THE INDEPENDENT
99th year • Issue 23
SPECIAL COMMUNITY ISSUE
COLLEGIAN
Making our mark in Toledo
The power of the independent newspaper
Read more / 8 »
UT SG presidential election uncontested Read more / 4 »
Toledo men end season in finals Read more / 10 »
UT students spring into service Read more / 5 »
Songfest springs into action Read more / 4 »
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The Independent Collegian Staff Visit us at Carlson Library, Suite 1057 Write to us at 2801 W. Bancroft St., Mail Stop 530 Toledo, OH 43606 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Emily Schnipke News Bryce Buyakie, editor Samantha Gerlach, associate editor Benjamin Morse, associate editor Sports Sam Williams, editor Jackson Rogers, associate editor
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3 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018
MAKING OUR MARK IN TOLEDO BUSINESS
The benefits of being your own boss By Areeba Shah Community Editor
Everyone dreams of being his/her own boss one day, but only a few individuals actually risk bringing an idea to fruition. While some entrepreneurs wait to graduate college in the hopes of starting their own business, to others the craft of managing a business comes naturally. For fourth-year human resources major Casey Green, her fascination with makeup turned into a business during her college years. Green’s eyelash business, Coated, transformed from her simply posting pictures on social media to selling lashes to women across Toledo. Green’s fascination for makeup developed at nine years old when her mother gifted her with her first eyeshadow palette. Instantly, she said she fell in love with the idea of makeup enhancing an individual’s beauty. Years later, Green started her own business to continue providing people with similar opportunities to experiment and feel more confident in their own skin. “When you buy eyelashes, you can become a different person,” Green said. “You can have a different style one day and then a different style the next.” Since she’s always felt intrigued by makeup, particularly lashes, Green said she took the extra step and found a vendor to bring her ideas to life. Her major in human resources management alleviated the process
by helping her manage time efficiently as a full-time student and business owner. When she first started out, Green said she had a hard time finding consistent business since nobody wanted to buy her lashes. She worked especially hard to build her brand; through word of mouth, her business expanded. To further attract more customers, Green said she provided special offers on eyelashes such as BOGO deals. Her secret to building a clientele is keeping customers intrigued, which allowed her to grow her brand alongside her following on social media. Green’s advice to students starting their own businesses is to never put their time toward just one thing. While running a business is important, students need to prioritize education, she said. Green added there are endless possibilities to experimenting with lashes; Coated offers a variety of styles, ranging from short and simple everyday wear to long and dramatic party wear. “It allows you to be somebody else every day,” Green said. However, Green isn’t the only student at UT who applied her education to her own business. Grant Goatley, a third-year business major, started a lawn and landscape business along with Brendan Callahan, a third-year marketing and sales student. The two started Executive
Lawn and Landscape as juniors in high school. While the two originally started by raking leaves for three clients, they now boast clients from Toledo, Sylvania, Perrysburg, Bowling Green and Maumee. Grant said their business expanded through word of mouth and through social media. The services they offer include spring cleanups, lawn aeration, dethatching, mowing lawns and leafing. Their education in growing their business came from a combination of applying what they learned in class and getting real life experience from starting their business. Goatley said that while classes taught him how to build his personal brand and learn more about using social media to their advantage, what made him even more comfortable in owning a business was taking the steps to start it. Goatley said his advice for students starting their own business is to prepare for the difficulties but not give up. Start with small increments and grow when you can. “I think the only way you can fail is if you just quit,” Goatley said. While most individuals turn their dreams into businesses, some expand on other’s visions. One such individual is Brianna Stewart, a fourthyear communication major who works at Jera’s Heavenly Sweet. The small bakery locat-
ed downtown began with Stewart’s mom baking for friends from home. Her hobby expanded into taking orders and eventually getting licensed by the health department, Stewart said. On June 19, 2017, they opened their very first location. Participating in food truck Thursdays meant the business already had a customer base downtown, making the transition easier. Stewart said while the experience is new, she has learned a lot from marketing through social media. She applied everything she learned from class to the business. Her involvement in the business started way back when she was a kid helping her mom decorate cookies. Today, not only does she assist her mother in the baking process, but she also manages their social media, Stewart said. “My mom has wanted to do this since she was a little girl,” Stewart said. “She always wanted to have a little bakery and her own business. For a long time, she didn’t know how or where to start.” Eventually, everything fell into place, Stewart said. She added that she sees the bakery opening in other locations in the future. She hopes that it develops into a place where people can sit down and feel at home. “I know that the difference between us and other
bakeries is the personality of the people that work there,” Stewart said. She added that when her mother started baking at nine years old, her grandmother always made homey-feeling sweets. This encouraged her mother to continue perfecting her expertise in baking. “They’re normal things that you think of when you’re at your grandma’s house and so when you bite into something that we make, we want you to feel like you’re back at your grandma’s house,” Stewart
said. “We want you to feel like you’re at home, like you’re at peace.” While Stewart has helped her mother live her dreams, she also has her own dreams to fulfill. However, she said she hopes to come back to continue helping her mom build her business. “My mom likes to have me as a part-owner, but it’s actually her vision, it’s her dreams, it’s her bakery; I’m just a part of it,” Stewart said.
