Volurne IV, Issue 2 August 31, 1994

NEW COLLEGE NAMED BEST BUY IN NATION AGAIN Ken Burruss

Money magazine named New College the #1 best buy in American higher education for the second year in a row. Last year's announcement brought national recognition and attention, and it is hoped, the same will continue this year.

The Dean and Warden's office learned of the award through the press last Wednesday, August 24th . Unlike last year, there are no plans for a press conference or similar event to celebrate the event.

Dean and Warden Gordon "Mike" Michalson summed up the award as, "a pleasant development." He feels especially good about the study itself, which he said uses "pretty specific indicators," for ranking. These indicators include tuition, the record of graduates, teacher to student ratios and other areas in which ew College seeks to excel.

Jim Feeney, Special Projects Director, stated, "We're delighted to learn of this," and noted that it, "represents an affirmation of what we strive to achieve."

General Roland Heiser, President of the New College Foundation, believes the announcement will be, "dynamite for fund-raising," and labeled it, "a tremendous marketing tool." The General said, "To make it [number one] for two years in a row convinces people it wasn't a fluke ."

Regarding the effect of last year's placement on fund-raising, the General stated that the endowment grew by $300,000, the restricted funds (which pay for such things as new dorms and cience facilities ) grew from $610,000 to $1.4 million, and the Foundation earned $2.8 million. Asked if all this was directly related to Money's report, he replied, "It sure was made easier. People like to support number one."

The magazine, which will be out on September 6, lists New College as the number one financial buy on its Top 100 list, number one among small liberal arts schools, number one on its Most Selective School list, number one on its list of chool who have the most out-of-state students (40%), and number two in chools ranked by in-state tuition (UNC­Chapel Hill was number one in that) . Other Florida schools on the Top 100 list were the University of Florida at 29, and Florida State University at 30. The University of South Florida did not place.

STUDENT AFFAIRS TO GO FROM SCHENCK TO MICHALSON

Ken Burruss

Mark Johnson will serve as the New College Director of Student Affairs and will answer directly to M ichalson, according to a August 22 memo from Dean David Schenck and Gordon Michalson. In the past, the Office of Student Affairs has answered directly to Dean Schenck.

Student Activities Director Mark Breimhorst, Residential Life Counselor Tim Richardson, and Fitness Center Activities Director Judy Roningen will report to Johnson along with previously-assigned housing and food 'ervice activities.

The Director of Student Affairs for the campus as a whole will remain vacant at least for the academic year, although resources may be utilized as necessary. This trial basis will continue for a year, according to Richardson .

"STUDENT AFFAIRS" CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

ON-CAMPUS HOUSING GETS HOT, COLD AND CROWDED

Graham Strouse

Some Like it Hot ...

Thing move slow in Florida. Maybe that explains why new and returning Pei

residents returned this year to cold showers, broken air conditioning, and dorm rooms overflowing with displaced students.

Then again, maybe not. In truth, the various housing snafus plaguing On­

Campus Students stem more from administrative chaos and bad luck than Florida malai e.

The hot water heater on East Campus caused the most widespread problems. RA's, new students, orienta­tion leaders, and wayward journalists arrived early to cold showers in Pei. It was not pleasant.

"ON-CAMPUS HOUSING" CONTINUED ON PAGE 5.

2 The Catalyst Augu t 31, 1994

1HE QUESTION OF 1HE $35 TIARA Ken Burruss

Two sheets of notebook paper posted on the inside west door of the Hamilton Center game room list thirteen things that can be done or bought with $35. Ideas on the first sheet include; more funding for speakers and publica­tions, music for the jukebox, and a kiddie pool to replace the normal pool.

On the second sheet, all by itself, is idea #13: a hat. It seems a fair guess that the list was created in

regards to the Student Affairs Council (SAC) allocation of $35 for a "Chairperson tiara". That allocation has caught the attention of some students on campus.

The allocation was requested by SAC Chair Amy Laitinen. Also in attendance at that meeting were SAC members Kendra Bowman, Beth Eldridge, Stephanie Weiss, and Sara Kuppin. Beth Eldridge abstained from voting on the allocation, citing discomfort with the tiara as a symbol of hierarchy. Everyone else, including Laitinen, voted yea .

According to Amy Laitinen, the tiara is, ''not a big deal, just funny." Amy stated that the tiara was first brought up as an idea by Barbara Berggren who left a note in Amy's box suggesting it. The tiara was intended as a "funny joke," to "spice up" SAC. SAC members last semester discussed having all the SAC members in future wear hats at meetings.

