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SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO SINCE 1893
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016
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By Madeline Purdue
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NEWS in REVIEW
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VOLUME 122, ISSUE 1
The Wolf Pack returns in greater numbers than ever
Survivors of the 5.5 magnitude earthquake that demolished three medieval-aged towns near Amatrice, Italy, on Aug. 23 are angry with the Italian government because of plans to hold a state funeral for the victims. The state planned to hold the mass funeral at an airport hanger in a town far from Amatrice, where the deceased are currently being held, while the families watch on televisions from emergency tents in their hometown. The Italian Premier, Matteo Renzi, reversed the decision in response to the outraged families’ calls for the government to “give their dead back.” The funeral will now be held on Tuesday, Aug. 30, in Amatrice at a Catholic retreat home for the elderly. Renzi and other Italian officials will be in attendance. The death toll in the aftermath of the earthquake is estimated to be 297. Only 231 bodies have been recovered.
NATIONAL LOUISIANA BUS DRIVER CRASHES, KILLS TWO A Louisiana bus driver crashed and killed two people and injured several more in a multiple-vehicle collision on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016. He was driving volunteers to BatonRouge, where severe flooding caused by heavy rain has devastated the state over the last month. The driver has been identified as Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez. He is an undocumented immigrant and does not have a driver’s license. One of the individuals who was killed was a fire chief, headed to the scene of another automobile accident. A motorist involved in the crash with the charter bus died from injuries sustained. Five people were airlifted from the scene and 41 others were treated for injuries. Rodriguez is detained and is waiting to be indicted for multiple charges, including negligent homicide. Other criminal charges are pending.
LOCAL
LAST TOWN HALL OVER WASHOE COUNTY SCHOOL OVERCROWDING On Monday, Aug. 29, Wooster High School hosted the last town hall meeting discussing the overcrowding of Washoe County schools, known as ballot question WC-1. Voters who are pushing the ballot questions are hoping to raise sales tax from 7.725 percent to 8.265 percent in order to obtain the money schools need to make the adjustments for overcrowding. The school district says it needs around $20 million annually in order to accommodate the amount of students they have. Many elementary schools are considering the year-round system in order to maintain a manageable number of students in the classroom at one time. A portion of students and teachers would be on break at different times during the school year. Four middle schools and high schools may also need to offer double sessions in order to ease overcrowding. If WC-1 tax is favored in November’s election, Washoe County will have the highest sales tax rate out of any Nevada county. Madeline Purdue can be reached at jsolis@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.
A TASTE OF RENO
Quinsey Sablan/Nevada Sagebrush
University of Nevada, Reno’s dining hall serves more and more students as enrollment increases.
By Rachel Spacek It may seem as though the dorm rooms, hallways and classrooms at the University of Nevada, Reno, have gotten smaller over the summer, but it is not the size of the campus that has changed. This semester 22,000 students will be attending the university, an increase from last year’s enrollment of 20,898 students. Last week, 2,000 students moved into UNR’s seven residence halls. According to university officials, these residence halls are at 121 percent capacity. UNR’s newest residence hall, Peavine Hall, and Argenta Hall were originally built to accommodate two students per room; this semester both residence halls will house three students in each room. “The room is a really, really tight fit,” said incoming freshman and Argenta Hall resident Rebecca Knight. “I don’t know how all three of us are going to fit all of our stuff into a room originally built for two.” While the on-campus
residence halls are far above capacity, UNR will have a smaller freshman class this year than previous years, with just 3,600 freshmen enrolled for the fall — about 250 less than last fall. Early reports of the increase have returning UNR students anxious for the increased amount of students the new fall semester has brought. “I can already predict how this semester will go,” said returning senior Mable Villanueva. “Huge class sizes will leave students stressed out because of less one-on-one time with their professor, Quinsey Sablan/Nevada Sagebrush parking and lines will be a University of Nevada, Reno freshmen move into the residence halls Thursday, Aug. 25. UNR freshmen nightmare, dorms are always must figure out how to squeeze three residents into a dorm room built for two. an issue. There is so much construction, so navigating was 81 percent, a 1 percent by 4.5 percent and out-of- student body, or the details classes will already be tough, increase from fall 2014. state by 8.2 percent. UNR of in-state and out-of-state and adding so many new “Right now there are slightly officials reported that the enrollment until after Sept. 9, freshmen and returning stu- more than 3,600 students diversity of the university’s the last day to add and drop dents will make it so hard to enrolled for fall. The growth student body also increased classes. get to classes on time without in total enrollment will come from fall 2014 to fall 2015. In Across the country, colleges killing each other.” from continuing students,” 2014, underrepresented stu- and universities have seen a With a decrease in freshman said Shannon Ellis, UNR’s vice dents made up 33 percent of drop in enrollment totals over enrollment since last fall, the president for student services. the total enrollment; last fall it increase in student enrollLast fall’s high retention rate was 35 percent. ment this semester is contrib- also increased both in-state Ellis said the university uting to a high retention rate. and out-of-state enrollment. will not know the final retenLast fall the retention rate In-state enrollment increased tion rate, the diversity of the See FRESHMAN page A2
Campus construction continues this fall By Brandon Cruz The University of Nevada, Reno continues to grow and expand, with the construction and renovation of six separate buildings on campus over the course of the last year. Here is a quick overview of the buildings being constructed at this time.
CENTRAL CHILLED WATER PLANT With this construction, south campus is going to be a lot cooler. South campus is already pretty swell, but in this instance we’re referring to water. This water plant will provide chilled
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water to 29 buildings in south campus. Be prepared for detours around the Thompson and Jot Travis buildings, as there will be some trenching taking place.
E.L. WIEGAND FITNESS CENTER Many students will experience nostalgia when thinking of the Lombardi Recreation Center, but there comes a time when the campus must let go of the old and embrace the new. The E.L. Wiegand Fitness Center will be a place where every student has something to look forward
See CONSTRUCTION page A3
SIT WITH KAP
Returning students cope with rising rent prices By Rachel Spacek With University of Nevada, Reno residence halls 121 percent over capacity, many returning UNR students are being forced to find off-campus housing. Meanwhile, the Biggest Little City continues to see apartment rent prices skyrocket. A report by the apartment search company Abodo ranked Reno as one of the three U.S. cities that saw the largest apartment rent increase from January to February. Reno
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ranked third in the study, just after Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Orlando, Florida. This fall, UNR’s enrollment increase is buoyed by an unusually large amount of returning students. However, the university is only allowing 7 percent of these returning students to live in the on-campus residence halls. With few other options, UNR students must keep up with the rising costs of rental homes and apartments close to campus. “I like how attending college is so encouraged to the
SEASON PREVIEW
point where they’re saying ‘go to college or you won’t end up happy,’ but then when it comes to paying rent, they talk down to students for creating a greater demand and raising the prices instead of the greedy landlords who will do whatever they can to get more money out of students,” said Daniel Molina, a sophomore at UNR.
See RENT page A3
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