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FEBRUARY 14, 2012
Indiana’s Oldest College Newspaper
VOL. 160, ISSUE 29
Trustees expand campus police authority, hire new auditing firm By MATTHEW CECIL news@thedepauw.com
DePauw on display
175th anniversary exhibit showcases student involvement
By ALICIA TUTINI features@thedepauw.com
The “Toast to Old DePauw” 175th Anniversary Exhibit at the Putnam County Museum is an appropriate representation of the DePauw community: Quaint, yet filled with fascinating information. The exhibit, which opens to the public this Thursday, Feb. 16, is comprised of historic items ranging from a replica of the beloved boulder (with an accompanying sign requesting no boulder runs) to old senior cords, from stories of student protests to a short history about dancing on campus. Senior Sam Spahn, who helps gather information for the 175th Anniversary Exhibit, explained his personal experience with the exhibition as well as some interesting stories about DePauw’s history. Alicia Tutini: How did you become involved with the 175th Anniversary Exhibit? Sam Spahn: A professor who asked if I would be interested in curating the museum for DePauw’s 175th birthday
approached me. After gathering some research, I had a grasp of what I needed to do. There was so much in there, I had to delve into so many things, and so I needed a few other students to help me out. They called me the head curator, but I was more of just trying to manage everything that was going on. AT: What were the roles of each of the students involved? SS: We broke up the exhibit into six different sections. [Junior] Annie Wake had between 1837 and the Civil War, [sophomore] Will Calderwood had between the Civil War up until about 1910, I had from 1910 through 1939, [senior] Luke Bretscher had World War II up until the Civil Rights Movement, [senior] Carolyn Latta had the Civil Rights Movement up until the 1980s and then [sophomore] Leah Freestone had the ‘80s to present day. AT: How did you sort out what to include in the exhibit? SS: That was the tough part. The theme of the museum was
DePauw Exhibit | contd. on page 2
Public Safety officers will soon have jurisdictional authority beyond campus property and throughout Putnam County if the university says it can afford a potential increase in its insurance premiums. Members of the university’s board of trustees approved this and other measures over the weekend in their first meeting of the calendar year at LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort in Naples, Fla. Cindy Babington, vice president for student life, said the proposal would allow campus police to pursue drunk drivers and other offenders off campus. That authority currently ends at the streets surrounding university property. The new policy stems from an Indiana state statute approved by the legislature last spring that allows for universities and colleges in the state to expand the jurisdictional authority of their campus police. Under the legislation, universities can extend statewide police powers to their campus police force. The DePauw trustees, however, only widened Public Safety’s scope to Putnam County. While Public Safety officers receive the same training as officers of the state, they report directly to the university, a private institution. Still, Babington said she is “not worried at all” about a potential conflict of interest between the university’s wishes and enforcing state law. Kelsey Kauffman, a university profes-
CURRENTLY: Public Safety is able to enforce the law on the 695 acres of DePauw’s campus.
sor and director of the DePauw Environmental Policy Project, followed the legislation closely when it was debated in the Statehouse last spring. She said extending statewide police powers to Public Safety could have invited potential lawsuits but the positives of the trustees’ more limited resolution would outweigh the negatives. Among other things, the increased authority would allow public safety officers to obtain search warrants for offcampus property and provide additional help to local authorities if, for example, the county experienced a major emergency. Public Safety could also provide security details from the Greencastle airport to campus for prominent officials and dignitaries. Babington, who oversees Public Safety, said the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and Greencastle Police Department both supported the increased authority. The proposal also received support from student government and the Student Life and Academic Atmosphere Committee in discussions last fall. Senior Charles Pierre, student body president, said the measure would allow the Greencastle police and Public Safety officers to better protect the Greencastle community. Pierre said he was initially worried the expansion would pull officers away from enforcing student security on campus but changed his mind after learning
Trustees | contd. on page 2 POTENTIALLY: Public Safety could enforce the law anywhere in the 307,200 acres of Putnam County.