4 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018
IN BRIEF Saluting Women UT is celebrating the contributions of women throughout history and recognizing the strong women leaders around the globe with several events in March. Events will coninue through the end of the month. All events are free unless otherwise noted.
Bancroft construction Starting Monday, March 19, Bancroft will be down to one lane in both directions as the first phase of the project begins work. Miller Bros. Construction Inc. will replace the north side of the road. Construction is expected to complete in May, when workers will shift to replacing the south side. This is expected to finish in November.
POLITICS
UT SG presidential election uncontested
By Bryce Buyakie News Editor
Due to an unconstitutional ruling by the UT Student Government’s Student Judicial Council, only one set of candidates will appear on the 2018 SG ballot for president and vice president – current Vice President Drew Williams and Senator Sofie Rodriguez. The ruling came after the non-partisan Election Board voted to extend the date of a mandatory meeting in violation of the SG constitution to allow Senators Dhuval Bhakta and Hassan Quershi to run for president and
vice president, said Kyle Zapadka, speaker of the Senate and chair of the Election Board. The board’s decision amended the election manual and allowed the senators to submit the required paperwork a day later than the manual outlined, he said. The Election Board held two meetings, and at both meetings the board voted to extend the date from Feb. 15 to Feb. 16. “However, it was our own ignorance to the election manual – that we wrote – and the constitution that caused [Bhakta and Quershi] to be ineligible,” Zapadka said. “SJC ruled
those meetings invalid.” Because these meetings were invalid, the two could not run on the executive ballot. SJC also said that the election manual states that “ignorance of the election manual is not an excuse,” Zapadka said. “We tried to give leeway to run for president and vice president, and we violated our own rules,” he said. Both Bhakta and Quershi said they will support Williams and Rodriguez as president and vice president. The two executive candidates want to continue current SG President Jimmy Russell’s
policies but also expand their own. “We are trying to work on mental health services and improving them,” Williams said. “On top of that we really want to connect UT with downtown [via the TARTA].” The two candidates also want a student discount program at bars, restaurants and coffee shops downtown as well, he said. Unlike the executive ballot, the senatorial ballot will have many more candidates; however, these too are uncontested elections, Zapadka said. “This year we have
24 people running,” he said. “However, this is uncontested because we need 27 to do that.” To encourage more candidates to run in contested elections, the presidential signature requirements were reduced to 500 signatures, and the legislative signatures required from 400 to 200, Zapadka said. A “Snack ‘n Chat” will be held in lieu of a debate this year for students to “chat” with their legislative and executive candidates on Friday, March 16 from noon to 2 p.m. in Student Union room 2592.
MUSIC
Songfest springs into action
By Samantha Gerlach Associate News Editor
It’s that time of year again! Spring is approaching and so is UT’s 81st annual Songfest, a singing and dancing competition between student organizations on campus. Songfest began in 1937 with a group of six fraternities singing songs on the lawn behind University Hall, fourth-year marketing and professional sales major Ja’Vawn Marbury said. Marbury is vice president of Blue Key National Honor Fraternity, one of the two sponsors, and the master of ceremonies of Songfest. He is working alongside the Taylor Bowen, mistress of ceremonies, fourthyear healthcare administration major and Songfest representative from Mortar Board National Honor Society. This year’s theme is “Billboard Hits: No Time Like the Present.”
All the National Panhellenic Council sororities will be competing in this year’s event, along with nine of the 10 InterFraternity Council fraternities, the Catholic Student Association, Epsilon Alpha Pi and University YMCA, Marbury said. “It’s so much fun watching our fellow students and peers come together within their own chapters to put on a great show,” Bowen said. There is a philanthropic mission attached to Songfest, and this year’s chosen recipient is Veterans Matter, a national organization that subsidizes housing for homeless veterans, Marbury said. “We chose Veterans Matter, so we can help give back to those that gave so much for each and every one of us,” Bowen said. Veterans Matter was founded in 2012 under the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization 1Matters and has since housed over 2,000 See Philanthropy / 11 »
5 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018 VOLUNTEERING
UT students spring into service
IC FILE
situation there are always ways to make life better
for others and help our community thrive.
