NEWS
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Meyers: Administrators plan on holding open forum with faculty From Page 1
In an e-mail sent to faculty following the meeting on Oct. 9, Olliges wrote that Meyer’s pay increases were partly attributable to changes in IRS rules which required deferred compensation, such as 401k contributions, to be reported as income. “In the past it was not shown unless it was withdrawn,” Olliges wrote. “Now, it must be shown as part of the base salary. This makes it appear that Dr. Meyers had a huge jump in salary.” Another issue addressed at the meeting was Meyer’s expenses. In his last nine years at WU, Meyer’s averaged about $75,000 annually in expenses. Most of the money was spent on travel. “Him and his wife went on trips to Europe,” Olliges said. “Oftentimes, a spouse is expected to accompany the president. The rules changed and you could not claim the entire trip as expenses. And so therefore the board insisted that he pay back the airfare for his wife.” John Aleshunas saw the meeting as a positive step in the right direction. “I saw this as an outreach from the new president of the university, the new chair of the Board of Trustees, and Ed Glotzbach, the former chair, that they want to
change the overall way of doing business,” Aleshunas said. “In the past, the Board was isolated from the main university, be it students, faculty, or staff members. They want to create channels of communication.” While the meeting was productive, the faculty representatives still had unanswered questions afterward. Both sides agreed that the best way to proceed was to hold a public forum with Burkhart and Stroble, allowing the faculty to get more clarification on the issues and providing an opportunity for the president and the Board of Trustees to share their ideas and plans with the faculty. The date and time for the forum have not yet been determined, but Olliges believes it will likely occur in November. President Stroble and Board of Trustees representatives also met with the Webster Staff Alliance (WSA), an organization representing full-time and part-time WU employees on Monday, Oct 12. Caprice Moore, chair of the WSA, would not comment on the specifics discussed at the meeting or who was present, as staff members had not yet been sent an email to notify them about it. Contact the writer:
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October 15-28, 2009 • The Journal
Alumni authors sign books, mingle with students at Meet The Authors BY ANYA ORZEL Staff Writer
The Webster University Alumni Association held its second Meet the Authors Book Signing and Reception at the Emerson Library conference room on Sept. 9, 2009. “One of the purposes of the Alumni Association is to provide recognition to alumni accomplishments and we have lots of alums and faculty who have written books, many different types,” said Mary Krchma, development officer in the WU alumni office. “We thought it would be a nice way to recognize them and help them promote their work and for us to brag a little bit about their accomplishments.” Among the many authors, students, fans and other hopefuls, WU created a place for people to share experiences and network with others who were passionate about passing on information and their love of literature. The reception allowed readers from all walks of life and all generations to meet the authors, purchase any number of books and get them autographed. The readers were able to talk to the authors and get advice, explanations and just have a good time. “This came out of the Alumni Office, Jennifer Jezek-Taussig is the Director of Alumni Programs, she thought about it and we created the program,” Krchma said. “It has really worked well. I think they really like the opportunity to sell their books, but most importantly the networking they do with each other and just connecting.” Alumni from all generations came to Meet the Authors in support of friends they graduated with who have been published. “My daughter went to school with Mary Louis Sennewald,” said Gerry Brischetto, a 1960 WU alumna. “We came to see her. My oldest daughter graduated from here, too, in 1964. Webster University means a lot to me.” Jan Greenburg, a former student, teacher and board member for WU, had a collection of her
ANYA ORZEL / The Journal
Jan Greenburg, a Webster University MAT graduate of 1973, displays her books and her passion for the arts at the Meet The Authors even on Sept. 9 in Emerson Library.
books on a table, ranging from realistic fiction to art history. She won the Robert Sibert Honor award for her book “Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist.” Greenburg graduated from WU 1973, and later taught art here. “I felt a desire to better inform students of how to appreciate art,” said Greenburg. Sue Lauber-Fleming, a 1984 WU alumna, co-wrote “Broken Trust” with her husband Patrick — both are therapists. The book is about victims of sexual, physical, and mental abuse, mostly through the clergy of the Catholic Church. The book emphasizes that the perpetrators are also victims of past abuse. “Broken Trust” tells real stories from real people, both victims and perpetrators. The names are withheld for protection, as they are either anonymous or under pseudonyms, except for Sue’s story that is also in the book.
