Sports
Campus L ife 'Biggest Loser' contestant
B-1
Rock defeats Lock Haven
C-1
shares personal story
The Rocket www.theonlinerocket.com
Friday, February 15, 2013
Slippery Rock University Student Newspaper
Est. 1934
Volume 96, Number 15
Winter Session course prices rise three percent
More students choose to take classes over extended winter break By Erica Kurvach Rocket Staff Reporter
Winter Session enrollment increased this year, even as prices rose three percent, the current rate of inflation. According to SRU Student Accounts, last year the total cost for a three credit hour semester undergraduate, web-based course was $903 for Pa. residents. This year the price went up to $929.40 which is about a $26 increase. According to the annual inflation rate of three percent, the cost of tuition is the required amount. The Winter Session was offered first in 2011 due to students’ demand. Elliott Baker, the executive director for Academic Records, Summer School and Graduate Studies, said former provost William Williams came up with the idea
to add another term to the school year. “He saw other schools taking the opportunity so we wanted to as well,” Baker said. Baker said that the Winter Session has mainly two purposes for students. One is students with deficiencies in their grades see this as an opportunity to get back on track with the credits they should have earned to graduate on time. Secondly, students see this opportunity to get a head start for the spring semester and potentially graduate earlier or alleviate their work load for the spring. “[Provost] saw that students can use this as a self-service and a way for the university to collect additional revenue than earning from the traditional fall and spring terms,” Baker said. “He saw that students would go to other schools to take courses over break.”
Despite some complaints from faculty and students on how the break was too long, Baker saw the benefits. “For the second Winter Session this year, there was a tremendous increase in students enrolled in the classes,” Baker said. “Clearly students saw this as a good opportunity and embraced it.” The Winter Session term had an increase in the number of courses offered. Plus, students saved on room and board, and out-of-state students had reduced prices. “It’s a convenient way to earn additional credits,” Baker said. “For every course that was offered, enough students wanted to enroll in them.” According to the State System budget set in June, cuts had to be made on courses. All Winter Session classes were webbased except for internships.
No on-campus housing or meal plan was available since there were no oncampus classes. According to Winter Session Important Notes for Students, grades were due January 22. Students could not register more than seven credits unless an Excess Hour Form was approved by the student's advisor, chairperson and dean. Students who completed final credits toward graduation due to Winter Session graduated in January and have the chance to walk through the December ceremony. The enrollment of all full-time, degree/ certificate seeking undergraduates and students receiving athletically-related student aid is about 7,961 students. As of fall 2012, 92 percent of undergraduate students enrolled and eight percent of graduate students enrolled.
Council of Stuff-a-Plush attracts students for Valentine's Day SRU Trustees chairman under scrutiny in Pittsburgh By Will DeShong Editor-in-Chief
ALEX MOWREY/THE ROCKET
Slippery Rock's University Program Board hosted its annual Stuff-a-Plush event Thursday. Students purchased the lining for a stuffed animal, and then were able to fill the animal with stuffing to their liking. Animals available included teddy bears, pigs, monkeys, bunnies, and dogs. See page A-3 for a QR code that links to a video of the event.
Helium shortage impacts organic chemistry program By Kevin Squires Rocket Contributor
Helium may be the second most abundant element in the universe, but for party enthusiasts, scientists, and the Goodyear blimp, abundance is the last thing that comes to mind when thinking of helium. In fact, there is a major shortage occurring worldwide on helium. That may seem counterintuitive, but remember that Earth is just one part of a big universe, and every time helium leaves the Earth, it does not return. Helium is extracted from natural gas refineries and most of it is stored in
Amarillo, Texas where the government operates and maintains a reservoir which is responsible for 42 percent of the helium requirements in U.S. and 35 percent of the world’s helium. The shortage comes from simple supply and demand. The supply is not being replenished fast enough to meet the demands of society. But what are those “demands,” besides balloons and changing a person’s voice to sound like a chipmunk? The Federal Helium Program explains that, “helium is an essential resource for the aerospace industry, aluminum helium arc welding, computer chip
and optical fiber manufacturing, scuba diving mixtures, and for medical uses including MRI magnet cooling, lung tissue visualization, heart catheterization methods, and medical lasers. Helium is also used in rocket engine testing, scientific balloons, and blimps. Surveillance devices, air to air missile guidance, and chemical warfare testing systems are just some of the military uses for helium.” The chemistry department at Slippery Rock uses helium primarily for use of SEE THREE, PAGE A-2
The chairman of Slipper y Rock University’s Council of Trustees is part of public concerns with the Pittsburgh police. Eric Holmes, who took over as chair this past June, held two full-time jobs from August 2007 until July 2008, working as a sergeant for the Pittsburgh Police Department while also serving as the interim head of SRU’s campus police force. According to the Pittsburgh PostGazette, Holmes earned $67,000 as a base salary for the city police and nearly $81,000 as the director for campus safety and security at SRU during that time. Pittsburgh city code prevents persons with paid positions in the city government from holding other paid government positions. It is unknown at this time whether Holmes technically violated the law by working with SRU, a state school. There is, however, a 32 hours per week moonlighting limit for Pittsburgh police officers. According to the Post-Gazette, Holmes worked a 40-hour work week as interim head of campus police, a position that officially calls for availability 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in its job description. Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper and Holmes are also under scrutiny over going into a private consulting business with together with two other Pittsburgh police officers, as well as another person. Harper promoted Holmes from sergeant to commander this past August, making him the highest ranked position aside from the bureau’s five chiefs. Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl told the Post-Gazette that Chief Harper doing business with his subordinates is unacceptable, and felt the same way about Holmes’ full-time work with Slippery Rock. Neither Holmes nor the state system could be reached for comment. SRU administrators declined comment at the time. Holmes is a Pittsburgh native and a 1993 graduate of Slippery Rock University.