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Faculty
Senate Beat
Weitz: Tuition
proposal not on agenda
Sean Oakley - Staff
Writer
The Faculty Senate
plans to endorse Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski’s concerns about
staff member wages, said Dr. Gayle Weitz, senate chairperson. However,
the issue will likely not find a place on the agenda for Monday’s
senate meeting.
University administrators unveiled a $150 tuition increase proposal at
the Jan. 29 Student Government Association (SGA) meeting. The money would
be used to give some State Personnel Act (SPA) employees at Appalachian
State University a salary raise.
There are 1,128 SPA staffers employed by the university at this time,
some of whom represent the lowest-paid workers at Appalachian, according
to university figures.
While the proposition is still in its infancy, a $150 tuition increase
has already been approved for next year. That increase is the second installment
of a two-year increase aimed at bolstering faculty salaries.
Like the current proposal, that two-year hike was the product of a campus-based
request.
Students are facing the possibility of a $300 tuition jump next year,
should the additional $150 increase to benefit staff be approved. That
amount would be larger if the University of North Carolina system Board
of Governors approves a statewide 4.8 percent tuition hike.
SGA has already told The Appalachian they will not support the proposed
$150 increase in tuition.
While the Faculty Senate has not yet discussed the issue, Weitz offered
her personal opinion as to the reactions of the senate.
“We just learned about it last Monday,” said Weitz. “Personally,
I don’t think they’ll be able to raise staff salaries because
these are lines mandated by the state.”
Weitz, who clearly stated she was in no way speaking for the rest of the
senate, said, “This is one of those things that’s chances of
happening are very unlikely.”
Weitz did say the senate had offered Borkowski a hand with the issue,
but the offer was politely declined.
Though the staff salary increase will not find its way onto Monday’s
agenda, the topic of academic freedom will be discussed.
A proposed motion, which will be decided Monday, will attempt to change
the wording in the Faculty Handbook regarding the issue of academic freedom.
Under the current wording, only tenured faculty members are guaranteed
academic freedom. The motion, if passed, would change the blanket of academic
freedom to both tenured and non-tenured faculty members.
“The administration supports us in terms of form,” said Weitz.
“They won’t have any problems with the changes in the handbook.”
Other proposed motions for the Monday meeting include a recommendation
to change the Student Handbook’s policy on drug and alcohol abuse.
The proposed change would put more emphasis on the issue of alcohol abuse,
whereas the current wording focuses mainly on drug abuse.
Police
Beat
Minton:
Department needs more officers
Becky
DiVerniero - Staff Writer
When a case needs
to be solved, Sgt. Phil Minton, investigator for the University Police,
is the one to turn to. With a lighthearted smile, Minton’s face hardly
shows the stress and pressure from his past 25 years with the department.
Originally from Asheville, Minton and his family never stayed in any one
place very long.
Although Minton did not enter into police work right out of high school,
it was always a possibility in his mind. “I’ve always been interested
in the field,” said Minton, “but after I got out of high school,
I kind of floated around.”
After several small jobs, a position came open at the University Police,
and Minton was quick to apply. The department offered him a position as
a patrol officer and paid for his Basic Law Enforcement Training classes.
“After you get your training, everything kind of falls in line, and
you know what to do,” said Minton.
Minton was promoted to shift supervisor after 15 years as a patrol officer
and finally was hired as assistant investigator. He has also been on several
hiring committees and was a part of the 1997 restructuring board, which
helped develop such programs as the bike patrol.
Although he believes the department has grown and improved greatly in
the past five years, Minton said he feels there is still room for improvement.
“I’d like to see some more [officers], and I think that they
should be put in some different areas than in the past,” said Minton.
Persistent understaffing has always been an issue for the University Police,
said Minton.
“For the first couple of years I worked here, I would have to pull
10 days in a row or get off at midnight and have to be back at 8 a.m.
the next morning,” said Minton. “You really had to hang in there.”
To keep the department running, the university will have to continue to
be involved, said Minton. “There needs to be commitment outside of
the department as well as inside,” said Minton. “The University
Police needs [continual] backing.”
Minton will be eligible for retirement in the next few years and plans
to take full advantage of it.
“I need to take some time off,” said Minton.
After retirement, Minton said he will probably enjoy some of the activities
he has had to put on the back burner because of work. His hobbies include
hiking, playing golf and working around the house he shares with his wife
of 30 years.
Minton may also look at part-time jobs but is unsure if he will want to
work after such a long service at the department.
“I’ve been here 25 years now,” said Minton. “That’s
a long time.”
Chancellor
/ Student Development Beat
Freshmen
leave for NYC with uncertainty
Red Cross changes policy, accepts only Tri-State volunteers
Kristina
Egger - Staff Writer
Ten fall semester
Freshmen Seminar students traveling to New York today in an effort to
aid victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were still unsure as of
Tuesday afternoon where they would be volunteering.