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GABRIELLE LATREILLE Big Event Director
issues of poverty, food insecurity, homelessness and so on can affect anyone and everyone, even you and me, if life suddenly takes an unexpected turn,” said Julian Davies, University Church preacher. As college students, we often struggle to stay afloat and only avoid going under by a couple pennies. It’s important to remember, though, that no matter our
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“My favorite part of Big Event is seeing the multitude of students that wake up early on a Saturday morning to provide service for their commununity.”
variety of individuals and organizations that volunteer. We have Greek organizations, academic organizations, religious organizations, multicultural organizations and much more all in one room for one purpose: to give back.” As Big Event started to grow, the event became its own organization in 2009. Last year’s Big Event had about 1,700 student volunteers. The goal this year is to break the record turnout and have about 1,800 volunteers. All students are welcome to join and the first 1,000 students to register on OrgSync receive a free t-shirt. If you want to get off campus this semester and focus more on giving back to the city directly, check out the University Church of Toledo. They have a wide variety of programs to help from monthly food and service distribution events to planting, weeding and harvesting in their community garden to school outreach programs involved in tutoring and mentoring children. In 2010, the University Church started the community garden on Hill Avenue. In the last year, they managed to grow and distribute 3,600 lbs. of fresh fruit and vegetables to local food pantries and homeless shelters. “Giving back is one of the best ways of acknowledging that
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It’s always rewarding and a beautiful thing to give back the community. And if we’re being honest, a lot of UT students might have a community service quota to meet for a class or organization. No matter the reason you volunteer, it’s still an admirable thing to do, and there are many opportunities to do so this semester. On April 7, the RockeTHON dance marathon will be hosted in Savage Arena with an Outer Space/Time Warp theme from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. RockeTHON was founded by Alpha Omicron Pi in 2001 and has been growing ever since. RockeTHON is an affiliate of the Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon Commission, and all the proceeds go to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in Toledo. This on-campus organization is hoping to raise a record-breaking amount of $160,000. It’s important to note that this year it is required for each dancer to fundraise $25 by March 23 to receive a team color shirt. Also, there will be a Meet Your Morale Captain event on March 20 from 7-9:30
p.m. in Student Union room 3018. “This event is a general overview for dancers to get information regarding the history of our event, the dos and don’ts for the event, what to wear and what to bring to survive the full 13 hours, how to earn spirit points for your organizations, how to personally fundraise, how to win prizes and to meet their go-to executive board members for the day of,” said 2018 RockeTHON Director Samantha Denlinger. This event is a fun way to support a local hospital, but it’s not the only service opportunity going on this semester. On April 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., students will participate in the annual Big Event on campus. Originally started at Texas A&M, Big Event is hosted at over 100 colleges all over the country with the simple purpose of saying “thank you” to their community. “My favorite part of Big Event is seeing the multitude of students that wake up early on a Saturday morning to provide service for their community,” said Gabrielle Latreille, Big Event’s 2018 director. “Also, there is such a wide
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6 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018 CHARITY
UTEC holds philanthropic Suits for Success 5K race By Gabrielle Huff Staff Reporter
The University of Toledo Engineering Council is teaming up with Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity to host the Suits for Success 5K March 17 on UT’s main campus. The race will start on Saturday at 9 a.m. in front
of the Student Union and is open to all students, faculty and members of the community. Registration for the event is $20 and open all week on EventBrite. There will be inperson registration Saturday morning before the race, beginning at 8 a.m., and cash will be accepted as well.
WHERE
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Both groups were looking to put on 5K events, so they decided to team up and take on the event together, said Lisa Young, UTEC president and chemical engineering student. “The idea behind the fund is to give students the opportunity to obtain professional clothing or transportation for professional events such as interviews or conferences,” said Daniel Reichenbach, UTEC member and coordinator for the event. Reichenbach took on much of the responsibility for the logistical planning of the race and helped coordinate things such as the timing systems and
continue the event for years to come. They are hoping to have enough success to eventually transition the fund into an endowment, having money allotted for each year to support young professionals in Naganathan’s name, Beier said. The goal is to raise at least $1,000 for the fund, and the council believes they are almost there, so every participant will matter in the overall success of the race. All information on the race is available on the UTEC’s OrgSync profile and on the Suits for Success 5K page on EventBrite.
