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March 13, 2019 VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE 5
Additionally, the administration has put a stop to hiring new professors until reNew College started the year with tention and enrollment rise. However if 835 students and hoped to have 860 by the student population continues to dethe fall of 2019, but it might not even cline, there may be repercussions at the have 800 next semester. This was the state level. bombshell that President Donal O’Shea “We had promised the state that dropped on the Board of Trustees (BOT) we would grow to 1,200 students [by on Feb. 26, sparking fears 2023],” O’Shea said. “We that New College may be hired a lot of new professors “This place at risk of failing its growth and things like that. We’re plan. probably okay for a while, is on fire.” “This place is on fire,” but we have to turn that Trustee John Lilly said around. We promised them at the BOT meeting after O’Shea an- we’d grow, we’d better do it.” nounced the falling enrollment. To find out what was depressing The issue of enrollment is not just retention rates, the administration hired that New College is failing to attract Arts and Sciences, a consultative and reenough new students to replace those search firm, to conduct surveys among who are graduating. In addition, the re- those who left. Some of the loss, about tention rate from first year to second year ten students, can be attributed to Hurrihas dropped precariously, to approxi- cane Irma in 2017, which tarnished the mately 75 percent. appeal of a coastal institution like New The immediate impact of the de- College. But the bulk of the problem creased student population is a decline in comes from the perception of New Colthe amount of tuition revenue available. lege’s social atmosphere as unwelcoming.
BY IZAYA GARRETT MILES
“Some students love the academic program but find the social climate challenging,” O’Shea said. “There were some students finding they couldn’t make a friend, and the Forum wars didn’t help. You’d have somebody, and something wasn’t going well for them, then they’d have this flame war on them, and that’d be the last straw.” Particularly, O’Shea noted challenges facing those with different political and social values than the majority of the student body. “We pride ourselves on being a very liberal place, but the result is that students who are more conservative don’t really feel welcome here,” O’Shea said. “They keep their mouths shut. If you don’t fit in, you’re ostracized. Students who are religious, sometimes they report feeling unwelcome. Some have a thick skin and don’t mind it, others do not.” O’Shea noted the particular toxicity
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New College of Florida's student newspaper
In the midst of the growth plan, New College is shrinking
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Below are the potential solutions for increasing enrollment discussed at the town hall: 1. Increased faculty outreach to prospective students 2. Three new high prestige scholarships 3. The creation of new first-year courses dedicated to increasing retention, building resilience, helping students navigate the college and connecting students with professionals in other parts of the college 4. Printing physical copies of the course catalog for potential students to look through 5. Greater community events inside Area of Concentrations (AOC) Help students plan for their next semester 6. The creation of a committee to analyze state and federal policy that impacts the school and determine their effects on retention 7. More data collection on first-years’ issues 8. The conduction of student meetings about the campus’s social space and the electronic social space
SFA “Boots the Braids” at University of Florida BY KATRINA CARLIN
https://doc-0k-18-docs. googleusercontent.com/ docs/securesc/s7jurnmk912se8sp3mgg3hd8llrh0uos/obdpo7fpcdn719co01n4qb7
Every movement is born somewhere. The Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) was born in Feb. 2000, at the March for Dignity organized by the SFA’s longtime partner, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The CIW is a worker-led human rights organization that is built on a foundation of farmworker community organizing. It has been internationally recognized for its achievements in social responsibility and combating human trafficking and gender-based violence in the workplace. The SFA is a national coalition of students organizing with the CIW to create a just, dignified working environment for farmworkers. Many New College students have organized with the CIW and their ongoing Wendy’s Boycott, and this March, have the chance to do so again. “The low wages and hostile working conditions faced by farmworkers isn’t something that gets enough attention when we talk about where our food comes from,” third-year Aiden Juge said. Juge has been involved with
photo courtesy of CIW
The SFA’s curent call to action is a “4 for Fair Food” tour from Mar. 2-14, 2019.
