Volume 93 Issue 1

Page 1

VALIDITY OF MEN’S STUDIES - PAGE 8

WOMEN’S B-BALL EARNS FIRST EVER VICTORY OVER GW - PAGE 15

SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS

1918-2010

JANUARY 26, 2011

VOLUME 93, ISSUE 1

English Faculty to Vote on Bookstore Boycott By CHRISTINE BARCELLONA OPINIONS EDITOR

During its Feb. 9 meeting, the English department plans to formally vote on whether to boycott the Barnes & Noble-operated University Bookstore. The decision to possibly boycott comes after unsatisfactory interactions with the bookstore; common complaints from professors include insufficient quantities of ordered books, untimely stocking, incorrect book orders, unreliable service and Barnes & Noble’s pricing. According to its Web site, Barnes & Noble operates stores at more than 600 universities and pays for its own operation and marketing costs at these institutions, including payroll, insurance, benefits and inventory. The site also states that Barnes & Noble determines what percentage of the profits the universities receive after negotiating a contract with each institution. Members of the English department have requested information about who negotiated the contract at Fordham, to no avail. The Barnes & Noble site also claims that “stocking every book for every student” is “a part of our contract” with universities; however, faculty members report that Barnes & Noble’s policy has appeared to cut each book order by one third, and to reorder textbooks at the same ratio. Faculty have found that the bookstore often stocks incorrect editions of the books they ordered, and that the bookstore does not adequately update them on order statuses. One professor reported being assured that the requested textbooks were in the storeroom, later discovering that the books were never delivered. The administration has formed a committee to investigate the bookstore and faculty claims. The English department had planned to vote on the possible boycott during their December meeting, but delayed the vote until their first meeting of the spring 2011 semester to give the committee time to look into the problems. Some members of faculty believe that the administration chose to form the committee only because of increased pressure from the initiative to boycott the bookstore and anger over the store’s policies. Ten academic departments, representing disciplines in both the arts and sciences, showed their support during an Arts and Sciences Council meeting and pledged to follow the English Department in the boycott, if the department decides in February that they will formally go through with the boycott. The issue is also slated to come up before the Arts and Sciences Council at its Feb. 23 meeting. Further details will follow.

Fordham Fails to Comply with Textbook Law Requirement for Disclosures and Book Availability Not Met; Bookstore Continues Not to Allow Textbook Unbundling By MIKE BURKART STAFF WRITER

This semester should have marked a significant step forward in the way that college students buy their course materials. Here at Fordham, however, compliance with a new textbook law appears to have been bungled. The new law, designed to increase affordability and transparency in the textbook selection process, requires universities and colleges receiving money from federal financial aid programs to list the ISBNs and prices of all recommended and supplemental course materials at the time of registration. In addition, it mandates that bookstores at these schools offer textbooks separate from packages that include other materials such as study guides and software. As many Fordham students can attest, the school’s efforts fell short in several aspects. Although the online bookstore now lists ISBNs for course materials, Fordham failed to provide a complete list of required textbooks at the time of registration. As of Jan. 24, many courses still did not have books listed on the school’s Web site, and the bookstore still refuses to sell certain items unbundled. While the portion affecting bundled textbooks went into effect immediately, the new law, The

PHOTO BY NORA MALLOZZI/ THE RAM

Fordham struggles to fully comply with all the benefits promised in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.

Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, specified that schools must have these new disclosures in place for any courses starting after Sept. 1, 2010, affording Fordham nearly 15 months to implement a system that could fully comply. The school began its compliance efforts in early

2010. “Last spring the deans communicated with the faculty about the new requirements,” Associate Vice President and Associate Chief Academic Officer Dr. Nicola Pitchford said. During this period, Vice President of Finance Bob Steves, who over-

sees the University’s contracts with outside vendors, also began working with the bookstore, which is operated by Barnes & Noble, to ensure that the ISBNs would be listed. “We’re still having faculty not submitting in a timely manner, but I SEE TEXTBOOK LAW ON PAGE 3

Latham Appointed Dean of FCRH By PATRICK DEROCHER SENIOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR

After more than a year and a half serving as interim dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, Dr. Michael Latham, who replaced former dean Dr. Brennan O’Donnell when the latter was named president of Manhattan College, was appointed dean of FCRH on Dec. 10, 2010. The appointment was announced to the Fordham University community through an e-mail from Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University. “In the course of his tenure as the interim dean of the College, he [Latham] has devoted himself to enhancing and strengthening the College’s efforts in the areas of international studies, science education and student advisement,” McShane said in the e-mail. “In the process, he has established an admirable reputation as a consultative and effective administrator.” McShane, a former dean of FCRH, also praised Latham for his scholarship in the areas of modern American history, development policy and international relations, in addition to his efforts to expand and improve further opportunities for undergraduate research, especially in the humanities and social sciences. “To not only acquire knowledge, but actually to help create it gives our students a much greater sense of investment in their own educations,” Latham wrote in an article published on Fordham’s Web site. He added

that students doing research in the sciences, despite their seriously limited resources, have made positive strides in those areas and have the potential to do even more. Improving and expanding research has been one of Latham’s primary goals since taking the position of interim dean in Feb. 2009. In past interviews with The Ram, he has cited the success of the Undergraduate Research Symposium as a positive step toward achieving this goal. Additionally, Latham has been instrumental in the creation of the Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal, a student-edited academic publication that began in the fall 2010 semester. In addition to promoting undergraduate research, Latham’s major goals include developing international and science education at Fordham. “If we’re really serious about preparing students to be leaders in a society that is increasingly connected globally, we must acknowledge that our students are likely to live outside of the United States at various points in their careers,” Latham said in the University press release. He also discussed the role that Fordham has as

COURTESY OF FORDHAM.EDU

Dr. Latham has permanently replaced Dr. Brennan O’ Donnell as FCRH dean.

the Jesuit University of New York, noting that the University’s academic mission and location make international education both feasible and especially important. Latham, who has been a faculty member in the department of history since 1996, has held a wide variety of positions in his time at Fordham. A former freshman and sophomore adviser, Latham has also served on the Faculty Senate, including in its executive and salary

and benefits committees, in addition to acting as a member of the executive committee of the American Studies program and the director of the international political economy program. He was named an associate professor of history in 2002 and full professor in 2010, and has taught an Ignatian Education Seminar and graduate tutorial in recent years, receiving Fordham University’s award for undergraduate teaching in social sciences in 2007.

Sports PAGE 20

Opinions PAGE 7

Culture PAGE 11

Men’s Basketball Remains Winless in Conference Play

Point-Counterpoint: Revising Mark Twain’s Huck Finn

INSIDE

Rumored Zodiac sign change causes widespread worry..


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