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him,” Young said. They chose this fundraiser because Naganathan always connected with students and took an interest in students’ day-to-day lives, Reichenbach said. “This fund and this race is all in honor of him since he has left the University, so hopefully we can continue his legacy for years to come,” he said. Anthony Beier, advisor for UTEC, said this is the biggest fundraiser the council has done for the fund. This is the first 5K the UTEC has ever hosted, but members hope it is successful so they can
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the event schedule. T-shirts will also be sold at the event to raise money, but they are in limited quantity. Additionally, the top three women and men will receive prizes. All proceeds from the run will be going to the Dean Nagi Naganathan Engineering Student Career Success Fund. The council knew from the start that they wanted to fundraise for Naganathan’s fund. “We as a council have had the opportunity to work a lot with Dr. Naganathan while he was our dean, so we wanted to do something to give back to
The Rocket Card is essential for every student at UT. It is their official identification card and provides both students and employees easy access to campus facilities while functioning as a form of payment both on and off campus. The card can use up to three types of funds: financial aid, Rocket Dollars and Dining Dollars. Off campus, students can use their Rocket Card at variety of places, including the 7-Eleven gas station on Bancroft and the Foodtown on
Central Avenue. The card is accepted at most places on campus, including all three residential dining halls and at many stops in the Student Union such as Subway, Pizza Hut Express, Magic Wok and Starbucks. Phoenicia Cuisine, located on the fourth floor of the Student Union, is one popular restaurant that accepts the card. “The Rocket Card has been a privilege to us for a very long time,” said Ed Barakat, co-owner and general manager of Phoenicia. “For many resi-
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MEAGAN O’HARA / IC
dents, they average maybe $200 or $300 per semester on dining dollars.” Barakat estimated that about 20 percent of Phoenicia’s daily customers use their Rocket Cards there. “It brings in more customers,” he said. “It patronizes the customer and makes us more accessible.” However, the restaurant briefly stopped accepting
Dining Dollars for the 2016-2017 school year. “Being a vendor on campus and not being accessible is bad for business” said Barakat. “If they couldn’t spend their Dining Dollars here they would have to spend it somewhere else.” After the relocation to the fourth floor, Barakat emphasized that Phoenicia See Card / 7 »
7 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Card
VOLUNTEER
Students assist in providing medical care to Hondurans By Olivia Rodriguez Staff Reporter
Led by Dr. Richard Paat, clinical professor of medicine, members of Students for Medical Missions visited Honduras during the first week of March to provide basic health care checkups alongside experienced doctors. Medical students, residents, nursing students, nurse practitioner students, dental students, ancillary students and pharmacy students go on these trips each year with Dr. Paat. Students were separated into two groups every day before heading out to different locations. Once on site, each team was divided into groups of two or three who tended to patients at clinics for up to nine hours, said Arjun Jindal, a second-year medical doctoral candidate. Groups of students worked at two different centers — a triage and medical history and a documentation center. At the three triage stations, students took blood pressure and listened to the heart, Jindal said. Students also interviewed individuals for their family medical history and to document ongoing health problems they have at 12 stations, he said. After going through both centers, the patient would then see a doctor who diagnosed and treated any ailments. For some Hondurans, these clinics are their only access to healthcare.
“A man woke up at three in the morning to walk for miles to be seen at this clinic,” Jindal said. According to Isabella Bartholomew, a secondyear medical doctoral candidate, Hondurans have a different healthcare system or lack of a healthcare system. They have healers and for them to trust the students to treat them is amazing, she said. They also have different health problems than Americans have, such as acute parasitic infections or compacted earwax, Bartholomew said. Honduras is a Spanishspeaking nation, so to interview patients, students used translators. However, this didn’t always ensure clean communication. “There are translators, but that isn’t perfect since people have different dialects,” Jindal said. People can go on the trip even if they do not speak Spanish; they will pair students up with someone who is more fluent, Jindal said.
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Cuisine is back to accepting both Rocket Dollars and Dining Dollars. “With the move up to the attic location and the new contract, it was reinstated,” he said. “Both Rocket Dollars and Dining Dollars will continue to be accepted here for the long term.” Annual deposits for the Rocket Card have exceeded $1.2 million with the growth in the UT student population. Vendors who accept the card generally report an increase in sales after the first year, according to UT Auxiliary Services. The UT Office of Auxiliary Services manages the Rocket Card. Using the online interface, students can track the cards in real-time, freeze the card and deposit money. DINING
Tastes of Toledo Local high school students get to be translators and learn more about medicine to help their people, he said. This year over 2,500 people came to receive care from the clinics. “It’s not all work; we get a couple days to relax and explore,” Bartholomew said. People from all over the U.S. flew in to help at these clinics. A doctor from California even flew into Detroit to fly with the team to Honduras, Jindal said. On top of medical clinics, SMM also has a sustainability initiative where students bring water filters and teach health promoters how to take care of people and use medical supplies, Bartholomew said. “People think what we do is not sustainable since most medical missions are just one time and never come back, but we are different,” she said.