“We submitted a proposal to work with both the Miller family (which
the university adopted after Sept. 11) and the American Red Cross, but
we’re not sure as to how they are going to pan out,” said Josh
Chambless, Freshman Seminar Peer Leader. “When we got back from Christmas
break, it had become the policy of the American Red Cross to only except
volunteers from the Tri-State area.”
The students from Dr. Sharon Rorbakken’s Freshman Seminar class began
preparation for their trip last fall. The purpose of their trip is to
volunteer in New York as a means of showing support for victims and their
families, said Chambless.
When volunteering for the American Red Cross fell through, the students
of Rorbakken’s class continued to work.
“My dad has several friends in both the New York Police Department
and the New York Fire Department, so they’ve been trying to find
something for us to do,” said Scott Morris, one of the students traveling
to New York.
After the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania,
Rorbakken said she sat down with her Freshmen Seminar class and suggested
they send cards or organize a fundraiser as a way to show their support.
The students insisted they would like to go to New York to directly service
the community, said Chambless.
Each of the 21 students in Rorbakken’s class were involved in preparation
for the trip in some way. They did everything themselves, from writing
up the proposal to setting up transportation for the trip.
Stephanie Sherron is another student in Rorbakken’s Freshmen Seminar
class who has been very instrumental in making this project come to life.
“My mother is a little apprehensive about this trip because New York
City was at the center for the terrorist attacks,” said Sherron.
“On the other hand she thinks that going to New York City is an excellent
opportunity for me.”
Measures have been taken by the university to help insure the safety of
the students.
They will be staying at the Appalachian Loft and received a PowerPoint
presentation on safety, said Morris.Each of the 10 students going to New
York paid $150 out of their own pockets, and the Freshman Seminar office
gave them each $150 to defer the cost of vans, said Morris.
Even if their volunteer efforts fall through, this has been a great experience
for the freshmen students, said Chambless.
“I think it’s really wonderful that they will be able to touch
this experience on a more physical plane, since it has already touched
all of them,” said Chambless. “Even if all they do is walk past
a fire house or shake hands with a police officer, it’s part of the
learning process.”
Student
Government Beat
Anti-tuition
hike campaign in works
Sarah Newell
- Staff Writer
Members of the
Student Government Association (SGA) are planning an “in-your-face
campaign” to inform students about a university-spawned $150
tuition increase proposal, said SGA President Xan Harrington.
The plan calls for monies generated by the potential rise in tuition
to go toward increasing State Personnel Act (SPA) employees’
salaries. While SGA is not opposed to the increase in the SPA employees’
salaries, they are opposed to paying for it through the second campus-based
tuition increase in as many years.
SGA plans to distribute literature around campus and set up contact
tables in Plemmons Student Union, Trivette Dining Hall and on Sanford
Mall in an attempt to give students more detailed information about
the proposed tuition hike, said Harrington.
“Currently we’re in the planning stages of taking action
and encouraging students to oppose the [proposed] tuition increase,”
said Harrington.
The North Carolina Association of Student Governments (ASG) considered
taking formal action to prevent further tuition increases at its meeting
two weekends ago, but SGA had already been planning to do something
prior to the ASG meeting, said Harrington.
Harrington said he also asked Allison Laffin and Michael Putnam, both
off-campus senators, to write legislation opposing the proposed hike.
David English, committee chair for student research, will head the
background research for the bill.
Laffin and Putnam are planning to compose the legislation as soon
as they gather more information to support the legislation opposing
the tuition increase.
“We’re seeing an awful trend in the tuition increase throughout
the state,” said Laffin. “It’s a big concern that there’s
all this money being generated from tuition, but there’s no clear
way to tell where it’s going. Tuition has never gone toward paying
for employee salaries, the state has always done that.”
Special
Report
Paul
Sherar - Chief Photographer
Rastatter
and Russ check Kmart stock prices in the Wall Street Journal in the
student union Monday.
Kmart’s
recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy creates
concern for student employees
Boone store not expected to close as company rebuilds
Kristin
Davis - Special Correspondent
In a waning economy
and uncertain job market, Appalachian State University juniors BJ
Russ and David Rastatter have an impending reason to be worried. These
full-time students and part-time employees of Kmart have felt some—if
not a lot—of reservation over the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy
filing by the retail giant late last month.
Rastatter, a commercial recreation major, is a sales associate in
the electronic department of the Boone Kmart. Putting in 25 hours
per week, he relies on the Kmart paychecks to cover all his expenses
except rent. And, said Rastatter, it is more than just a job to get
through school. “Working here prepares me for my future career,
which will entail a good deal of customer service.”
Russ, a double major in finance and banking, and risk management and
insurance, is a sporting goods sales associate balancing a 17 credit
hour course load as well as 30-hour workweeks.
“I have to work to pay all my expenses,” he said.
Kmart, the nation’s third largest discounter, is expected to
close several hundred of its 2,100 stores in the upcoming months.
While Rastatter and Russ do not expect the Boone store to close, a
call to Kmart’s Corporate Affairs Office disclosed there is no
information currently available on which stores will survive in the
aftermath of the Chapter 11 filing.