Amy regards the tiara as a nice gift for the SAC Chair, which used to be a paid position but is no longer. Asked if she felt it should be a paid position again, she said "I don't want to take any money." She did feel however, that others in the future might want the position to be paid.

The SAC, according to the NCSA Constitution, is responsible for allocating Activities and Services (A&S) fees whtch are collected as part of students' tuition . In an interview for the 4/11/94 issue of Yo!, the SAC stressed that they allocate money according to importance, with special attention to the number of people affected .

As for the tiara going against the SAC precept of benefiting the most people, Amy said that she was, "not really sure .. . Thirty-five dollars for a tiara is not going over the top." If reports of a $120,000 SAC budget for the coming year are true, then it is not "over the top." Money can be spared. The only question remaining is whether the allocation was a proper one.

PANEL ADDRESSES SEXUAL INTERACTION ON CAMPUS

Rocky Swift

Sudakoff Center wa unusually crowded for last Friday's Power and Communication in Sexual Interaction Seminar. Led by a panel of concerned students, the Seminar addressed some of New College's recent gender elations problems. According to the group leaders, this was the first of many such meetings designed to inform the student body on the state of intersexual relations.

The main issues addressed at the seminar were sexual battery and sexual harassment. The panel suggested that the media is to blame for much of the problem. The highlight of the seminar was a video montage taken from popular movies showing scenes ranging from gender disagreements to explicit sexual violence. The video showed how the media portrays gender relationship and how that distorted view unconsciously affects our thinking. After watching the video, smaller groups of men and women discussed how they felt about the state of communication between the sexes.

Another issue brought up was how language in general is part of the problem in gender interaction. According to the group leaders, phrases such as "fucked" and "screwed" subliminally relate sex with anger and violence. The leaders suggested that people be more conscious of how speak and interact with others to les en this sexual aggression.

Besides informing on the current problems, the seminar offered several solutions. The panel suggested students try to be more understanding of the opposite sex. Also, students are encouraged to get involved when they see an incident of sexual battery. Another suggestion was that people emphasize the good in sexual relations more often to help counteract the negative impressions that have become ingrained in our thinking. Future meetings are planned to help keep awareness of these problems high in the minds of New College students.

The panel organized the project during the summer so that they could start the year off right by informing the incoming students of these issues. Response to the seminar has been very positive and group leaders are hoping that the student body will continue to show interest in solving the problems in sexual interaction.

'Ihe Catalyst General Editor: Ken Burruss Managing Editor: llen Zazueta-Audirac

Staff Writers: Graham Strouse, James Reffell Contributors: Rocky Swift Co-Sponsored by Dean and Warden Michalson and Professor Vesperi

Financed by NCSA Printed at Bradenton Quick Print

Letters to the Editor should be submitted on disk if possible, if not then in type, to Box 139 or the Catalyst envelope on door of Publication Room

The Catalyst August 31, 1994

NEW DIRECTOR BRINGS CHANGE TO CAMPUS COMPUTING JAMES REFFELL

If you are a returning student you may remember what a sorry state of affairs the Open Use Computer Lab (also known as the IBM Lab) was in last year. The situation was so intolerable that most

ew College students avoided using the OUCL except when absolutely necessary.

The IBM computer section had few comput­ers more advanced than 8086's (although perfectly serviceable 286 machines have been locked away in the Teaching Lab for years). The word processing program available on the antiques was WordPerfect 5, possibly the least user-friendly program in history. Viruses were present on almost all campus computers at some point, including administration computers (which hold all student records, grades, etc.). The virus situation became so ugly that at one point the entire OUCL closed down for repairs for almost a week. Mix-ups with the UNIX computers resulted in quite a lot of e-mail correspondence being lost in the winds. The overall condition of the OUCL, and the "official" campus computing facilities was so poor that the place was all but unused by ew College students, who instead overused the student run Mac Lab and Publications office.

The bad news is that a lot of problems remain. When I checked out the OUCL, there were few new computers available (in fact most of the old ones were temporarily out of commission) and the Lab Assistants were nowhere to be seen. The good news is that something has been done about the computing problems as a whole, and that something is DuffCooper.

Duff Cooper is the new Director of Campus Computing (which is in fact a new position) and as such is in charge of all of the official computing facilities on campus, both for New College and the University Program. The position was created to meet what Duff sees as "a need for coordination of com­puting on campus." In his few months as Director, Duff has been a very busy boy, trying to bring campus computing out of the Dark Ages. This is not an easy task, as it involves tangling with the Tampa bureaucracy on a regular basis, but Duff has already managed to finagle quite a bit out of Tampa and is in the process of amassing more.