By Bryce Buyakie News Editor
Now in its eighth year, Restaurant Week Toledo offers culinary connoisseurs and casual diners the chance to eat new and unique dishes from 40 local eateries and cafés to support the free youth leaderships programs of Toledo. The weeklong event recently ran from Feb. 26-March 4 and featured specialty menus at each restaurant in the Toledo area. The returning and first-time partners for the week included Balance Pan-Asian Grille, Barr’s Public House, Deet’s BBQ, BREW Coffee Bar, La Scola, SIPcoffee, Sidon Lebanese Grille and Bakery, M Osteria Bar & Lounge, Mancy’s, Manhattan’s Pub ‘n Cheer, Rosie’s Italian Grille, Social Gastropub and Ventura’s. Each restaurant created unique menus for the week and sent a portion of the revenue from these dishes to Leadership Toledo. Leadership Toledo hopes to surpass last year’s net profit of around $80,000; however, donations from each restaurant are still coming in and won’t be totaled until the end of March, Executive Director of Leadership Toledo Anna Toney said. “[We are] hoping to improve upon and make [Restaurant Week Toledo] more exciting [each year],” Toney said. “We want people to go out and explore the great food scene in Toledo and give to a good cause.” One of the newcomers to Restaurant Week was Sidon Lebanese Grille and Bak-
ery, which opened in 2016 and offered three dishes with multiple options for foodies and loyal customers alike. Restaurant Week was Sidon’s busiest week, said Nadine Hariri, head of public relations and marketing at Sidon. “We heard great things from other restaurants and that it brought in new faces and was the busiest week of the year,” Hariri said. “It was absolutely [our] busiest week of the year. We were blown away.” Unlike some of the other restaurants, Hariri said Sidon is adding a Restaurant Week item to the desert list by popular demand – rice pudding. “It was our first year participating, and we were shocked,” Hariri said. “But you’re not only helping your own restaurant, you’re also helping other people. You’re helping local kids develop their skills.” Leadership Toledo first organized this event in 2010 to fund its three free youth programs for high school students. “Leadership Toledo connects individuals with the community,” Toney said. “We do this to cultivate a community of leaders dedicated to leading with authenticity and purpose.” High school sophomores can attend Youth Leadership Toledo at monthly sessions. This program mirrors the adult program and covers topics ranging from education to service. The Toledo Community Foundation See Restaurants / 11 »
8 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018
OPINION
COMMENTARY
Recognizing violence against women
Growing up, I witnessed violence against women firsthand before I reached kindergarten. I was about four years old when I saw my babysitter’s son physically abusing his wife. That was the first of many instances of practiced cowardice I would see in this form. Taking women’s and gender studies classes helped me reflect on the negative actions that I have been exposed to throughout my life. I’ve learned men are substantially more violent than women and more likely to sexually harass the opposite sex. Women are targeted at college campuses and workplaces across the board. Some women join sororities and try to meet expectations of the
DESHAWN CAVANAUGH IC COLUMNIST
male gaze from fraternities. These women go to college parties and may become intoxicated, increasing their chances of being sexually violated. Nineteen percent of undergraduate women have at least reported attempted sexual assault
according to GetInclusive.com. The website also stated that many sexual assaults against women are undetected because women are scared to speak out. Sometimes, women get jobs in factories and overly aggressive men will sexually assault or harass them because they feel as though they can take advantage of women. I personally feel the government is not moving fast enough to end this crisis. We as men need to protect our sisters from this violence by speaking up and taking action. If we as men see violence against women, we need to at least report it, even though we are not committing the atrocity ourselves.
We as men need to protect our sisters from this violence by speaking up and taking action. If we as men see violence against women, we need to at least report it... Reading Trevor Noah’s recent book “Born a Crime,” I’ve learned that in his childhood in South Africa his mother was verbally abused as well as physically by her boyfriend at the time. The man thought, like other violent
men, that violence could sustain a relationship. I know, as a man, if I get into an argument with my fiancée, the only way to handle it is to walk away and allow space between us both. To put your hands on a woman, hurt her because she makes more money, has friends of the opposite sex, or you feel physically dominant because you are a man, I declare that to be one of the most cowardly things any man can do. Some say the way you treat your mother is the way you will treat your wife, and some people are even abusive to their mothers. Just because you’ve seen violence in the past against women does not mean you have to engage in it now.
Women are targets from the time they are born. In Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” she talks about her horrific experience of when she was molested as a child by her mother’s boyfriend. I hope communities across the world increase their compassion toward women because they are mothers, daughters and just as important as men in this world. Just because men are typically physically stronger than women does not mean we should be harming them or using them for things such as prostitution. Like Tupac Shakur said, “Time to heal our women, be real to our women.” Deshawn Cavanaugh is a fourth-year communication major.
