Run Game Struggles Page 11 PAGE 1 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011
Vol. 105, NO. 27 UATRAV.COM
Campus Prepares for Growth
Housing, Dining, Greek Life, Health Center Expanding by MATTIE QUINN Staff Writer
EMILY POTTS Staff Photographer UA students leave classes on Monday to join the hustle and bustle of a crowded campus. The UA experienced high student enrollment this year and expect even more incoming students in the fall.
The 2011-2012 freshman class is already at 4,400 students, compared with last year’s record-breaking 3,900, and UA admissions officials are still accepting applications. “Our enrollment is up 30 percent, and we’ve been preparing for that for quite some time now,” said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment. “Our growth is very standard for a state that has implemented a lottery schol-
arship.” Despite the large numbers, UA officials are still going to require all freshmen to live on campus. “University housing has taken proactive steps very early on to make sure there would be adequate room for the incoming group of freshmen. We are going to still require all freshman to live on campus because we know we have the space for them,” McCray said. With the record-breaking population of freshmen living on campus, some people are worried about the strain
on housing resources for the coming years. “From the housing perspective, it’s going to be difficult to address that need right away. I know there has been talk of the renovation of Hotz Hall and the building of a new residence hall, but those things take time and money,” said Cameron Mussar, the new Residents’ Interhall Congress president. “Are we going to have less room for upperclassmen to live on campus if we keep trending in this direction? Probably. But that’s not what I want to happen. My concern is there are peo-
ple who want to live on campus, who like living on campus and who need to live on campus. However, I want to get these conversations started early so we can figure these things out as soon as we can.” With freshmen taking up a large portion of on-campus housing, shifts can be expected in what is now considered upperclassmen housing. Most of Gregson will remain upperclassmen, and I believe that Walton Hall will all be upperclassmen, Mussar said.
see ADMISSIONS on page 3
ASG Wraps Up, Prepares for Transition Events Held on 4/20 by JORDAIN CARNEY Asst. News Editor
With the end of the year quickly approaching, ASG execs are wrapping up their duties and preparing for an official transition of power in May. The ASG treasurer and members of the senate appropriations committee recently finished the final allocations round of the school year. They awarded $128,476 of a requested $162,775 to almost 100 registered student organizations. The money can be used by groups starting in June, but only event was planned before the fall semester, said ASG Treasurer Chase Phillips. More than 10 percent of the allocated money went to one student group, the Friends of India. For the April funding round, they requested $21,305.63 and received $15,430.62. There are checks and balances to the allocation process though, he said. “The money is always kept with us. They come and get it the Walmart card, put a request for it and then we pay for it,” Phillips said. Also, legally and within the ASG constitution there are restrictions on how group members can spend the money, and ASG members attend events, he said.
“People should be there to make sure it’s going toward students,” Phillips said. There was a problem with a group that had an event that was only 65 percent students, he said. “That’s not what we’re looking for.” If groups consistently have events that don’t have a high percent of student attendees they will
were moved because of the snowstorm, he said. During the election campaign, event-by-event planning was proposed. The plus of that system would be the added level of flexibility, but it could also leave a shortfall of allocation money in the fall, Phillips said. ASG President Billy
threaten to pull funding, Phillips said. Committee members can’t make their decisions based on the number of students attending event, because it would be unfair to smaller student organizations, he said. Organizations are required to plan events before they make their budget request, but many events this semester
Fleming is also preparing for the transition with meetings with President-Elect Michael Dodd. “What I think we’ve tried to focus on, initially, is how to set them up for success with recruiting,” Fleming said. “Beyond that what I’ve tried to focus on is what the summer ought to look like; how he needs to go about
building relationships with administrators, how I can help with that,” he said. “Preparing him, and his friends and his family for probably not seeing him much, which is important because a lot of folks will not understand.” In addition to transition meetings, Fleming also has events including the presidents’ council scholarship. “We’ll bring in a few past ASG presidents, and we’ll award a $1,500 scholarship,” he said. He is currently working to finalize the details of the event. Students can find the application at http://asg.uark. edu; the deadline is noon Friday. For the presidents’ council ASG contacted all former presidents, he said. “Some of them we heard back from; some of them we did not.” “We think it’s important to engage them, not only for a scholarship for our students, but to re-engage them with ASG,” Fleming said. “I think we have the opportunity to better observe our students when we have a large group of, almost, advisers.” Students can find the scholarship application at http://asg.uark.edu; the deadline is noon Friday. The final ASG Executive Cabinet and ASG Senate meetings of the year took place Tuesday.
