, this may actually be a positive for the Admission recruitment efforts.” According to Director of Financial Aid Linda Handy, an extensive amount of financial aid is being provided to students to help them with the cost of tuition.

See TUITION Page 3

CPB hosts sibs & kids weekend By Kim O’Brien Staff Writer The University of Indianapolis Campus Program Board hosted the annual Sibs and Kids Weekend Feb. 22-24. The event is designed to connect college students with their families. “It’s really a way to bring older students and younger kids together to catch up and talk in a place that’s not home,” said CPB Welcome Events Chair Heather Larsen. “They get to see what it’s like to be on campus, the buildings and what college is like in general.” According to Larsen, younger siblings are usually involved, but nieces and nephews have been included as well. This year 100 students preregistered. This year’s $20 registration fee included entrance to the Late Nite event on Friday, a UIndy basketball game against University of Wisconsin-Parkside and a show by mentalist and hypnotist Michael C. Anthony. The events throughout the weekend were free to UIndy students with their student IDs. Friday’s Late Nite theme was “When You Were Young,” and it featured many different activities and games for both students and their visitors. These included an obstacle course, a Velcro wall, inflatable toys, human bowling, a cake walk, giant Twister, musical chairs, spin-art, a sno-cone maker and live animals to pet and

See KIDS Page 3

Trustees approve new dorm By Meisha Baker Business Manager

The University of Indianapolis Board of Trustees approved a $10 million bond issue to build a new residence hall on the UIndy campus during a February board meeting. According to University Treasurer and Vice President of Business and Finance Mike Braughton, private colleges and universities get their capital from a tax-exempt bond issue that allows the universities to borrow the money at a lower rate, as opposed to going directly to a bank. The board’s approval will allow the construction of a new residence hall on campus to accommodate the need for more oncampus housing. “There have been talks [of a new dorm] for the past few years,” said Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli. “We’ve known that there has been a demand for students to live on campus.” The university’s on-campus hous-

ing is currently at maximum capacity. Approximately 85 students have been living in the lounges and basements of the residence halls this school year. With the university’s rapid growth, more expansion is needed to keep students on campus. The new residence hall will especially focus on a particular class of students. “We knew we needed to do something, and it seemed like the demand was certainly there for upper-class students,” Vitangeli said. “We really want to focus this residence hall on upper-class students and keeping more of them on campus.” The new residence hall will feature several components based on response from student focus groups. “There will be mostly single rooms with shared baths. Kind of [a mix] between the apartments and the dorms,” said University President Beverley Pitts. In addition to more individual space, the focus groups said that students also want a chance to get to know their fel-

low students. The new hall may also focus on allowing students to get that chance. “We’ll probably build more community space in the building and less community space in the room, but we are still not 100 percent sure,” Vitangeli said. At this point, there is no exact location as to where the residence hall will be placed on campus. “We have several options that we’re looking at,” Braughton said. “There are a couple of places on the south and north side of Hanna Avenue. We’re just presently trying to study all of those options and make a decision.” As the university begins to move forward in the process and receive materials from the project architects, the Residence Life Office will continue working on getting students’ opinions involved. The university plans to break ground for the new residence hall by the summer of 2008 and complete the project by fall of 2009.

Alicia Tuszynski/The Reflector

Kelsey Wardrop, cousin of University of Indianapolis junior Kim Wardrop, holds a snake during Campus Program Board’s Sibs and Kids Weekend Feb. 22-24.


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