Four 386 and five 486 IBM Windows-capable computers are in the process of being installed . The 486's were donated to the OUCL by the USF Student Government, and will be connected to the Internet and capable of running fun programs like Mosaic. For those of you who are tired of our archaic UNIX system, 6 X-Windows terminals have been ordered, and barring budget problems, will be here sometime

next semester. Future plans include more computers (including possibly some Mdntoshes) and a gradual wiring of the entire campus using fiber-optic cable. Hanson and Selby have in fact already been wired, with the Library being the next target, and then on to the residential side of campus as well as the adminis­tration buildings.

Duff Cooper is also addressing the lack of qualified computing assistance in the OUCL with both increased training for the lab assistants and a program of short introductory courses on computing for students. The programs include classes on basic computing, word processing, and Internet use.

The OUCL has furthermore purchased a site license for the MacA fee Virus Protection program, meaning that copies of the program can be legally copied and used on any computer on campus, includ­ing student computers. All computer users are urged to get a copy of the program in order to cut down the spread of computer viruses on campus.

There are still going to be problems, the most pressing being the lack of space on the UNIX com­puter Virtu, as more and more students sign up fore­mail accounts, but it seems that the OUCL is going to see better times in the near future. Many of the failings of the computing facilities on campus arose from miscommunication as well as a lack of a clear direction on the part of the computing bureaucracy. Hopefully the new Director of Campus Computing will help end both problems.

POLICE LOG

Aug. 2.1 *Petty theft of coffee table from Palmer building C lounge. Value of $176. Case still open.

Aug. 24 *Two incidents of criminal mischief. Graffiti on east Caples Fine Arts emergency phone and in outside men's bathroom at Hamilton Center besmirching a

ew College student. Aug. 25 *Report of theft of purse from vehicle. May

or may not have occurred on campus. Aug. 26 *Off-campus noise complaint at 12:52 am.

Wall shut down. *Grand theft of bicycle from Viking dorm. Value of $400. Owner states he locked it .

Aug. 27 *Arrest of two USF Tampa students for trespassing at pool. Pending disposition. *Nonstudent booked on Marchman Act for intoxication (placed in cu tody to protect him/herself and others).

3

4 The Catalyst August 31, 1994

THE QUEST FOR FIRE, or

HOW TO MEET COPS AND BECOME THE CENTER OF AITENTION ON A FRIDAY NIGHT Graham Strouse

Last Tuesday, me and several of my friends tried to play hero. It didn't go as we planned, but we got to ride in police cars back to campus. That was fun .

I was feeling a bit fuzzy so I don't remember who first noticed the cherry glow blooming against the sunset during the ice cream social. I do recall my friend lien announcing that the Croseley Estate looked like it was on fire . That's when I snapped to attention, put on my best Clint Eastwood Time-To­Get-Something-Done-And-Maybe-Shoot-Some­People-Look, and announced in a gravelly (nasal) voice "Uh, wanna check it out?"

We didn't call911. We didn't even calll-900-HOT-BABE. No, we just leapt to the rescue: four gnzzledd veterans and a certain purple haired, waif­like first year student who shall remain nameless. After all, the Croseley Estate might be burning, and dammit, that would make a good story. The Catalyst, you see, doesn't just assign one person to a story. We all go. We're thorough that way.

Halfway down the road, Officer Roarty pulled up alongside us. It seems he noticed the fire too. lien, whose bearing and facial expression were beginning to closely resemble Linda Hamilton's in Tenninator 2, concurred with his observation. Officer Roarty drove off, presumably to get help.

We finally hit the trees with me in the point position . There were still five of us.

Ever try wading through a bristly thicket at night? Think steel wool with an attitude. Basically, I was the first level thief with the 15% find traps roll who made the way safe for my adventuring party by falling into pits-

(Sound of tearing skin.) "Bush on the left's a sticker ... " (Dull thud.) "Low branch." (Snarling pig sounds.) "Watch out for the wild boa ... " (The clatter of dice fades as hit points drain

into the loam ... ) When we got to the estate we found it snug

in its little fenced enclosure with nary a trace of carbon to mar its pristine siding. Although the smoke was thick enough to induce nostri I flaring in even the most nasally impaired, there was no fire in the sight. No doubt the armed caretaker was still

snoring peacefully, all curled up in the fetal position with a Rottweiler named Adolf pressed to his side. We decided not to take any more chances. The main road was beginning to look nice.