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AREEBA SHAH COMMUNITY EDITOR
I credit everything I know about journalism to the Independent Collegian. From writing investigative pieces to in-depth features, the IC prepares writers for a lifetime career in journalism. The wide range of skills offered at the paper simply cannot be taught in a classroom setting. The paper provided me with incredible opportunities to develop my skills as
a writer and build my confidence as an interviewer. It fosters creative thinking and critical problem-solving skills fundamental to working in any newspaper setting. The IC prepares individuals to think on their feet and meet weekly deadlines, paving the way for them to pursue a successful career in any area of journalism upon graduating.
To many students, the newspaper is just a paper, but to me, it’s the cornerstone of how I’ll define my college career. It provides a home for aspiring journalists, a place we can’t find on campus due to the lack of opportunities available to journalism students. While print journalism See Journalism / 9 »
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | The Independent Collegian | 9
Journalism from page 8
dead at UT, the Independent Collegian is the place where students can practice their storytelling techniques. It is through this practice that we bring important campus issues to light. Our sole responsibility is to serve in the public’s interest that so when scandals, questionable decisions or misuses of funding occur, the only organization on campus that can investigate the issue is an independent newspaper. A paper tied to the university is at risk of undermining their ability to act responsibly in informing the student body. For example, when the physician assistant program lost its accreditation, the UT website did not immediately update its status from accreditation-probation to withdrawn accreditation. Their lack of immediacy in notifying students put students’ futures at risk. If we were to join back with the university, the IC would be limited in reporting such a story. Instead, the newspaper would only cater to the university’s needs. Our purpose isn’t to glorify UT; rather, it’s to establish transparency between the university and students, a serious responsibility. Much like the federal government looks at the news as the fourth branch of government, we are an important branch of this university. The role of this studentled paper is to inform students about changes happening on campus. More importantly, the Independent Collegian provides a forum for students to address issues affecting them and start a conversation. Our purpose is to allow students to hold the uni-
versity accountable for its actions. For this reason, the freedom of speech is essential in a student newspaper as it enables the free flow of information. The IC newspaper staff understands and respects the tenets of freedom of the press. In his article “Toward a Theory of the First Amendment for the College Press,” John Reed mentions that in the 1950s and 1960s, American student newspapers did not have freedom of press. Administrators used their authority to discipline and regulate school environments to justify censorship. Reed says around 1955, a professional newspaper editor regarded administrators as publishers since they had final say on what could be printed. For this reason, legal counsel argued the judiciary apply the first amendment to protect newspapers from administrative intervention. In 2000, a very similar circumstance presented itself during Vik Kapoor’s presidency. The Toledo Blade released an editorial on August 18, 2000, discussing how Kapoor’s actions of intimidation prompted the paper’s decision to go independent. “The independence movement is the result of the ham-handed effort by the Kapoor administration to force editor-in-chief Keith Tarjanyi out of his job unless he gave up his clerical job at the Blade,” read the editorial. Although censorship of the paper did not occur, the possibility was always present as the newspaper operated on university funds. Then-chairman Robert Langenderfer of the UT board set out to punish Collegian staff, believing that if coverage of troubles could be stopped, those problems would disappear, according to the Blade.
In any instance, if we were to join back with the university, we would once again be threatening our freedom of speech. While Kapoor was a piece of the “independence puzzle,” the budget also played a significant role in convincing the staff to go independent, former editor-inchief Keith Tarjanyi shared. In the mid-to-late 90s, the Collegian generated a generous amount of funds. At one time a $100,000 -$200,000 profit was seen. Unfortunately, the Collegian was only permitted access to its budgeted funds. At that same time, student organization budgets significantly reduced. Unfortunately, if the Collegian had been treated like any other student organization during that period, it would not have been forced to give back any of its funds. As the editor-in-chief for two years, Tarjanyi said he spent time negotiating for additional funds with administrators. It wasn’t until he questioned them on why their extra funds were not going into a reserve account that the administration budged on providing the staff with additional funds. The second problem was their organization’s leadership being selected by the central board of student media. This was essentially a group of people chosen by the university’s administration and the president of student government. Over the years, politics played into the selection process and individuals who were the staff picks for leadership roles were sometimes turned down in favor of individuals more favorable to the student government and university administration, Tarjanyi said.