What exactly does Chapter 11 mean for the discount chain? When an
employer files for bankruptcy, it usually results in one of two procedures:
Chapter 11 or Chapter 7.
“A Chapter 11 bankruptcy means that the company continues in
business under the Court’s protection with the breathing room
to reorganize its financial affairs,” explained a release to
Kmart employees obtained by The Appalachian Tuesday afternoon. The
company does not go out of business. Chapter 7 filing results in a
liquidation of a company’s assets to pay its creditors and closes
its doors for good, according to the release.
Kmart attributes the filing to weak financial markets, a faltering
economy and low sales and earnings during the holiday season.
Rastatter and Russ agree Kmart is a good place to work, pointing to
a laid-back environment and management that is ready and willing to
work around school schedules. “This job has stability and familiarity.
I would have a really hard time finding another job,” said Rastatter
of the possibility of the store closing.
Russ concurred.
We make decent money here,” he said. “Finding a job that
pays as good as Kmart would be the hardest thing.”
Both agree there was more uncertainty before the bankruptcy filing,
citing rumors and unanswered questions. Chapter 11 provided something
concrete, a reassurance after fearing the entire company would go
under.
Russ said he has felt a difference in Kmart’s environment since
the filing.
“The full-time employees who depend on salaries for their families
are doing a better job now that there’s a chance of losing it,”
Russ said.
Rastatter, however, has not seen a noticeable difference.
Neither employee has received specific instructions to perform differently
in their job since the Jan. 22 filing, but Russ points to a greater
emphasis on perfection. “There is a push towards bettering the
store’s appearance and customer service,” he said.
“We make sure the customers are leaving happy,” said Rastatter.
Customer service has been a buzzword among shoppers lately, according
to editorials across the country. A Feb. 4 letter in TIME magazine
by Joe O’Brien stated: “When I exit a Wal-Mart store, I
don’t feel like strangling somebody. Shopping at Kmart is a miserable
experience … what shoppers want is precisely what Kmart lacks:
customer service.”
A letter to the editor published in last Sunday’s Charlotte Observer
read, “The Kmart board has no clue. Forget pricing. It’s
customer service, stupid.”
Dwight Laughter, a Boone Kmart department manager, did not mention
customer service as the major point of improvement for the store’s
operation.
“Nothing has really changed. The freight had slowed, there were
a few delivery problems, but that didn’t last long,” said
Laughter. “We’re trying to push for more sales, but we were
doing that beforehand.”
Multicultural
Beat
Annual
health fair focuses on diversity
David
Forbes - Staff Writer
Snow fell outside
Plemmons Student Union Monday as students walked into the Grandfather
Mountain Ballroom to visit the booths of the annual Health Fair, which
had an added emphasis on diversity this year.
The Black Student Association, the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), the Multicultural Center and the Student
Wellness Center sponsored the fair.
“The whole idea was to have a health fair during February to
coincide with Black History Month,” said Tiffany Fant, co-coordinator
of this year’s Health Fair and president of the campus chapter
of the NAACP. “Since there was already a Health Fair set, we
just combined the two. We’ve tried to put a diversity twist into
whatever the booth’s theme is.”
“This is a cooperative effort to highlight health issues important
to African Americans and other minority groups,” said Kit Olson,
the other co-coordinator of the Health Fair and coordinator of the
Student Wellness Center. The Health Fair is usually held in April.
Topics of the booths at the fair included multiple sclerosis, diabetes,
lupus, sickle cell anemia, insomnia and others.
“A lot of these diseases predominantly affect African Americans,
and they’re killing people at alarming rates. We hope to inform
them about that,” said Fant.
Juanita Hines, a senior who ran the Ladies Elite booth on diabetes,
concurred.
“Diabetes in particular is very prevalent in a lot of minorities,
and if not caught before it gets bad, can lead to renal disease, amputations
and blindness.”
Free blood sugar, carbohydrate and sickle cell tests were available.
The fair’s focus was not just on diseases. “If someone’s
being discriminated against and they’re unhappy, then that’s
not a healthy environment,” said Susan King, a staff development
specialist at the Equity Office, which also sponsored a booth.
“I’ve been here four years in a row. We’re the only
shop invited,” said Charles Cain, who represented Mark of Cain
Tattoos and Primalisms Piercing at a booth about health and safety
in piercing and tattoos.
“I give out most of this information in the shop. There are health
codes [for tattoos and piercing] but a lot of places don’t follow
them.
If people are informed, they’re less likely to get hurt.”
Turnout, however, was lower than past years. “Participation both
on booths and people coming in has dropped,” said Wendy Williams,
who worked at the Student Health Action Committee booth. “There
are lots of new organizations here, but some of the old ones aren’t
[here].”
“Turnout is trickling along. I think the weather had an impact
on that,” said Olson.
“It’s really neat to see a variety of campus organizations
working together, and we’ll certainly be open to cooperation
in the future.”
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