the SFA since learning about it through Students Targeting Oppressive Powers (STOP) his first year. The CIW created the Fair Food Program (FFP), a model for worker-driven social responsibility that involves the signing of agreements between farmworkers, growers and retail buyers to reduce human rights abuses in the supply chain. The SFA has continued to partner
with the CIW for the last 20 years in its fights for FFP agreements. FFP agreements have been established with several fast food companies through boycotts of those fast food establishments until they agreed to improve wages and working conditions for farmworkers in the companies’ produce supply chain. The SFA and the CIW have established FFP agreements with Taco Bell, McDonald’s,
Burger King, Whole Foods, Walmart and Subway. Wendy’s remains a core focus of their action, as Wendy’s—along with Publix—has held out on signing the agreement. The SFA’s “Boot the Braids” campaign is an attempt to force Wendy’s to come to the negotiating table. The SFA has organized this campaign on college campuses around the country, encouraging students to boycott Wendy’s and pressure their schools to eliminate licensing agreements with the corporation. The SFA’s current call to action is a “4 for Fair Food” tour, from Mar. 2-14, 2019. Farmworkers from Immokalee, Florida will be visiting University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville to spread the message about Wendy’s refusal to join other fast food companies in signing FFP agreements. “Since Florida is very involved in
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briefs by bailey tietsworth
Israeli PM indicted with bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a significant blow on Feb. 28 when Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that he would indict Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, pending a hearing. Israel will hold elections on Apr. 9 and Netanyahu is up for reelection for a fourth consecutive term. If Netanyahu does not win, the conservative Likud Party will lose the governmental influence it has held for almost a decade. Mandelblit’s announcement marked the culmination of three years of investigations concerning the three scandals. Netanyahu has the chance to defend himself at a hearing before any formal charges are filed, according to Israeli law. However, the Prime Minister has not remained silent since the Attorney General’s statements. Netanyahu accused investigators of conducting a “witch hunt” and condemned the “liberal” media for conspiring against him. Two of the three cases, Case 1000 and Case 2000, charge Netanyahu with fraud and breach of trust. In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife allegedly accepted expensive champagnes, jewelry and cigars from affluent individuals from the United States and Australia. In return, Netanyahu purportedly attempted to broaden tax exemption legislation to benefit at least one of the associated in-
dividuals. Case 2000 states that Arnon Mozes, publisher of a sizable Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, and Netanyahu supposedly made a deal: favorable coverage for Netanyahu in exchange for legislation that would hurt a competing publication, Israel Hayom. The third case, Case 4000, charges Netanyahu with bribery and breach of trust, accusing Netanyahu of arranging regulatory favors for positive media coverage through Bezeq telecommunications’ new website, Walla News.
Netanyahu disfavored the pre-election publication by Mandelblit, and had tried and failed to persuade the Attorney General to push the announcement until after the election. The Likud Party also attempted to delay the publication, but was blocked by the Supreme Court on Feb. 28. However, the entire process is not expected to be resolved until long after the election. Information for this article was gathered from apnews.com, haaretz.com and vox.com. photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Netanyahu will see the effects of Mandelblit’s indictment announcement come election day Apr. 9.
Scandal tarnishes progressive Canadian Prime Minister In the past month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has lost two of his cabinet members and his principal secretary in the wake of a growing scandal. Trudeau has come under fire for allegedly pressuring former Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to settle a four-year-long case involving SNC-Lavalin, a multinational engineering and construction group. Canadian authorities charged SNC-Lavalin in February 2015 with bribery and fraud after it was caught paying multimillion-dollar bribes to Libyan officials to win contracts there and of defrauding the Libyan government of over 100 million Canadian dollars. Wilson-Raybould inherited oversight of the case after Trudeau’s inauguration in November 2015. In January 2019, Trudeau reassigned Wilson-Raybould to the Justice Department of Veterans Affairs,
and a few weeks later Wilson-Raybould resigned. In her testimony to a parliamentary committee, Wilson-Raybould claimed that while she was the justice minister Trudeau and his aides used “political interference” and “veiled threats” to pressure her to settle the case. If SNC-Lavalin is convicted, the corporation would be barred from federal government contracts for a decade, effectively crippling their business and cutting many Canadian jobs. On Mar. 4, Treasury Board President Jane Philpott stepped down from her office as well. In her resignation letter, Philpott expressed her distrust in the Canadian government, saying that it was “untenable” for her to continue in the Cabinet. Trudeau faces a federal election in six months and will see if these resignations affect his chances come November.
Information for this article was gathered from apnews.com, nytimes.com and npr.org.
The Catalyst is available online at www.ncfcatalyst.com, facebook.com/NCFcatalyst instagram.com/NCFcatalyst twitter.com/ncfcatalyst The Catalyst is an academic tutorial sponsored by Professor Maria D. Vesperi. It is developed in the New College Publications Lab using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign and printed at Sun Coast Press with funds provided by the New College Student Alliance.
