W E D N E S D AY APRIL 7, 2004 Vol. 125, No. 69
P.M. Showers 70°/ 50° w w w. s t u d l i f e . c o m
STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
INSIDE Campus reacts to Ervin changes ONLINE DATING
By Kristin McGrath q Staff Reporter
Robbie Gross searches cyberspace for true love in his foray into online dating, the Cadenza staff shares its favorite celebrity mugshots from the Smoking Gun and Tyler Weaver breaks up with Michelle Branch.
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Sophomore Ervin Scholar Erica Turner got more than tuition when Washington University awarded her with the scholarship—she gained a second family. “The Ervin program is about more than money,” said Turner. “It is about creating a support network for African-American students. Coming to the University is tough, and it was wonderful to find a family waiting for me.” Turner feels she and her fellow Ervin Scholars may lose this unique atmosphere after the changes to the Ervin Scholar program have been put into effect. After facing legal pressure from groups opposed to racially-specific college programs, the University has opened the Ervin Scholarship Program to students of all races. The scholarship was previously available only to African-Americans. “Through the Ervin program, I have undoubtedly met people whom I would not have met before,” said Turner. “Two of my roommates are Ervin Scholars, but none of us really run in the same academic or social circles. It is unfortunate that after next year, others will not have similar experiences.”
See ERVIN, page 2
ROWING TO VICTORY
STUDENT LIFE ARCHIVES
Lois Hanshaw, Crystal Moten, Crystal Miller, and Maya Evans traveled to Washington D.C. last year to protest in favor of affirmative action following the Supreme Court’s decision regarding admissions at the University of Michigan. As a result of that decision, among other things, the administration has moved to change the Ervin Scholarship Program to include eligible students of all backgrounds.
Law faculty protests DOD
ISLAMIC JEOPARDY
The men’s and women’s crew teams competed in the inaugural Indianapolis D-III Invitational Regatta. Find out how they finished inside.
By Cory Schneider q News Editor
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U.S. Jobs Lost and Created Monthly change in non-farm employment, seasonally adjusted -100 0 100 200 300 (in thousands)
-110,000
2M 0A 0M 3 J J A S O N D 2 J 0 0 F 4M
JUSTIN CHOI
As a part of Islamic Awareness Week, these students set up a game of Islamic Jeopardy in order to test students’ knowledge of the Islamic faith. Through Islamic Awareness Week, the campus Islamic community hopes to educate students about the Islamic faith, culture and lifestyle.
The United Faculty of the Washington University School of Law, a majority of the School’s 42 voting faculty members, announced Monday that it had voted to join the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. (FAIR). In so doing, the United Faculty has shown its support for litigation against the Solomon Amendment, which denies access to part or all of a school’s federal funding when an institution does not allow the military to recruit on its campus. The United Faculty cited concerns over the violation of nondiscrimination policies as the reason for joining the lawsuit. Because all branches of the military observe the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the group believes that the military excludes openly gay, lesbian and bisexual students from possible employment. They believe that such practices fall directly against nondiscrimination policies held by several schools nationwide. The faculties of various universities have opposed the Solomon Amendment because of its insistence that a school make exceptions to their nondiscrimination policies. “Being forced to exempt the military from our nondiscrimination policy prevents us from demonstrating to our students and the community generally that we believe all members are entitled to equal treatment and respect,” said the
See LAW, page 2
Students without housing after Round 1 By Mike Parks q Contributing Reporter
+308,000
Jobs created in March 2004: v Construction - 71,000 v Retail trade - 47,000 v Health care - 30,000 KRT CAMPUS
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INDEX Cadenza Forum Calendar Sports
pages 3-4,10 pages 5-6 page 7 page 9
A large number of upperclassmen were denied their desired housing in the first round of Washington University’s housing petition process March 25. Many of the rejected students were sophomores seeking living arrangements in Millbrook or in off-campus Universityowned buildings such as Greenway and University Drive Apartments. Rejected students had the option of either applying for Round Two of the housing process, which allocates living spaces in the Village and suite-style dorms on the South 40, or seeking space in off-campus apartments. Some of the rejected students felt that the large number of students being denied their first choice for housing indicates a problem with the housing system at the University. Sophomore Evan Prince, who was denied space in Millbrook, is dissatisfied with the current housing system’s methods. “I feel like there’s a problem in that there’s just too much housing that no one wants,” said Prince. “While you are guaranteed housing, very few juniors are going to want to live on the South 40, and the Village doesn’t even really have suites. There are no common rooms and no kitchens like you would have in Millbrook. So basically everyone applies during Round One for [the apartments] where this is not going to be enough room, and then they get stuck living someplace they don’t want to in Round
Two.” According to Tim Lempfert, the assistant director of Residential Life (ResLife) in charge of University Apartments, the demand for apartment-style living is higher than the available number of spaces. Lempfert said that approximately 100 petitions were denied through the Round One petition process, which includes Millbrook, University Drive, Greenway and Rosedale apartments, as well as the handful of two-, three-, and eight-person suites on campus. “About 850 students submitted through the Round One process, and approximately 550 of them were offered a space,” Lempfert said. “Many of the students who did not receive an offer at that time are underclassmen.” Prince feels that the University does not pay enough attention to the more popular housing options indicated by students’ housing requests. “I think that the University should view all of their problems with getting enough kids into the Village—as well as [having] way too many people applying for Round One housing—as a red flag about where people want to live,” he said. “Yet the fact that they just built University House, which is in many ways [similar to] the Village, shows that they aren’t paying attention.” Sophomore Matt Seiler, who decided to look for an off-campus apartment after being denied a place in the Greenway apartment build-
See HOUSING, page 2
STUDENT LIFE
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STUDENT LIFE ARCHIVES
Several upperclassmen were denied in their bid to live in Millbrook Apartments next year. Millbrook Apartments is one of the options for students who wish to leave the South 40, but not University housing altogether. Editor: editor@studlife.com News: news@studlife.com Calendar: calendar@studlife.com
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