That's when the cops came. All of them . Sarasota, Bradenton, and Manatee cops

paraded down the road in a staggered column. The first cop told us to stay where we were. He drove on . The second was Roarty. He took my name down and continued on his way. The third, a man driving a large truck bearing a strange resemblance to a Pepsi deliv­ery vehicle, told us we'd tripped the estate's motion sensors. Apparently they pick up just about every­thing larger than a breadbox that traipses across the estate grounds.

Oh. And the police continued to roll in; in shiny

copmobiles and beat up Fords; in blue shirts and plain clothes. They came even after we told them that there wasn't a fire after all. Every so often a fire truck rolled by to break the seemingly endless stream of law enforcement.

It took them long enough to get there. Five students on foot beat them by a half-dozen drags on a clove cigarette. We soon learned this was because the lock to the estate's gate was frozen . The key would not tum in the lock. A second path took the police around the gate and "into a wall", according to Roarty. They eventually cut the lock.

When the festivities finally died down, Roarty and Officer Henrietta Lange were nice enough to pick us up and drive us back to College Hall, where the ice cream bloated masses were slowly beginning to make their way back across campus. A number stared at us. We smiled brightly and waved .

The moral of this story is that Don Quixote is alive and well here at New College. With nothing to gain other than a good story (okay, a real good story), a small group of completely disorganized students were willing to risk life and limb in a haphazard adventure that would have likely gotten us char­broiled if we found what we were looking for; or shot, stuffed and mounted by an irate caretaker if we had been less lucky than we were.

Officer's Lange and Roarty commended us for our initiative. I'm not expecting any medals, however. After all, we still don't know where the fire was.

The Catalyst August31, 1994 5

"ON-CAMPUS IIOUSING" CONTINUED FROM PAGE I.

"We've been having problems with heater for some time," says Johnson. So why not call the contractor and have them send someone to fix the heater?

The original contractor went out of business some time ago. As a result, Johnson, Linda Block-Hill (Director of Business and Financial Affairs), and the folks down at Physical Plant found themselves on a quest to find a new contractor. Fast.

Fortunately, they did. Hot water came back on in a shower of rust Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday, the stained brown water had faded to white. Many returning students didn't know there had ever been a problem.

Cold showers actually came as a relief to the inhabitants of the 16 Pei rooms with broken air units. Why the air conditioners had not been fixed previously is un­clear. Doug Coring of Westair "has been working into the late hours of the night to fix the units" says Johnson. "We're gradually replacing all the units", a few at a time.

So why wasn't this done earlier in the summer? Who knows. Maybe it was the heat.

But the New Dorms provide no comfort, Mark Jolmson no Relief ...

Hot air and cold water haven't been the only burdens carried by dorm residents. With 184 first-year class students, this year's entering class takes up a lot of space.

There's four in the third-court lounge, three to some rooms; admissions singles carry two. RA's have "guests" for a week or a few. I do not like it Sam lAm. And neither do B-dorm residents like R.A. Jill Ross who were in line for doubles; or Viking residents who moved out to the fringes of campus in the first place because they wanted to get away from roommates.

ln truth, the gymnastic contortions Housing has been forced to undergo to place people are nothing new. Before Viking came on-line a few years ago, overcrowding was fairly common. Housing took a breather.

Then came national exposure with Money maga­zine; followed closely by the "Master Plan" of the Dean's Office which lays the foundations for a 650 member student body by the year 2000. These factors combined with a kindhearted Admissions staff that evidently couldn't say no to a number of applicants in the lasts rounds of the admis­sions process, resulted in a class 10-20 people larger than expected. Relief, however, may be on the way.

Eventually. Assuming things go well, the long-awaited new

dormitory should be under construction within the next six months, according to Johnson. The apartment-style dorms will be oriented towards upperclassmen. They should be "realistically" inhabitable by the Fall of 1996, says Johnson.

This may not be much comfort to those students currently squeezed into small, tight spaces. To the com­pacted we can only recommend patience and prayer for the attrition rate to kick in. In the meantime, get to know your roomate(s). You're going to be in close quarters for a while.

BUY SELL TRADE

(813} 366-1373

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"SIUDENT AFFAIRS II CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

After that, it will be determined whether a Student Affairs director is needed. According to the memo, the entire structure is on a trial basis and may be readjusted further in the future.

The Office of Financial Aid will report to Director of Business and Financial Affairs Lynda Block Hill. The Counseling Center will report to Schenck. The Career Center will answer to Assistant Dean Janna Merrick.

The memo states that Schenck will continue to ensure Counseling, Financial Aid and Career Resources servrces to New College. Michalson will ensure Food Service and Fitness Center Services for the University Program.