On Mar. 29, the United Kingdom (UK) will leave the European Union (EU) and the two parties have still not yet agreed on an exit deal. However, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt explained to the BBC on Mar. 5 that talks between the UK and the EU concerning the Brexit deal are moving forward. Both groups favor a situation where they come to an agreement on terms of a split because they want to ensure a stable transition out of the EU for business and individuals, along with providing time to further negotiate a permanent trading relationship. “I think the signals we are getting are reasonably positive,” Hunt said to the BBC. “I don’t want to overstate them because I still think there’s a lot of work to do, but I think they do understand that we are being sincere.” British lawmakers have hesitated to agree to the deal proposed by British Prime Minister Theresa May back in November 2018. Their concerns stem from a desire to keep the invisible border between Ireland (an EU member) and Northern Ireland (a part of the UK) just as it is: invisible. EU leaders have maintained that the divorce agreement cannot be revisited, but the UK hopes that the EU will submit at the idea of a no-deal Brexit. UK leaving the EU without a deal would prove problematic for all parties involved. As the Mar. 29 deadline looms on the horizon, chances of the UK splitting from the EU without terms of agreement increase. Until then, the two sides will have to compromise to find a solution to their negotiations. Information for this article was gathered from apnews.com and bbc.com.
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Trudeau’s reputation as the face of a progressive, honest Canadian government could be tarnished by this growing scandal.
© 2019 the Catalyst. All rights reserved. “My heart is a furnace full of love that is just and earnest.”
Brexit deal continues
Editor in Chief Audrey Warne Managing Editor Jacob Wentz Copy Editor Cassie Manz Assistant Copy Editor Eileen Calub Online Editor Bailey Tietsworth Advertising Manager Michala Head Social Media Editor Katrina Carlin Staff Writers Noah Baslaw, Haley Bryan, Emiliano Espinosa & Izaya Garrett Miles Harrison Angsten & Layout + Design Team Cait Matthews
Direct submissions, letters, announcements and inquiries to: The Catalyst 5800 Bay Shore Road Sarasota, Florida 34243 ncfcatalyst@gmail.com The Catalyst reserves the right to edit all submissions for grammar, space and style. No anonymous submissions will be accepted. Submissions must be received by 12:00 p.m. Friday for consideration in the next issue.
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Library coffee machines still unplugged BY NOAH BASLAW The Jane Bancroft Cook Library began offering free coffee from their new Starbucks Serenade™ coffee machines at the café Grand Opening on Sept. 6, 2018. The Library ran the machines for free from 8-10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight on weekdays until the end of fall semester finals week, to the joy of staff, faculty and students. Since then, however, $13,500—funded by donations through the New College Foundation— worth of coffee machine has remained closed for use and sitting under black sheets in the unused café. It is uncertain who will operate the new café bar created in the 2018 summer Library renovations that cost $123,000 from Foundation funds. “The Library had a sign up saying they will start charging for the coffee after winter break in spring semester, and then that never happened,” second-year and Library Representative on the Council of Academic Affairs (CAA) Adam Johnson said. It is not clear when and in what capacity the café will operate. Johnson is also one of four students who make up the recently formed Student Advisory Committee created by Dean of the Library Brian Doherty. The
committee was formed after the “Pizza with the Provost” event on Dec. 2, 2018, hosted by Provost Barbara Feldman, which showed there was student concern over recent Library renovations. Many students were upset that these expensive coffee machines were supplying what already existed in the Writing Resource Center (WRC) and made the first floor of the Library noisier, according to Johnson. “It’s silly to have coffee bean grinding going off in the Library at around 8 a.m.,” Johnson said. “There is also the fact that we already had coffee in the WRC that was free. It was just a Keurig, but now we have a really expensive and loud Keurig that still only makes black coffee.” There is also a Mr. Coffee™ pot in the WRC. A number of factors have postponed the usage and development of the new Library café by depriving sources of personnel for its operation. Thesis student Rowan Brower said that though she was never officially hired through the school for the position, she was told at the end of last semester that she would have a job working at the coffee shop starting in spring 2019. Before the semester started she was told all funding for the coffee bar had been cut, according
to Brower in an email interview. “The status of the Library café is up in the air because of many things happening around the college, like the Four Winds [closure] and enrollment being a little bit down,” Doherty said. Doherty had hoped that bringing more amenities to the Library would draw in more students and expand the Library to keep tempo with the New College growth plan. From what he gathered from the Student Advisory Committee’s outreach to the student body, Doherty has some immediate and long term plans to have more dedicated quiet areas in the Library. “We plan to at least put some signage upstairs to mark it as a quiet area,” Doherty said. He said that the Library has received positive feedback from the blue individual study pods, and he hopes to obtain more of those in the future and place them upstairs. “When we decided to move forward with beginning to revamp the Library,” Doherty said, “the idea of having some sort of café or refreshment was an important one.” He had been working on involving local vendors for a number of years, but found the size of the New College and University of South Florida Sara-
sota-Manatee (USF-SM) community is too small to attract corporate franchise interest. Nonetheless, the issue now is finding the folks to operate the new café, which means that there is still a broad range of services that could be potentially offered. “What will come out of the Library café depends on the status of the Four Winds and decisions made within the college, the Library and Metz food service,” Doherty said. The creation of a café is one of many additions that Doherty aims at establishing for the community. “There has also been some demand for a 3D printer, and the Library plans to acquire more technology for students to be exposed to,” Doherty said. He is hoping to expand Library hours as the school grows and the Library takes on a broader scope of amenities. “As long as it brings students into the Library and allows them to stay in there a long time,” Doherty said. “We are open to almost anything.” The Dean encourages students to use the ‘comment pig’ at the front desk to submit suggestions for the Library to consider in its management of the space.
