the rocket
Friday September 4, 2015 • Volume 99, Issue Number 2 • An Independent, Student-Run Newspaper
www.theonlinerocket.com
Support beams make Spotts 'safe to occupy' By Haley Barnes News Editor
REBECCA DIETRICH/THE ROCKET
Danette DiMarco, chair of the English department, works inthe faculty lounge. The faculty lounge is one of the many rooms in SWC Building that requires beams for support and safety.
Over the summer while Spotts World Culture (SWC) Building was being renovated, a structural engineer discovered that the south wall of the building was separating from the other walls. Through a process called shoring, using support beams to hold something together, the building is safe for students and staff to enter. Mary Ann King, member of the Slippery Rock University Master Plan Committee, explained that the beams are a permanant solution to fix the separation of the south wall. "The building is safe to occupy," she said. On Tuesday during common hour, President Cheryl J. Norton addressed the university with a speech. During her speech, she touched upon the status of SWC Building. "Now Spotts is made in three parts, so it's really just the one part that was the problem and we were able to continue to do the remodel of the classrooms on the first floor," she said. She explained that in order to keep the structure of the building intact, the support beams were neccessary. She said that the beams have compromised the work evironment for many. Rooms 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117 were remodeled in SWC Building over the summer after the shoring
was completed. King explained that most of the listed rooms received new lighting, whiteboards, technology, paint and flooring over the summer. Rooms 114 and 116 also received new seating. Desks in the classrooms on the first floor are now facing away from the windows too so that students now have a clear view of the professor teaching. Last semester, it was announced that classes were no longer going to be offered on the second and third floors of SWC Building because with so many people in the hallways of the building at one time, there was too much traffic and the building was deemed unsafe. Norton said work is being done with a construction company to figure out how to go about advancing the remodel of the second and third floor of the building now that the shoring is completed and the building is stable. "I will tell you it's going to take about a year to get this completed," Norton said. King explained that this semester with classes only being offered on the first floor, that the first floor classrooms are heavily scheduled for classes. She said that rooms 100 and 104 will be finished for the spring semester, which will allow more classes to be offered on the first floor.
Old photo of SRU fraternity goes viral as an example of rape culture By Janelle Wilson Editor-in-Chief
A photo of a Slippery Rock University fraternity posing in front of a sign reading, “Thank you fathers for your freshman daughters” recently went viral on several websites, some calling it an example of rape culture. Old Dominion University’s Sigma Nu fraternity was suspended in August for hanging similar signs off of their fraternity house, one of the signs designated the house as a “freshman daughter drop off.” In an act of protest at Sigma Nu’s suspension, totalfratmove.com published the photo of SRU’s Sigma Tau Gamma in front of their fraternity house at 129 Kiester Rd. Total Frat Move also published similar photos from fraternities at other schools, the author asking “Can people not take a joke anymore?” The photo was then used by the Huffington Post in an article entitled “It's Not Just ODU Students Putting Up Offensive Signs About Freshman Girls.” Additionally, the Sig Tau photo was used by the website mic.com, saying that the banners “Reveal fraternity rape culture at its worst.” When the photo wasn’t identified in any of the websites as being from SRU, but some current and former students recognized the house and shared the articles on Facebook. Executive director of public affairs, Rita Abent, said that the story is old, and no longer relevant because the incident was quickly remedied. “[The photo] keeps circulating on the Internet…because people see it and without knowing the backstory, push it out to their friends, who then continue the cycle,” she said. The photo was taken several years ago, and assistant director for the Center for Student Involvement and
PHOTO FROM TOTALFRATMOVE.COM
This picture of Slippery Rock University fraternity, Sigma Tau Gamma, was taken several years ago.. The picture recently went viral after a similar picture from Old Dominion caused controversy.
Leadership, and supervisor of Greek affairs, N. Charles Judge, asked the fraternity to permanently take down the sign at the time. When the photo resurfaced, Judge spoke with the fraternity, and contacted the national office. “[Everyone] was mortified,” Abent said. “This is a prime
example of why people need to be concerned when they post material on the Internet. It just never goes away.” Sigma Tau Gamma did not respond to requests for a quote on the topic. Additional reporting done by Haley Barnes
My Rock Audit To Students Weigh Improve Advising In On VMAs
SRU Running Back AVI Offers New Chases Record Dining Options
A newly updated My Rock Audit will benefit the adviser/advisee relationship. Page A-2
Running back Shamar Greene could catch SRU's all-time rushing record by the end of 2016. Page C-3
SRU twitter users talk about their favorite (and least favorite) parts of the VMAs. Page B-2
Students now have new options to choose from when eating on campus. Page D-1