themaneater The student voice of MU since 1955
Columbia, Missouri • Friday, October 8, 2010
Vol. 77, No. 13
themaneater.com
MU ranks 58th nationally in sexual health survey
Diversity at MU Series: Part 1 of 3
ZHENG HWUANG CHIA Reporter
Non-Resident International (5.18 percent)
Black Non-Hispanic (5.63 percent) Asian/Pacific Islander (2.41 percent) Unknown/Unreported (3.71 percent)
Hispanic (1.93 percent) American Indian/ Alaskan (.6 percent) White Non-Hispanic (80.52 percent)
MU RANKINGS
MU ranked 58th in the 2010 Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, an annual ranking of sexual health at American colleges and universities, a 10-spot drop from last year. “Dropping does not mean you’re doing a worse job,” lead researcher Bert Sperling said. “Ranking is like a see TROJAN, page 6
MU dropped from 48th to 58th in the 2010 Trojan Sexual Health Report Card.
60
42nd
48th
50
61st 40
58th 64th
30
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Source: Maneater Archives MEGAN SWIECA/GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Each person stands for a percentage of an ethnic group in MU's student body. The graphic as a whole represents diversity on campus.
*Based on statistics from the Office of Enrollment. Figures are as of December 2008.
The diversity class students still await The push for a diversity general education class requirement started six years ago. ZACH MURDOCK Associate Editor
This is the first installment in a series about the diversity general education requirement. The next two parts will be published consecutively. It’s been at least four semesters since ChaToyya Sewell began advocating for a diversity general education class requirement. This December, Sewell will graduate and, like many of her predecessors and peers, will never see it become reality. In her time at MU, the former Four Front co-chairwoman worked side-by-side with the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative, the Office of the Provost and Chancellor Brady Deaton to discuss the proposition of a requirement. “It’s always been that it’s going to happen soon,” Sewell said. “But it hasn’t happened yet.” Ten years ago, with 3,391 minority students enrolled and 1,500 minority faculty on staff, MU administration decided diversity on campus was important enough to study. The university implemented the Campus Climate Study, which was designed to gauge campus perceptions about acceptance for underrepresented groups on campus. The study resulted in more than 100 recommendations, one of which was for a general education class requirement focused on diversity issues. It was endorsed by several minority stu-
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dent organizations and recommended by a task force chaired by Roger Worthington, a former faculty fellow and current chief diversity officer. After much research, debate and a racially charged incident on campus, the proposed requirement still sits in a Faculty Council committee, waiting for committee approval. That approval would send it to Faculty Council, who would discuss it and disseminate the proposal to all campus faculty. Finally, a faculty forum would be necessary to make it official. “There are complications to get it done quickly,” Sewell said. “But it shouldn’t have taken this long.” MU LOOKS AT DIVERSITY Over the past decade, MU has taken steps forward to address diversity issues on campus, including student enrollment, minority retention rates and the amount of minority faculty and administrators. Since 1999, students, faculty and administrators have worked together to identify the most important areas surrounding MU diversity and to create a framework for action. In 1981, a federal mandate required MU to increase African-American enrollment to equal the proportion of black Missouri residents, according to a report from the Campus Climate and Training Task Force. At that time, that would mean an increase from 3.3 percent to 10.9 percent. MU has never met that goal. In 1994, the report said, nearly 100 students from the Legion of Black Collegians, the Hispanic-American Leadership Organization, From the Four Directions, see DIVERSITY, page 6
NICK AGRO/PHOTO EDITOR
Associate professor of Nursing Rebecca Johnson speaks to her colleagues at the Faculty Council meeting Thursday afternoon. The council addressed the results of a list released by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education on “low graduate-producing” programs facing cuts .
Faculty speak up on ‘low-producing’ programs STEPHANIE EBBS Staff Writer In its meeting this week, Faculty Council discussed the results of a list published by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education which contained 75 degree programs at MU deemed “low-producing.”
The board defines a “low-producing” program as one with less than 10 graduates from a bachelor’s degree program, less than five graduates from a master’s program and less than three from the PhD program. see FACULTY, page 6
2010 MSA Presidential Election
Presidential slates begin fundraising NATHAN DIVERS Staff Writer The three Missouri Students Association presidential slates, Travis-Horan, HansenOxenreider and Woods-Moon, have began raising money to aid their campaigns. Eric Woods said he and run-
On themaneater.com
Love Your Body
Listen to The Maneater's Arts Podcast for student commentary on fashion, movies, gaming and much more.
Hosted by several MU departments Thursday, Love Your Body Day promoted a positive self-image. News, page 5
ning mate Emily Moon hope to end up with $2,000 in campaign funds. The two have raised $955, most of which has come through donations made by friends and family. Woods also said he plans to raise funds for his campaign by selling T-shirts at different events see MSA, page 6
Buffing up for the Buffs The 4-0 Tiger football team prepares to take on Colorado at Faurot Field in its conference season opener. Sports, page 13