Student wins gold at national archery competition BY EMILIANO ESPINOSA On Feb. 23, first-year Daniel Schell returned from the Indoor Nationals in Pennsylvania as a gold medalist. Schell is part of the United States Archery Team (USAT), the top ranked archers in recurve, compound and barebow styles. “Archery is like a wild, untamed, nebulous knowledge that I don’t think anyone can quantify,” Schell said. He finds the mystery of archery to be his motivation to continue the sport. At only 15 years old he qualified for the USAT. Schell travels regularly to different national and international competitions. He has gone to Croatia, the Bahamas and Italy for the World Archery Field Championships. The Indoor Nationals took place from Dec. 28 to Feb. 22, and hosted competitions throughout the country, including Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, Utah, New Mexico, California, Texas, Michigan, Virginia, Massachusetts, Georgia and Pennsylvania. More than 400 competitors participated in the barebow category. In barebow, archers refrain from using sights, stabilizers, clickers or markings on the bow that help aim. After the final event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from Feb. 22 to Feb. 24, all of the scores were added to a ranking list. The archers were divided into different categories depending on their age. Schell ranked first in the junior men barebow category. In the barebow competition, the target is a 40 centimeter face where competitors can score one to 10 points depending on the location of each arrow. The distance of the shot is 18 meters. All archers shoot 120 arrows in four rounds for a perfect possible score of 1,200 points. Schell took first place with a score of 988. The next archer placed second
all photos courtesy of Daniel Schell
This is one of the targets that Schell shot during the competition. with a score of 968 points. According to Schell, he was nervous about the indoor tournament since he usually shoots better at outdoor and field competitions. “It’s an endurance race essentially,” Schell said. “Target panic comes into play, and usually I don’t do too well under pressure.” Schell attributes his recent success to his determination for winning and his physical and mental preparation. He states that he’s never been in better physical shape. Schell has a strict daily routine, waking up at 6:30 a.m. and going to bed at 10 p.m every day. Waking up fresh and shooting first thing in the morning is a
crucial part of his training schedule. “I find the more I stick to a routine, the easier it is to follow that routine,” Schell said. “When it becomes hard is when I fall out of that routine and I do it halfway.” To stay motivated to continue his training, Schell says he tries to visualize the two possible outcomes of his actions: “‘If you don’t do this, what will happen?’” he asks himself. He explains the thought process behind this visualization technique: “I have to realize where this will take me and realize that that’s not a place I want to go,” Schell said. “Then, I have to envision a positive future I do want. To get there I have to have this stepping stone,
Schell loading his arrow. even if I don’t want to.” Schell is interested in bringing archery to campus. He is trying to get targets on campus, and is excited to teach anyone interested in the sport. According to Schell, archery is a sport that requires focus, concentration, flow and letting go of the ego. “You can want it more than anything, and train two times a day for four hours a day and you still may not get the results,” Schell said. “You have to be connected to the flow.”