“I just really wanted to work with people,” Lauber-Fleming said. “I love people. I had people actually coming up to me for counseling and I wasn’t licensed at the time.” Jackiewiez specializes in children’s literature. His book “Hickory and the Clock” is the story of the mouse in the well-known nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock. Alaspa writes both nonfiction and fiction and has a wide variety of books including: “Rig (A Novel of Terror)” is his most popular book amazon.com. “ My advice is to stick with it if you’re a writer,” said Alaspa. “You can do it. I think there is more opportunities for young writers because of the electronic publishing.” Chan’s books are nonfiction on financial security, entrepreneurship, publishing and investments. “A lot of people want to get
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No statewide smoking ban Some form of smoking ban Smoking banned in bars, restaurants and non-hospitality workplaces
SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KELLY KENDALL / The Journal
Smoking: Ban would not cover casinos floors Although Maddox supports the ban, she empathizes with St. Louis business owners who will most likely lose business due to the ban. “I can see where it might cause (owners) problems,” Maddox said. “I think it would be more appropriate if the ban were to include all public places. It’s not quite fair.“ Martin Pion, president of Missouri GASP (Group Against Smoking Pollution), supports the smoking ban whole-heartedly. Pion lives by the motto he heard when he first began advocating the right to breathe smokefree air. “Your right to smoke ends where my nose begins,” Pion said. Pion stresses that, while smokers have the right to smoke, nonsmokers have the right to request clean air. He said smokers putting others at risk is not acceptable. “You can smoke if you want to as long as you’re not affecting anybody else,” Pion said. “I’m not trying to stop you from smoking. I’m
just saying, when you harm someone else by doing it, it crosses the line.” Missouri GASP, a volunteerbased organization to help remove smoking in public places, formed in 1984. Pion has been president of the organization since it began. While he supports the bill, he doesn’t support the term “smoking ban.” “I don’t like that they call it a ‘smoking ban,’” he said. “We’re not trying to ban smoking. We just want smoke-free air.” Marty Ginsburg, owner of the bar and restaurant Sports Page in Chesterfield, agrees with Maddox. “I don’t think it’s fair,” Ginsburg said. “The exemptions included in the bill are discriminatory. The ban should either be 100 percent, or not at all.” The exemptions within the bill include smoking allowed in establishments with three-fourths sale of alcohol, as well as smoking in casino gaming floors only. Ginsburg worries that his business will suffer from the ban, mainly because his establishment is about equal in sale of alcohol
and food. “(The ban) will affect Sports Page most during the nights,” he said. “I’m really concerned about the happy hour business and the late-night business.” In 2005, when Odenwald introduced his idea for a smoking ban, Ginsburg immediately had a no-smoking area built in his restaurant. “We decided on a smoke-free area the last time all this stuff came up,” he said in reference to the 2005 ban that ultimately never passed. “The area is totally smoke free, with 14 tables and TVs for our customers.” Hannegan, too, supports the idea of smoke-free areas within restaurants and bars, as well as proposing a law that allows only people 21 and older to enter establishments that allow smoking. He believes this would correct the secondhand smoke epidemic among youth, a considerable factor in the smoking ban proposal. Secondhand smoke and St. Louis’ general health are two main reasons Pion fights for the ban to pass.
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Nurse: Ellis was sad over execution
Smoking Ban
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into publishing,” Chan said. “They think that you have to go to literary agents and beg, but you don’t. One of the easiest ways is to start your own publishing little business and you can reach out to the world.” Cannon-Chambers writes about her experiences as being the first in her family to go to college and get a degree, her success and struggles and the encouragement she got from her mother. Her book is “A Time to Remember: Memoirs of an Educator.” “”I felt like a trailblazer,” Cannon-Chambers said. “I was the first graduate in my family, the first one to ever receive a college degree. I just wanted to share some of those experiences I had in St. Louis public schools.”
“I think this is a very important public health issue,” Pion said. “If (the bill) doesn’t pass, it will set back the goal of smokefree air. There are a lot of people who deserve and need (smokefree air).” Rebutting Hannegan’s argument about property rights being stripped, Pion said, “Mr. Hannegan and others have been trying to make this a personal property rights issue, when clearly it’s a health and safety issue. The argument simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. A primary duty of government is to protect the public health and welfare.” Although Hannegan agrees health to be an issue that must be considered, he feels citizens’ rights and freedoms should be considered more. “I think fighting this ban is imperative,” Hannegan said. “There’s this process by which we’re losing our freedoms in this country and that really scares me. I mean, what’s next?” Contact the writer:
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“I was keeping alive a monster,” Ellis wrote in his book. “A monster who was accused of killing thousands of his fellow citizens.” As the days went by, Ellis thawed to his patient and the two gradually became friendly with one another. Hussein claimed cigars and coffee could lower his blood pressure. On occasion, Ellis would buy Cohibas and give them to his patient. “We talked about Iraqi culture, we talked about the differences between out cultures, we talked about our families,” Ellis said. “He gave me an education on eating dates. There are dark dates and there are light dates and he said when you eat dates you must have your women near. It must be some kind of aphrodisiac. We’d talk about things that guys talk about. Fine wines and women — Saddam liked both.” Hussein spoke broken English, but through gestures and the presence of Hussien’s Arabicspeaking FBI handler, George Piro, conversation was possible. The conversations were limited because Ellis was under strict orders not to engage in political discussions with detainees. On one occasion, Hussein asked what time it was and Ellis gave him a watch. They were the only people in the cell at the time. A few days later, Ellis was reprimanded for the gift. It turned out the cell was bugged. Ellis was also forbidden from telling his family about his mission. “I was dumbstruck,” said Ellis’ wife Rita. “I just knew he was in Baghdad, but I didn’t know what he was actually doing there.” Hussein opened up to Ellis, despite the military’s limitations.
He asked why America invaded his country. Ellis said it was just politics. When Hussein vented about the new interim Iraqi government, Ellis would listen. One day, Hussein asked Ellis how Iraq was faring. “Not good,” Ellis told him. “Women were being raped, children were taken away, people were killing each other and nobody was being held accountable. There was never that kind of lawlessness when Saddam was in charge, as soon as we removed him, things changed for the worst.” Ellis was well aware of what Hussein had done to his people, but he learned about some of the good he had done. Hussein provided free health care for his people. He was given a UNESCO award for literacy. He introduced western style banking and women had some clout in the Iraqi communities. “He wasn’t evil 24/7,” Ellis said. Ellis’ experience with the dictator made an impression on Riley, a former St. Louis PostDispatch reporter who worked alongside Ellis on “Caring for Victor.” “I had to grapple with some of the same things that Robert did,” said Riley. “I’ve had to try to internalize the fact that good and evil can exist inside the same person.” Ellis left Baghdad, retired and was back in St. Louis when he heard about Hussein’s execution. “It was just a revenge killing,” Ellis said. “I was a little sad and a little disappointed, but I wasn’t surprised. I knew that was going to happen from the day I was told he couldn’t die in U.S. custody.” Contact the writer: editor@webujournal.com
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