During this trial basis, by mutual agreement of both deans, Schenck, as Dean and Executive Officer of the campus, will hold signature authority and budgetary control for the Student Affairs functions now reporting directly to Michalson.

In years past New College students dissatisfied with Student Affairs have suggested that the office should be split between the academic programs to serve each better.

Difficulty in the Student Affairs office can be evidenced by the number of people to enter and leave as director. In the past four years, there have been four different Student Affairs directors, two of them being only Acting Directors. The last Director, Tom Levitan, resigned last May after one year on the job.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

From NCSA President Ed Moore: If you have any items to put on the Towne Meeting agenda, place them in Ed Moore's NCSA folder by Barbara Berggren's office in the back of Hamilton Center. Thank you.

***** The Marriott Seastore, formerly known as the Pub, will reopen in about a week according to Food Service

Director Manny Pasarin. .. ........ Calendar Events: The Activity, Volunteer, and Tutorial Fair will be held September 2 from noon to 7 pm in

Hamilton center. At 6:45pm the same day Campus Ministry will hold its Ice Cream Social. Students should meet at the Ham Center couches. On Sept. 6 and 7 at 7 pm will be Courtyard Coffee at the Jane Cook Library courtyard. On Sept. 18 at 5 pm in the Teaching Auditorium will be Soul Song, a poetry performance . ..........

Margo Hammond, book editor of the St. Petersburg Times, will judge the 1994 Bayboro Fiction Contest. The contest, sponsored each year by Society for Advancement of Poynter Libraf}j is open to all USF students registered part or full-time for fall semester, 1994. One previously unpublished short story of 2500 words or less may be submitted.

Entries should be typed on one side of 8xl1 paper. Please double space. Provide two copies of each submission. TAKE CARE TO RETAIN ORIGINALS because the copies will not be returned. All copies will be considered anony­mously. The title of your story and the page number should appear on each page of the manuscript. DO NOT include your name on the manuscript. Instead, attach a cover sheet with your name, address, phone number, social security number, campus, major, and the title of your work.

Deadline is October 12,1994. Prizes are $250 for first place, $100 for second and third places. Submit your entry to: Fiction Contest, c/o Theodora Aggeles, P.O. Box 11435, St. Petersburg, FL 33733. Winners will be announced before the end of the term. .. ........

The University Police Department's annual Lost and Found Auction will be held Wednesday, September 28th, at noon in Sudakoff Center. The auction is to dispose of personal property lost or abandoned on the campus. The auction is open to the public and anyone may attend and bid on items to be auctioned. Items to be auctioned include: bicycles, watches, jewelry, clothing, and other miscellaneous items. All proceeds from the auction will be used to benefit the USF Student Scholarship and Loan Fund. For more info, contact University Police at 359-4210.

The Old Fashioned New England Clambake, co-hosted by the New College Foundation and Sun Bank/Gulf Coast, will be held on Friday, October 14, from 6:30pm to 10:30 pm. Tickets are $60 per person with proceeds going to benefit New College.

The Sarasota County Crimes toppers program has come to the USF /New Col lege Campus. Phone line 366-TIPS will now accept calls from persons wishing to help solve crimes anonymously and receive a cash reward in return.

Student volunteers are being sought to form a panel that will eventually administer the program and distribute reward money. The panel will track the money and set amounts. Some misdemeanor crime solvers generally receive $24 to $40. More serious offenses will generate substantially higher amounts.

Calls made to 366-TIPS pertaining to our campus will be forwarded to the University Police for investigation. Anyone interested on being a member on the Campus Crimestoppers Board should contact Officer Steve Mislyan

at University Police, 359-4210. *****

The Council of Bread and Circuses meets again!! Yes boys and girls, the SAC is having its first meeting, Wednes­day, August 31, at 7:00pm, near the fishbowl. If you have a request that can't wait until fall allocations (approximately 2-3 weeks away), come on down! If you are interested in being the Supervisor of Elections for the upcoming elections, please come by. If you have any questions regarding this meeting or any other SAC related stuff, you can ask Amy Laitinen (SAC Chair)--box 507, room 342.

From the University Police: cars are no longer allowed to park on the grass next to the Pei dorms. Violators will be ticketed. Furthermore, students are never visitors in regards to parking spaces in Hamilton circle. Finally, Officer Roarty wishes it to be known that he will no longer be taking confessionals in Hamilton circle during daylight hours due to the administrative changes in parking spaces. He will be reachable at later evening hours. In the meantime Ofc. Roarty is appealing to have a blue zone parking space set aside for the "emotionally handicapped."