Information for this article was gathered from teamusa.org and betweenends.com.
family fun and berries galore at Fruitville Grove BY EILEEN CALUB
As the warmth of spring gradually embraces Sarasota, families eagerly flock to Fruitville Grove to enjoy the fourth annual Berry Festival. Every weekend from Saturday, Mar. 7 until Sunday, Mar. 17, Sarasotans can participate in myriad fun activities suitable for young and old. Just a 20-minute drive away from campus, the Berry Festival gives students the chance to take a well-deserved reprieve from midterms, bask in the sunlight, engage with the community and savor sweet berries. Admission and parking are free to the event. Festival-goers can survey a plethora of locally-grown fruits and vegetables at
the fresh market. “They’re all strawberries from Manatee County,” Nadia Taylor, daughter of Fruitville Grove owner Kim White, said. “We co-op with local farmers who don’t have access to a storefront.” Attendees can enjoy berry treats and drinks, such as strawberry shortcake, strawberry ice cream, strawberry milkshakes and strawberry lemonade. One vendor also sold specialty Japanese-style strawberry, banana and chocolate crepes. Food trucks, like Fire Tacos, offering authentic Mexican food, and K-Nam Style, serving up Korean barbecue, appease those seeking a little more spice. Rows of vendors showcase local businesses selling a variety of items,
such as tote bags, crocheted hats, dream catchers and wooden crafts. Several vendors also sell novelty items and gifts, like goat milk soap. Plenty of activities entertain children, including bouncy houses and a rock wall. For a small fee, festival-goers can pet, hug or hold baby animals, like friendly goats and miniature potbelly pigs. In a small clearing, families can have a photoshoot with a “magical unicorn,” a white horse adorned with flowers and a horn. At art booths, attendees can paint wooden animals or have their face painted. Terry White, who helps his wife, Kim, operate the farm, showcases three classic cars from 1929: a roadster, a pick-up truck and a roadster pick-up.
Saturday and Sunday afternoons feature special events, including Easter egg hunts for children and pie-eating contests. Taylor and her family have also facilitated the popular Pumpkin Festival for over 30 years. “We wanted a springtime fest—I guess we couldn’t get enough of the pumpkins in October,” Taylor said, “so we started the Berry Festival to give something back to the community and have another free event for everybody to get together and enjoy the strawberries and animals.” C Fruitville Grove is located at 7410 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota. all photos Eileen Calub/Catalyst
Fruitville Grove is located at 7410 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota.
A petting zoo featured goats and pigs along with a number of other farm animals.
“Strawberries - Yummy & Local,” were featured at the Festival.
Festival-goers enjoyed the range of fresh produce available.
Festival-goers can hug a goat for $2. Baaa!
Goat milk soap is a fun novelty gift.
Fresh ice cream was available for purchase.
Children can play in bouncy houses and do rock-climbing.
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Azia Keever/Catalyst
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Data Science Seminar series BY HALEY BRYAN
Throughout these coming weeks (3/13 - 3/26), activists have the opportunity to participate in public meetings, panel discussions and marches. Read on if you want to get involved in the community regarding educational reform, environmental protection, ending gun violence and local politics.
BY EILEEN CALUB Thurs., Mar. 14, Protect Our Public Schools (POPS) Forum @ 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. South Manatee Branch Library – 6081 26th St. W., Bradenton. Join POPS Manasota for a lively panel presentation and discussion on how Manatee County can develop “Community Partnership Schools” (CPS), a model which transforms struggling schools into thriving schools by bringing together educators, families and community partners into unique hubs that offer a range of opportunities, support and comprehensive services to students as well as their families and communities. Locally, this model would work well with struggling schools like Blanche H. Daughtrey and G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary Schools, which are threatened with shutdown or privatization due to low student performance on standardized testing. This event is free and open to the public. Thurs., Mar. 14, Manatee Sarasota Sierra Club Meeting @ 7 - 9 p.m. Sarasota Garden Club – 1131 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. The Manatee Sarasota Sierra Club seeks to protect the natural places in our community, teach others to understand and respect the fragile environment in which we live and promote the responsible use of Florida’s ecosystems and resources. The featured speaker will be Dr. Sharon Hanna-West, from the University of South Florida (USF) Department of Management and Muma College of Business. This meeting is free and open to the public. Sat., Mar. 16, Second Annual March for Our Lives @ 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Bayfront Park – 2 Marina Plaza,
Sarasota. Take a stand against gun violence and demand an end to school shootings by supporting youth activists at the Second Annual March for Our Lives. The original march was initiated by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students after the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. Activities will include music, student speeches and a march. This event is free and open to the public. Sat., Mar. 23, Control Growth Now - 30th Anniversary Potluck Picnic and Annual Meeting @ 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Colonial Oaks Park – 5300 Colonial Oaks Blvd., Sarasota. Join Control Growth Now for a community meeting and picnic honoring Citizens of the Year Kindra Muntz and Sura Kochman. Control Growth Now is a Sarasota-based organization focused on combating urban sprawl and traffic congestion and prioritizing the protection of neighborhoods and the environment. This event is free and open to the public. Tues., Mar. 26, Ready for 100 General Meeting @ 6:30 - 9 p.m. Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center – 525 Kumquat Ct., Sarasota. Join the Sarasota Climate Justice Coalition for an update on the Ready for 100 initiative, a resolution passed by the City of Sarasota which establishes 100 percent renewable energy target dates of 2030 for municipal operations and 2045 for the entire community. Sarasota has become the second city in Florida, behind St. Petersburg, to codify its commitment to 100 percent renewable energy. Across the U.S., more than 30 cities have adopted this goal. This event is free and open to the public.
