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THE NEWS RECORD THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI’S INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWS ORGANIZATION / THURSDAY, FEB. 20, 2014
SNOOP BEHIND SCENES DOGG
CAMPUS POETRY READING AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER
C.K. WILLIAMS
BLACK HISTORY EVENT EXAMINES ARTISTIC LGBTQ COMMUNITY
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Safety committee continues to educate students, raise awareness Group considers new initiatives to improve fire safety in off-campus residences, UC community ELIZABETH DEPOMPEI STAFF REPORTER
DAN SULLIVAN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel Cummins listens as members of the Safe Housing Committee discuss ways to improve safe housing initiatives around campus.
SG candidates discuss diversity as election nears
The University of Cincinnati Safe Housing Committee met Wednesday to discuss how to better educate students about fire prevention in off-campus housing. The committee formed after two UC students died in a house fire on Digby Avenue and is working to expand on its previous efforts to make students safer. “What we’re trying to do is change the culture of fire safety and that’s going to take every effort possible,” said Rod Garner, whose daughter, Ellen Garner, died in the house fire on New Year’s Day. In 2012, Garner and the committee worked with Cincinnati city officials to establish a program that helps students find housing that has been inspected by the Cincinnati Fire Department. Members of the committee said potential fire hazards range from faulty smoke detectors to grilling where there isn’t a sprinkler system, something Cincinnati District Fire Chief Fred Prather said most students don’t know is illegal. “There’s a whole lot to it,” Prather said. “But the bottom line is it’s the little things that kill people, not the big things.” So far, 14 different rental properties have voluntarily
undergone fire inspections and registered with the program’s database. Daniel Cummins, assistant dean of students, leads the committee and spoke to Prather about organizing a “burning building” class where UC leaders and students would experience a controlled building fire alongside the Cincinnati Fire Department. “That experience changes things because they never forget it,” Prather said. “It changes people’s lives.” In January, the UC Student Wellness Center hosted its first Student Safe Housing Fair. About 250 students came out for the event. “Students realized there was a lot of information they didn’t know,” said Erica Forrest, assistant director at the Student Wellness Center. Forrest and student body president Joe Blizzard, who also serves on the committee, pointed out that students look for housing and sign leases at different times throughout the year. They think changing the date of the next fair could make for a better turnout. Garner said freshmen orientation is the first and best opportunity to educate students and parents about safe housing. He said most parents never consider fire safety. The fire that killed Garner’s daughter was caused by a space heater in an overcrowded house, and Ellen Garner, who was sleeping in a converted attic bedroom, wasn’t able to get out. At a Parents Association meeting on campus in October, SEE HOUSING PG 2
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After a tumultuous Fall semester dominated by racial tension, topics of diversity and inclusion have become key platforms in the 2014 University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student Government campaigns. University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student Government candidates convened at the African American Cultural & Resource Center for the third annual diversity debate Monday. “It’s important to come up with ways, whether it’s through initiatives or programing, to make diversity a more ubiquitous topic,” said Alfred BurneyAllen, United Black Student Association president who helped organize the debate. “Especially since it is not only an issue on campus but it’s an issue abroad and impacts all of us.” One challenging issue candidates face is how to retain and promote diverse students in the UC community. As of fall 2013, only 8.3 percent of students are African American, 3 percent are Asian, and 2.5 percent are Hispanic. Only eight of the 11 candidates for senate were present to field questions from the audience and MC Abdine Lewis, United Black student political action chair, less than two weeks before voting starts. Of the 11 candidates, only eight will win office. Incumbent senator Jessica Gearhart, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, said she wanted more actions, rather than words, to make campus more inclusive. “I want to walk away next year having created something tangible,” Gearhart said. “I want to be able to point to something and say ‘I did that, I started that.’” First-year candidate Mitchell Phelps also hopes to create something tangible by proposing a mid-college diversity scholarship. “I believe if we had a mid-college diversity scholarship it would motivate students of color, or any diversity, to really strive and achieve,” Phelps said. Phelps said the scholarship would help increase retention rates by giving students a goal to work toward. Presidential and vice presidential candidates took the stage after the debate between hopeful senators. Both slates were asked how they would combat diversity issues and prejudices on campus. President candidate Christina Beer and vice president candidate Shivam SEE DIVERSITY PG 2
MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER The University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees approved $46 million for a new student information system Tuesday. The current system, which manages everything from class registration to managing financial aid, is outdated. Unlike the current system, the new system is being created by an outside firm. Officials hope to have it operational in two years.