Seen as Negative Stereotype for SSDP by KRISTEN COPPOLA Staff Writer
The Students for a Sensible Drug Policy are looking to protect the integrity of their group and will not be hosting any events – or setting up a table – this week. April 20, or “4/20” as it is known collectively, is a counterculture holiday often celebrated by smoking marijuana. Though marijuana education is a topic of concern to members of SSDP, they say they do not want to be associated with this form of celebration because of the stereotype it reinforces. “We decided we’re not going to be doing any fundraising or any events at all,” said Stephen Duke, president of SSDP. “I feel like there’s just a negative stereotype or negative connotation that might come from an event on 4/20.” The main aim of the SSDP is “educating the students [and] bringing speakers, new opinions and new ideas to campus,” Duke said. The predominate reason that the choice was made to not host an event this week is maintaining the law-abiding
position of the organization. “The main point that I wanted to bring across and also that SSDP National wants to bring is we do not condone drug use,” Duke said. “We are strictly focused on changing policy and educating students. We decided that doing an event on 4/20 is a negative stereotype that we’re some type of group that celebrates drug use, which isn’t the case.” The SSDP, in contrast to groups like National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, is not in place to advocate the legalization of marijuana but rather to take another look at the war on drugs in the United States. “Our mission and our stance is we want to bring these issues to the campus and have a serious discussion and educate the students on why we feel the war on drugs has failed and have them read into it,” Duke said. “We want to show the students why we feel these policies just aren’t affective and also provide alternatives.” Some of the alternatives
see POLICY on page 3
Survivors Find Healing in Speaking Out by KELSI FORD Staff Writer
Doreen Curtis was taken captive. She and her husband had been serving as missionaries when the Haitian Revolution began. Along with other missionaries, they were loaded into the bed of an army truck, surrounded by guerillas, machine guns pointed at their backs. “Please God, don’t let them rape us,” Curtis prayed. “Let them shoot me before they rape me.” She knew that pain all too well. She had been molested at the age of six and raped at 18. She would have rather been killed than forced to suffer through that again. This time, she was lucky. On April 6, Curtis and two other women shared their stories of sexual assault at “Life Beyond Rape: Survivor Stories.” The pre-
sentation, which took place at the Pat Walker Health Center, was the first of several events being held on campus during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Curtis spoke about being molested by a neighbor when she was six and being sworn to secrecy by him. She told about hiding in her family’s garage in the dark, because she knew he would not find her there, and being too afraid to go outside and play. “Time stood still. Something in my life changed,” Curtis told the audience. “I knew I was never going to be the same.” Twelve years later, Curtis was again sexually assaulted. She was drugged at a party, and when she awoke, she was being violently raped. Then she realized she was being filmed. Curtis was too ashamed to tell anyone what had happened, so she simply didn’t talk about it.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011 VOL. 105, NO. 27 UATRAV.COM
When she got married, she didn’t even tell her husband. “I slept in the same bed with [my husband] for 30 years, and he never knew that I’d been molested or raped,” Curtis said as she began to cry. Unlike Curtis, speaker Patty Thompson wanted to talk, but no one wanted to listen. After being brutally raped in her dorm room on the UA campus, she contacted the police. Although her rapist was arrested, Thompson was unable to move on from what had happened. She tried to talk to her friends, but she says they got tired of her crying and talking about it. Thompson soon dropped out of school and moved to New Orleans to get her culinary license, but she couldn’t find closure there either. “I never imagined that running away and not dealing with it would do so much damage,” she
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said to the crowd. Thompson returned to Fayetteville. She re-enrolled at the UA and eventually got involved with the the Sexual Assault Recovery and Prevention Agency and Rape Education Services by Peers Encouraging Conscious Thought. She began speaking at events to raise awareness about life after rape and connected with other survivors of sexual abuse. “I never imagined that I’d do so much learning and that I’d make such wonderful friends that’d stick around,” she said through tears. For Thompson, working with RESPECT and SARPA and offering counseling to other rape survivors has provided a great deal of healing. “Every day I get to help people
see RESPECT on page 3
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CONTESSA SHEW Staff Photographer Thousands of flags were spread across the grass between the Union and Mullins Library to celebrate Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
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