disciplines: humanities, social science and natural science, as well as engineering and business.” The speakers at the DS seminars have included individuals from The Mind Research Network, NextEra, AT&T, Hampshire College and the University of Iowa. “It’s nice to meet people from both the academic realm as well as the industry realm come and give us real applications to the things that we’re learning in class,” Naeem Chowdhury (‘15), a firstyear student in the DS program, said. “A lot of [class concepts are] still caught up in abstraction. It’s nice to be able to see the many different ways it can be applied.” Speakers are invited by a faculty member to present on campus. With data professionals visiting the small community of New College, students have a unique opportunity to both learn from and engage with the speakers. “After every Data Science seminar we get a cooler full of beers and wine and go out to the Chicki Hut or upstairs on the patio in the new East Heiser wing and we just have some drinks with the speakers,” Chowdhury said. “They’ll tell
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Getting the best out of the Library BY EMILIANO ESPINOSA Which one of these library resources are you aware of? 100
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The Activist Newsletter
Data Science (DS) continues to advance as one of the most promising career paths for skilled professionals. Today, successful data professionals recognize the importance of mastering skills outside of the traditional tasks of analyzing myriad data, programming and data mining to help achieve the goals of an organization. The DS Seminar series is preparing students both in the undergraduate and the DS graduate program to excel in this high-demanding field. The DS Seminar series not only provides a glimpse into the roles of a data scientist through an exploration of their skills, experience and responsibilities, but it also gives students a chance to develop their professional network with influential figures representing fields such as AI, computational neuroscience and political analysis. “The primary purpose of the seminar is to introduce data scientists and their projects to the New College community,” Professor of Mathematics and Director of the DS Program Patrick McDonald said in an email interview. “The seminar brings a wide variety of visitors to campus including individuals who are academics, data scientists from the industry and professionals whose work is informed by Data Science. These visitors have interests that span a wide range of
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Out of the 82 students who answered a recent Catalyst poll about student retention, 74.4 percent responded that they had considered dropping out at some point in their college careers. With the smallest incoming class in eight years, retention is on the minds of both faculty and administration—and crucial to the continued success of the growth plan. New College’s retention rate is only around 81 percent, according to a report released by U.S. News. This rate is substantially lower than that of other liberal schools around the nation. Why are so many students dropping out? The largest influencing factor for the students who responded to the poll was the social environment. The relationship between low retention rates and social atmosphere has been at the
Study Abroad Program
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forefront of many recent administrative changes, including the hiring of Dean of Outreach, Engagement and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Bill Woodson, the rebranding of admissions strategies and a poll created by Art & Science Group, a national consulting firm, sent out to students last semester. “I thought about going back home, I was really homesick, and I missed my best friends and the comfort of having my family around,” first-year Angelica Velosa said. According to Associate Provost Suzanne Sherman, there are a lot of factors that influence students in their decision to stay at New College, one of them being the sense of community and
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CATALYST BOT Meeting CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 of communication on the Forum, where he believes students struggle to empathize with their peers on the other side of the screen. Others have noted similar problems within the school’s social environment. “New College of Florida is a public institution with a public mission and that is to provide a great education to accomplished students who’ve earned the education by virtue of academic merit,” Keith Fitzgerald, faculty chair, BOT member and professor of political science, said.