Trustees approve $46 million to replace outdated student information system BRYAN SHUPE CHIEF REPORTER
A $46 million investment could help make students’ lives at the University of Cincinnati easier when it comes time to register for classes and a whole host of other online campus services. The new student information system, which the UC Board of Trustees approved Tuesday, compiles and facilitates data ranging from grades to financial aid. The board’s approval of the funding is going to drastically improve students’ access to services, such as Onestop, from the current student information system, which was created by the university years ago, said Nelson Vincent, vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer. Administrators said they hope the system — a long-overdue upgrade — will be fully implemented in the next two years. “It’s incredibly important,” said UC President Santa Ono.“It has a lot of functionality that the current, antiquated homegrown system doesn’t have.” Of the $46 million needed to fund the project, $35 million will be funded through
the issuance of debt. “We’re going to be amortizing the cost of this investment over 15 years, but it really is the cost of doing business,”Vincent said.“Our existing system for UniverSIS is well beyond its useful life and we really just need to get the system updated so we can do our basic business.” According to the proposal, the university’s current core SIS is running on software that was originally created in the 1970s. It also stated that the current SIS did not meet the current “demand for functionality, usability, capacity and accessibility by students, staff and faculty.” The university first became aware of the need to upgrade around 10 years ago, said Greg Hand, UC spokesman. Semester conversations in 2012 increased the sense of urgency. Hand said many administrators weren’t sure if the old system would be able to handle the transition into a different academic calendar. Earlier in the academic year, the board of trustees approved the initial funding to conduct research on how to go about its implementation. “We’re moving to the Oracle family of products from Peoplesoft,”Vincent said.“The new system will be a non-mainframe system, which means it’ll be functioning 24/7.”
UC compared notes with hundreds of other universities who have made similar changes in their information systems and the return on the dollar is worth the investment, Vincent said. While the investment is a costly one, it’s a needed one, Vincent said. The investment is even more important when considering students’ frustrations with the current system. “I feel like that’s a smart move,” said Eli Rouse, first-year pre-medical student.“If it’s helping students who have issues with things like registering for classes and getting their grades, it’s worth it.” Complaints with the current system aren’t uncommon, said Joe Blizzard, student body president. “There’s been a lot of complaints on one specific issue that the current UniverSIS system covers and that’s the registration of classes and the ability to access Onestop between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.,” Blizzard said. “It’s also going to work with Blackboard so they’ll be able to integrate together on different things. But the new information system is really going to be focused on everything that happens in the outside of the academic world, so anything you find on Onestop right now will be covered under the new SIS.”
Student government tables bill to partially fund fall concert SG votes to save limited end-of-year funds for initiatives directly impacting students NATALIE COLEMAN STAFF REPORTER
MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Joe Blizzard, student body president, listens as members from Red and Back Bash organization make their case for funding.
The University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student Government tabled a bill Wednesday that would have given $2,000 to this year’s Red and Black Bash concert. “It would just be transferring money, and at the end of the day the colleges don’t see any of it,” said Andrew Griggs, a tribunal senator from the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “I think that we can find a myriad of ways to spend this money that will more directly impact students in their colleges.” The Red and Black Bash organization has sponsored the free, outdoor concert for both students and the general public every fall since 2002. Last year, the concert drew a crowd of nearly 10,000 — the largest attendance to date — for the Cincinnatibased, indie rock band Walk the Moon. The event costs $67,000 — $55,000 of which are covered by the university. CHIEF.NEWSRECORD@GMAIL.COM / 513.556.5908
“To have the same kind of concert experience, we have to raise $12,000,” said Sean Cox, marketing manager for the Red and Black Bash group. “Right now, we are at square one.” SG has $3,000 left to spend from its co-sponsorship budget and $7,000 to spend from its programming budget. All tribunal funding must be spent by March 26. “This bill is time sensitive because we need to be able to spend this money before the year is done and we restart at zero,” Cox said. “If this isn’t accepted by [SG], we will probably propose a bill.” Cox and his team hope to further collaborate with student government to increase awareness of their group. “We have no connections outside of our group,” Cox said. “A huge entity like student government has a web of connections which we could really use. One of the things that we’ve been trying to do is establish an identity for ourselves.” SG members said they want to focus more on directly impacting the university with their leftover funds “This is actually my first SG meeting,” Cox said. “It’s a learning curve.”