Unlike all other student organizations, which were allowed to vote on their leadership, the Collegian staff had no say. Tarjanyi said this was a heartbreaking process. The version of independence that the Collegian ultimately ended up with was not the version that the staff at the time had envisioned. Tarjanyi said he suspected there were some UT administrators and trustees whose egos were bruised over the failed Kapoor presidency. Ultimately, this forced them to relocate the IC off-campus as a form of payback due to the failure of the Kapoor presidency, Tarjanyi said. Tarjanyi said the thing he found most disheartening
about how everything went was that all the members of the staff were tuition-paying students who should not have been forced into taking such a harsh position by university leadership. This ultimately highlights the most important factor in why a newspaper should remain independent from a university. The problems lie in finding a balance between campus press and institutional officials as they both fail in understanding the boundaries of acceptable free speech. The Blade’s editorial pinpointed everything I stand by in that a campus newspaper serves as a watchdog for a larger student and staff
constituency, with emphasis on objective reporting and vigorous commentary. Since its inception, the student newspaper has played a vital role in voicing student concerns and reflecting student opinion. The weekly newspaper continues to produce rich content covering all areas of news and community. The paper is solely committed to uncovering the truth and takes great pride in publishing well-researched, fact-based stories. Our mission is to provide UT students and community with unbiased news. Areeba Shah is a third-year communication student and the IC’s community editor.
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10 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018
SPORTS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Toledo men end season in finals By Sam Williams Sports Editor
IC FILE PHOTO
Members of the UT men’s basketball team celebrate their win Jan. 27 against Bowling Green State University.
The Toledo Rockets ended an impressive run in the MAC tournament with a loss to the University of Buffalo in the finals of the tournament, 76-66. This marks the end of UT’s 2017-18 season, as they turned down invitations for the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Rockets finish the season 23-11. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t win for our players first and foremost,” said head coach Tod Kowalczyk. “I really believe that as good as they have been all season, they deserved something special at
the ending. But just because you deserve it, doesn’t mean you get it or have luck on your side. I thought tonight we couldn’t have played any harder, and I’m really proud of the way we played.” The Rockets started the tournament March 8 against Miami University. Thirdyear guard Jaelan Sanford led the Rockets in scoring with 21 points. MAC player of the year Tre’Shaun Fletcher and second-year center Luke Knapke followed with 16 points each. Toledo shot an abysmal 2-15 from the arc but still managed to come away with a 30-29 lead at the half. This lead was sup-
ported by a 7-0 run the Rockets made toward the middle of the first half. The Rockets secured the win in the second half, where the team’s tight defense held Miami to just 39.4 percent shooting from the field. The Rockets, on the other hand, shot 48.1 percent from the field in the second half, improving greatly on their first half shot percentage of 38.9 percent. Toledo also had two season-lows in fouls (nine) and turnovers (six) to help them secure a 69-71 victory. From there, Toledo advanced to face Eastern Michigan University, a team the Rockets had lost to seven days earlier by a score of 69-71. This meetup was just as thrilling. A clutch career night from first-year guard Marreon Jackson helped Toledo overcome the loss of star player Tre’Shaun Fletcher on the first possession of the game. Jackson had a careerhigh 26 points, along with a three-pointer with nine seconds left in the game that gave Toledo the lead they needed to win. The game started in the worst way possible for the Rockets, with Fletcher going down with a knee injury on the first play of the game. The loss of their star player seemed to ignite the team, with Toledo going on a 10-0 run to take a 12-4 lead early in the game. ToSee Basketball / 11 »
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | The Independent Collegian | 11
Basketball
RESEARCH
Students take research to the next level By Benjamin Morse Associate News Editor
In the summer of 2012, Sydni Coleman, an undergraduate at the University of Toledo, stood on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Instead of vacationing off the coast of Italy, as one may expect, Coleman was using funds provided by the Office of Undergraduate Research to study whales, dolphins and porpoises. Coleman’s trip abroad is an example of the, “research and scholarship [that] are keys to a student’s success [in] preparing them for graduate school and [a] career,” laid out in director Jonathan Bossenbroek’s mission statement. Although Coleman’s research, along with a handful of other funds granted in past reports, are science focused, Bossenbroek reinforced that “these stipends are open to all avenues of research and creative activities, from art to theatre to history.” With a budget of around $150,000, the office has the resources necessary
to fund a wide variety of scholarly research. In 2017, fourth-year student Quinton Babcock veered off the course of STEM through his examination of the intersection of disability studies and the public goods literature in economics. Through Babcock’s study, in which “The Office of Undergraduate Research [was] really critical” in alleviating financial stress, he concluded. “Disability Studies scholars miss the theoretical importance of economic theory on public goods while empirical economists largely do not consider the role that disability plays in the consumption of public goods.” Aside from just two other students, Babcock’s research was an outlier among all the other First Year Summer Research Experience and the Undergraduate Summer Research and Creative Activity Program applications. Most of the summer 2017 research program participants were awarded to
Restaurants from page 7
partnered with Leadership Toledo to create the Youth Philanthropy Program Encouraging Excellence. Each session teaches high school students the “tenets of philanthropy and giving back to your community,” Toney said. Finally, Students in Action aims to create “a culture of service within [high] schools” for grades 9-12. Leadership Toledo established this program with the National
science-focused research, including Alexander Fazeka’s “Investigation of Cell Specific Gene Regulatory Networks in Maize” and Jennifer Kim’s cloning, purification and crystallization of flavin-dependent biosynthetic enzymes from soil bacteria. “The Office of Undergraduate Research was created in order to be a central resource for research and scholarship opportunities for undergraduates at the University of Toledo and beyond,” wrote Bossenbroek. According to its website, the office attempts to expand students’ opportunities rather than limiting them to a single resource and also “coordinate[s] undergraduate research involvement with the other offices at UT, including the Office of Research, the Honors Program, the Office of Service Learning, the various colleges and the various departments and/ or academic programs.”