Data Science CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 us about their company and if they’re looking for people. It’s nice to meet them on a human level and make that connection.” Providing students the chance to interact with influential figures in a more informal setting also opens possibilities for students to garner valuable connections and perspectives regarding future pursuits in DS. “[The DS seminar] is a good way for students to expand their professional network, and to talk to people who are currently in industry and get a sense of which direction they would like to go into post-graduation,” Coordinator for the DS program Nikita Bagley said. Bagley is responsible for assisting with the logistics of the speaker’s visit to campus. Additionally, Bagley helps connect students with the visiting speakers. “A lot of our speakers spend most of the day on campus meeting with faculty and students, so I make sure that if there is anyone on campus that would like to meet with the speaker one-on-one to talk about research and work that they have the opportunity to do that,” Bagley added. “And a lot of times the connections made result in internship and employment opportunities.” The seminar series has been included in the DS program’s budget since the program’s inception, and contributes to the program by providing valuable perspectives for potential areas and topics to consider in DS for both students and faculty. “For me the seminar provides an opportunity to see things I would otherwise miss and to hear about ideas shaping the world in which we live,” McDonald said. “This has led me to interesting problems whose solution is of immediate interest to those in the mathematics community as well as to those in the communities from which the problems were distilled.” Although undeniably influential and growing in prominence, DS carries a mysterious air. The many definitions, wide scope of involvement and various skills involved in DS may make the field seem ambiguous. However, by introducing real-world data scientists at New College, the DS seminar series is helping to satiate any curiosity and uncertainty about the current and future state of the field. “Most of the seminars are targeted for a general audience,” McDonald
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Fitzgerald stressed that ‘public’ included those who disagree with the bulk of the college. “I know this because it’s in the mission statement.” On Feb. 27, O’Shea hosted a town hall to address possible solutions to the problems facing New College’s low enrollment. Among these ideas are promoting faculty outreach to potential students, developing new scholarship programs, crafting introductory courses to encourage community building, encouraging students to plan ahead for their next term and discussions on how to improve the digital and social atmospheres of New College. A second meeting is scheduled for Apr. 24 in the Sainer Auditorium. said. “They provide the community an opportunity to see how things like artificial intelligence are reshaping the way we live. In particular, the seminar provides students with information that will allow them to condition their education to meet the challenges of the world in which they will have to adapt.” Addressing a general audience, students are able to expose themselves to the field of Data Science and consider whether they would like to learn more about this expanding area. “People might not necessarily realize you don’t have to come strictly from computer science, math or statistics background to go into Data Science,” Bagley said. “And that’s demonstrated through the seminar series. The seminars cover such a wide variety of things from health care, political analysis, AI, and so many people on campus are interested in all those types of things. A lot of the campus community has been able to come together over shared interests by the seminar series; if we continue to do that, then I think it will help foster a sense of community.” Since its emergence four years ago, the DS program and seminar series hopes to continue its involvement on campus. “I hope that the DS seminar continues to evolve as Data Science evolves, and I hope it grows in popularity,” McDonald added. “The Data Science seminar is crucial to the success of the DS program at NCF.”
SFA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the produce industry and Immokalee is only a couple hours away from here, it’s a local issue as well as national one,” Juge said. “Working with the CIW is great because it’s a worker-led organization, and the FFP is already proven to be successful in raising wages and preventing human rights violations, so we know that getting Wendy’s to sign on will directly improve workers’ lives.” Students who are interested in participating in the “4 for Fair Food” tour
Library CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 belonging. “I think what the whole community needs to work on is improving our interactions with one another so that students feel like they do belong,” Sherman said. According to the poll, some of the answers that were obtained state the difficulty of making friends and finding a crowd to fit into, the lack of respect between students’ opinions, a feeling of being attacked and not having a voice on campus and the feeling of being very isolated. Given this is a small campus and a majority of students are required to live
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have the opportunity to join the Gainesville march on Mar. 14. A bus will be on campus to bring students to and from the event. The bus departs New College at 8:30 a.m. and leaves Gainesville at 9 p.m.
To join SFA’s action on Mar. 14, contact aiden.juge16@ncf.edu. For more information about the event at UF visit ciw-online.org or check out the Facebook event at facebook.com/ events/758135674568296/. Information for this article was gathered from sfalliance.org, boycott-wendys.org and ciw-online.org. on campus, any toxic environment can feel hard to escape. The school is taking strategic actions to prevent this situation and, according to President O’Shea, there will be a committee for social involvement. After one semester in school, Catherine Chapman (‘17) left New College because of a few reasons: “I could not live off campus because of the housing policy. I didn’t feel like I had a home and stability. My first year of college I had had a really bad experience with my roommate and I didn’t want to repeat it.” Though the administration has attempted to ameliorate the low retention rate in a number of ways, this is not only a concern for administration, but also for members of the student body who are invested in New College’s future.
