Alex McCrossen /// The Spectrum ALEX MCCROSSEN /// THE SPECTRUM
Due to limited seating in classrooms such as this one in Jacobs Hall, some students don’t have much to smile about.
The Independent Student Publication of the University at Buffalo WEDNESDAY EDITION v January 26, 2011 Vol. 60 No. 44 v ubspectrum.com
Limited Course Seating Leaves Seniors Unable to Graduate School of Management tries to rectify situation LAUREN NOSTROSenior News Editor Some seniors in the School of Management face the possibility of not graduating on time this spring due to limited seating in MGO403, Fundamentals of Strategic Management, a course required for completion of their degree.
The Student Choice Speaker has a long list of accomplishments.
Thursday evening at 8 p.m., Schwarzenegger will speak as the Undergraduate Student Choice Speaker in the UB Distinguished Speaker Series in Alumni Arena. While the topic of the lecture is still unknown, his achievements are sure to provide plenty of material for an interesting speech. At the age of 20, Schwarzenegger became the youngest Mr. Universe, a title he went on to win four more times. The “Austrian Oak” then sought to expand his repertoire to acting, and, as such, debuted in his first film as “Arnold Strong” in Hercules in New York (1969). He won the Golden Globe Award for “Best Acting in a Debut Picture” for his second film, Stay Hungry (1976). In 1979, he earned his B.A. in business from the University of Wiscon-
Hoops for Hearts Strives to Save a Child’s Heart JENNIFER HARBSenior Life Editor Fraternities Zeta Beta Tau and Alpha Epsilon Pi are hosting UB Hoops for Hearts, a fundraiser for the humanitarian organization Save a Child’s Heart (SACH). The event will consist of a three-on-three bas-
INSIDE NEWS :: 2 OPINION :: 3 ARTS & LIFE :: 4–6 DAILY DELIGHTS :: 8 CLASSIFIEDS :: 9 SPORTS :: 12–11
The sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), has been called the epitome of his acting career. He was voted “International Star of the Decade” by the National Association of Theatre Owners. The actor decided to run for office in 2003, announcing his goal to become Governor of California on Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show on Aug. 3. Later that year, he was sworn in as governor after Gray Davis was recalled. Schwarzenegger is currently known as a famous actor, political figure, philanthropist, and humanitarian. He has won the Simon Wiesenthal Center “Humanity Prize” twice for his efforts to increase Holocaust awareness, and in 2002, he won the esteemed Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award. The Alumni Arena box office will be distributing tickets from 7-8 p.m. on Thursday night for those students with a valid UB ID. First come first serve.
E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com
ketball tournament, held on Feb. 5 from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Clark Gym on South Campus. ZBT is an on-campus fraternity that was created last semester. Currently, there are 25 members, and the organization hopes to add 10 to 15 more members this semester. Joining together for this charitable effort, ZBT and AEPi are changing the culture of inter-fraternity relationships from rivalry to collaboration. “Originally ZBT wanted to do something to get involved in the commu-
WEATHER WED
Few could have predicted that a penniless immigrant with a thick accent from Thal, Austria would become an international bodybuilding triumph, a widely famous Hollywood actor, and, eventually, governor of California. However, Arnold Schwarzenegger has accomplished this eclectic group of accomplishments, among many others.
Schwarzenegger continued acting, gaining worldwide recognition for his performance in The Terminator (1984), a role for which he actually wasn’t originally cast. The Terminator became one of the most profitable film franchises in history. His line, “I’ll be back,” crossed borders and became part of popular culture for years to come.
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JENNIFER HARBSenior Life Editor
sin. Five years later, in 1984, he became a U.S. citizen.
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Schwarzenegger Set to Speak on Thursday
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According to Maldorado, advisors in the school told her that there were plenty of students in the same predicament.
“Typically, there are a few students who cannot get into a course and try to take it the following semester but the only thing is that with [MGO403] you need it to graduate,” said Tony Roman, SA Treasurer and a senior in the School of Management.
“I personally just feel like UB is leaving us out to dry,” Maldorado said. “How can they just assume that all of these students could make these accommodations? What about all of the students that don’t have cars or that live check to check? How do you expect them to do either one of these plans, and if there are so many students left out of the class, why can’t they either expand the classes they currently have or add additional sessions?”
Roman said the course was full by the time his class registration window opened, but the School of Management office instructed him to fill out a form to be forceregistered. Roman received an email a week later that instructed him that there were no available seats in the course and that he would be able to take a similar course at another school.