Jefferson Awards. The organization does not offer free classes for college students, but Toney expressed interest in working with the University of Toledo to make that a reality. “We need to grow more programs with college students,” Toney said. “UT is our education sponsor this year, so we have had a number of sessions on campus.” For now, any college students interested in an adult leadership program can participate in Leadership Toledo, Foundations of a Servant Leader, Authentic Leader Workshop and 20 Under 40.
from page 10
ledo increased this lead to 25-18 as Jackson began to heat up, nailing his third three of the half. Toledo went into the half with a three-point lead, 31-28. Shortly into the second half EMU went on an 8-0 run to regain the lead, 38-37. Toledo rallied from the run, bringing the game to 61-61 with 45 seconds left. An EMU layup gave Toledo one last chance to save the game, and Marreon Jackson stepped up big. Jackson hit his eighth three of the night with nine seconds left, giving Toledo the onepoint lead, 64-63.
Philanthropy from page 4
veterans in 18 states, said advocate-in-chief Ken Leslie. Veterans Matter has attracted support of over a dozen artists including John Mellencamp, Katy Perry, Kid Rock and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, Leslie said. “We partner exclusively with the VA, and one can only access funds if he or she is a homeless veteran going into this long-term housing program and getting case management,” Leslie said. Leslie said he was a homeless veteran himself, so now he devotes his time to be sure others like him don’t have to sleep on the streets. “I’m honored Veterans Matter was chosen as the philanthropy for Songfest,” Leslie said. “We’ve partnered with UT for so long, and what that means is that these incredibly passionate
This win put Toledo in the championship against No. 1 seed University of Buffalo, but Tre’Shaun Fletcher was out of the lineup. Toledo fought hard to stay in the game, but eventually fell to the Bulls, 76-66. Toledo was led by Sanford’s 19 points, with Jackson putting up 13. The Rockets stuck with the Bulls the entire game, until a late 9-0 run from Buffalo blew out the close game. Toledo was unable to replicate their sharp shooting from the previous game, making only 36.8 percent from the floor and 31.8 percent from the three-point arc. The Rockets also faltered on assists, with a season
low of only seven. The Rockets kept the game close nearly the entire time, with the game being tied as late as 5:32 left in the second half. After a 9-0 run from Buffalo, the score was 72-63 with 1:45 left. Toledo was unable to recover, and Buffalo was awarded the MAC championship. Toledo was not selected for the National Invitation Tournament and declined two other tournament offers, making it the team’s last game of the season. The Rockets will take the floor next winter with fresh faces, looking to improve upon an already impressive season.
students who care about homeless veterans want to be a part of this.” Leslie said he credits Patrick Ryan, fourth-year professional sales major, for getting Veterans Matter engaged in Songfest. Ryan is the philanthropy chair for Songfest and a member of Mortar Board. Ryan has worked alongside and for Veterans Matter to bring awareness and raise money for homeless veterans. He is also a “Black Hoodie”: a nominated leader, advisor and helper at 1Matters’ annual “Tent City” in downtown Toledo. Started in 1990, Tent City brings the entire community together in one weekend to provide medical and dental services, food, clothing, the return to housing and other services to those in need. “He has such powerful compassion for homeless veterans,” Leslie said of Ryan. “He’s been a wonder-
ful advocate for getting students engaged.” In the midst and at the end of the production numbers, award ceremonies are held for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and several other recognitions regarding the event, Ryan said. “We have a goal in mind of $25,000,” Ryan said. “With everyone’s passion and commitment, I don’t think we’ll have a problem reaching that at all.” Leslie said donations to Songfest can be made and tracked at on the Veterans Matter website or by texting UTSongfest to 71777. So far Songfest has raised $9,389.80 for Veterans Matter and has had 247 donors and 178 fundraisers. Songfest takes place March 24 at 5 p.m. in Savage Arena on UT’s main campus. The event is free for all to attend. “Every dollar donated houses a veteran, and every dollar counts,” Leslie said.
12 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, March 14, 2018