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remembering jack cartlidge
money,” Steve Jacobson (’71), Cartlidge’s out the expensive casting process or malong-time Teaching Assistant (TA), said. terial costs. “These were big pieces,” Jacobson Jack Cartlidge’s relationship with “He never had any money. The whole New College began in the 60s when he budget for the sculpture department was said. “To do them in bronze would cost tens of thousands of dollars and unbebecame an adjunct faculty member, run- like $1,200 dollars a year.” Instead of buying new metal for lievable amounts of work.” ning weekend sculpture tutorials out of sculpture and welding, he collected reCartlidge used recycled roofing his home in South Sarasota. copper for the “He would take his pickup truck bar and other sculpture, burnand go to New College and pick up 10 or discarded metals from local ing off the old “He believed in the New a dozen students,” Cartlidge’s daughter tar in his backDory Cartlidge McQueen shared. “They junkyards. To College philosophy. He yard. would ride in the back of the pickup make his pseustained- believed in experimentation. “It took truck, and they would come to the house do him three years on a Saturday and work with him all day.” glass sculptures He believed in not being to do that piece,” These tutorials transformed into he would glue McQueen said. New College’s first sculpture program mosaic tiles he afraid to fail.” “I remember I in 1968, when Cartlidge became Pro- ordered in bulk Mexicould hear him fessor of Art—a position he would hold from until he retired in 1998. While at New co to large slabs of glass. According to at 2:00 in the morning out there—‘bang, College, he created a number of mas- Jacobson, Cartlidge would also have the bang, bang, bang.’ He’d work the piece sive bronze and ferrocement works now students make their own ceramics clay and then he’d take it apart and put it back scattered across the Sarasota area. One from hundred-pound bags of brick dust together.” Featuring two groupings of chunky of these statues, Band of Angels, is located he bought from a brick manufacturer in outside of Palmer D across from Heiser Plant City. They mixed the clay by hand humanoid figures, the work was intend(for more information about the statue’s on long wooden benches until the school ed to express the difficulty of making the recent renovation, see Catalyst article saved enough money to buy an old clay decision to reject the status quo and remain steadfast in one’s convictions. “Band of Angels restoration complete af- mixer. One of his most well-known pieces “Nobody’s Listening is often misinter complaints from alumni.”) Many of Cartlidge’s experimen- is Nobody’s Listening, located outside of terpreted,” McQueen explained. “It’s not tal techniques were developed to reduce Sarasota’s City Hall. It was the first work about the schism that happens between the cost of fabricating his monumental Cartlidge created using what would be- the crowd and the individual figure. The works—and the Art Department’s ex- come his signature copper repoussé tech- individual figure is a leader, he’s walking nique. Repoussé involves heating sheets away from the crowd. It’s hard to walk penses. “He was really good at figuring out of metal and hammering them from be- away from the crowd, it’s hard to be the how to do cool stuff—it was as much hind to create works that mimic the look one that’s standing alone.” Cartlidge was steadfast in his own engineering as art—with practically no and aging process of solid bronze—with-
BY AUDREY WARNE
dedication to social equality, helping to start Sarasota’s first National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) chapter and working closely with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for much of his life. He dedicated one of his sculptures, entitled Three Civil Right Workers, to Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman. All three men were civil rights activists who, in 1964, were murdered in Mississippi for their belief in social equality. “That was a big turning point for him as far as his artistic activism,” McQueen said. Cartlidge was also steadfast in his belief in New College. “The biggest thing I take away from him and his legacy is how much he believed in the New College philosophy,” McQueen said. “He believed in experimentation. He believed in not being afraid to fail.” Cartlidge dedicated 30 years to the school, leaving behind Band of Angels and the Art Department, as well as a lasting impression on many of the students he worked with. “An awful number of students— even if they didn’t become artists themselves—were influenced by Jack Cartlidge,” Jacobson said. “He was as much of an influence on my life as anybody—except maybe my parents.” C
all photos courtesy of Dory Cartlidge McQueen
Nobody’s Listening, a copper repoussé sculpture dated to 1967, in front of City Hall.
Cartlidge with The Archangel, a copper bas relief dated to 1979.
Three Civil Right Workers: Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, a copper repoussé sculpture dated to 1965.
Cartlidge sitting in front of a welded steel sculpture and ferrocement Judah Maccabee with Dory in 1964.
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Cartlidge working on Three Civil Rights Workers in 1965