AWA R D-W INNING CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, September 5 , 2012
Miller Lays Out University Goals
Central Connecticut State University
Volume 109 No. 2
CCSU Breaks Guinness World Record
amanda wEBstEr the recorder
President Miller greeted a packed Alumni Hall last Tuesday to present the Opening Meeting of the Academic Year to members and faculty of CCSU. Miller presented his goals for CCSU for the upcoming year and explained where the University currently stands in a plan called, “Surviving, Thriving, and Becoming Exceptional.” “We are surviving and surviving well,” Miller said. “But there are issues out there and I’m not going to minimize the issues that are on the horizon for all of us.” Miller went on to lay out what Central needs to do in order to continue to survive in a turbulent economy and what the school needs to change in order to thrive and become exceptional. According to Miller, CCSU needs to become an exceptional regional, public comprehensive university. Miller picked out a group of schools that he said exemplified that characteristic and that he would like to see Central compared with. The list of schools were, Boise State, East Carolina University, James Madison University, Indiana State, Northern Illinois University, Illinois State, George Mason University and Old Dominion University. According to Miller, in order to achieve this goal CCSU will need to make some changes, most of which were discussed in the master plan for CCSU 2020. Some of the plans mentioned during the meeting were the plans to increase residential space by at least double, create smaller residential spaces for students with special interests, expand Central’s presence in downtown New Britain, continue to advance the fuel cell technology on campus and to eventually connect the campus to the new bus way. However hopeful about the 2020 plan, Miller explained that the upcoming changes will be met by some challenges along the way. The school’s finances were one of the issues that Miller brought up during the meeting. According to Miller, the school’s budget has been cut about 8 million dollars since 2008. The General Fund Allocation for the fiscal year of 2012 is $40,423,000 compared to that of the fiscal year of 2008, which was $48,225,000. “Why haven’t we noticed big changes?” asked Miller. “Mainly because the students are paying the difference.” Miller said that one way to help the financial issue would to be to increase the number of students retained and graduated within the University. “Every time we have a hundred fewer (residential) students we lose over $800,000 in tuition and fees and over 1 million dollars in room and board,” Miller said. Additionally, Miller would like to see
see Opening Meeting- page 2
Erin o’donnELL | thE rECordEr
Students gathered on Vance Lawn last Tuesday aiming to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the most blown bubbles at the same time, and succeeded.
An Award Winning Finish For Incoming Students Erin o’donnELL the recorder
Freshmen and Orientation Leaders gathered on Vance Lawn on Aug 28 for an event that was sure to make an impression on the incoming freshman. CCSU students attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the most bubbles blown at the same time, which also welcomed time for the freshman to mingle. The event started off with music, dancing and chewing gum. Once a student signed up, they were allowed a piece of Dubble Bubble and entered the designated gathering area. From there the students kept on coming, with a long line of eager entrees. Simms Sonet, an SGA Senator and
Orientation Leader said that he was excited to see how the event turned out. “The Orientation Leaders had some extended time with our groups, and some information sessions to really get the freshman ready for the school year,” said Sonet. “We’re all really excited and have a lot of energy, and if we can make this record it will be a great indication to how this semester will play out.” Elizabeth M. McCall, the Prevention Educator of the Connecticut Counsel of Problem Gambling awarded a mini grant to CCSU to promote awareness and education on the risks of gambling. They provided beach balls for the event. About an hour into the event, 25 more students were needed to break the record of 305 people blowing a bubble simultaneously. The last students signed up, exceeding to
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348 students total. Everyone posed for several pictures while holding their bubble in place for 40 seconds, all hoping to break the record. Tyler Scott, a sophomore, said that he was disappointed that he missed orientation due to last years hurricane. “This is really great and I wish I had the opportunity last year, but it’s good to be here and be apart of it,” said Scott. The event was said to be a success with bringing the students together for a fun cause, and is said to leave a lasting impression for the year. “I think freshman orientation was great and the upper classman really made it seem like it wasn’t so scary,” said Erin Rosa, an incoming freshman. In the end, the group succeeded in breaking the World Record.