There are a total of nine sections for MGO403 that are now closed for the spring 2011 semester. According to the UB Academic Schedule website, eight of these course sections seat 50 students, for a total of 400 seats that were available for the course this semester. One of the course sections lists that there were no seats available at any time.
“This was discouraging because I wanted to graduate in May without having to take a course from another school or taking the course in the summer,” Roman said. “If I would have known how difficult it would have been to get into the course, I would have tried to take the course in the fall, but I didn’t know how limited the seating would be.”
The prerequisites for the course include senior standing and the completion of at least three of six listed management courses (including MGB302, MGS301, MGM301, MGO302, and MGE302) and concurrent registration in the other three.
Luckily for Roman, he received an e-mail a few days later stating that he had been force-registered in the course. Only a handful of students are allowed to be force registered in courses with limited seating during the first week of registration. “I suppose that with any 400-level course there is a chance of not getting in but if there is a large number of students who need to take the course to graduate in May, then there should be some type of assistance to help them achieve that goal,” Roman said. Other students were not as lucky. Nikita Maldorado, a senior business administration major with a concentration in human resources and supply chain operations, was unable to be force-registered in the course and was left with two options: taking an equivalent course at a nearby college or taking a class over the summer that would postpone receiving her diploma. nity… we first went to AEPi because they are already established on campus and we figured they’d be able to help us and bring us toward being [more established],” said Justin Neuwirt, a sophomore accounting major, vice president of ZBT, and the event organizer. “They had already been working with Save a Child’s Heart, so that was the first organization they targeted.” SACH, founded by Dr. Amram Cohen in 1995, has repaired the hearts of more than 2,400 children world-
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There were only five sections for MGO403 available in the Fall 2010 semester, seating fewer than 300 students total. “The issue was seen as forthcoming, and notification was given to students before registration,” said Rachael Lowe, president of the undergraduate management association. “With the problem only keeping, from my understanding, less than 0.5 percent of graduating seniors in a difficult situation, the best I can personally do now is work with the School of Management to help sophomores and juniors avoid the problem in the future.” According to Katherine Ferguson, associate dean of academic programs in the School of Management, the department was aware as they were putting together the 2010-11 academic course schedule that because of the current budget situation, there would not be a sufficient number of sections for MGO403 throughout the academic year to accommodate the number of students anticipated to graduate. wide since its conception. The organization does not discriminate based on race, color, gender, religion or financial situation; each patient is treated with the finest medical care at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel. Additionally, SACH provides an outreach training program for the medical personnel in Israel. The organization works to form partnerships in developing countries as well as create pre- and post-operative care facilities in Israel and elsewhere.
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“As you know, it is difficult for us to determine, with the present student system, how many students are actually graduating,” Ferguson said. “We don’t know if [students] are officially graduating until they turn in their card [to Student Services]. We thought there would be 70 to 80 students who were planning on graduating in June or prior to that, who would not be able to be accommodated in MGO403.” The School of Management began a process before the academic year to figure out how to provide services to students that would not be accommodated. According to Ferguson, no one in the School of Management felt comfortable with the situation of students not being accommodated from the beginning of this process. The School began by sending out a mass e-mail before last summer to students they believed to be graduating in the upcoming year to warn them of the limited seating and to register for the course during the summer. “There were going to be as many seats in the summer as possible; if one section fills, we’ll add another, if that section fills, we’ll add another,” Ferguson said. “We had a marginal growth in the number of students who took the course over the summer and we understand that there are complications with students taking summer courses. We’re not assuming that [taking summer courses] is naturally an easy thing.” By fall 2010, the School of Management was aware that there were around 60 to 70 students that would not be accommodated, according to Ferguson. The department came up with another solution to the problem by utilizing other institutions in Western New York. Ferguson said that the department chair was notified of the issue and was asked to find equivalent courses at other institutions in Buffalo where students would be able to cross-register, meaning that UB students are able to register for courses at other institutions in the area without formal admission or additional tuition charges. According to Ferguson, about 1520 students found seats in other classes at institutions in the area
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The community has also pooled its resources to make this effort a success. Local businesses provided gift cards and merchandise, Alumni Arena donated hats and T-shirts, and Pam Jackson, the Greek liaison in the Student Life office, provided water bottles.
Additionally, UB Hoops for Hearts welcomes sponsors. Three sponsorship levels have been designated:
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