THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWS ORGANIZATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | WWW.NEWSRECORD.ORG
131 YEARS IN PRINT VOL. CXXXI ISSUE XXV
THE NEWS RECORD MONDAY | JANUARY 23 | 2012
MISCUES IN MORGANTOWN
FOOD WARS:
CHINESE
sports | 6
college living | 5
Xavier under fire for assault handling RYAN HOFFMAN | SENIOR REPORTER
Allegations of a cover-up related to sexual assault have launched a federal investigation of Xavier University’s campus.
A HISTORY OF ACCUSATION
Luther Smith, Xavier’s dean of students, allegedly tried to negotiate with a female student after she filed a report claiming she had been sexually assaulted and stalked by another student, Sean Marron, according to an Office of Civil Right complaint filled by the victim’s family. “[Smith] offered that [Marron] would leave the university if [former student, identified as Kalyn Burgio] discontinued the misconduct hearing against [Marron],” which is a violation of XU’s policies concerning rape and sexual assault, according to complaint. After Burgio declined the offer — twice ADA SEWELL | TNR CONTRIBUTOR
A REPEAT OFFENDER XU twice found Sean Marron guilty of violating the school’s sexual assault policies.
— Marron was found responsible for violating the policies outlined in the student handbook, which led to his expulsion from the university. However, Marron was allowed to finish the semester before leaving the school. The university has found Marron guilty twice before – once in 2009 and again in 2010 – of violating policies in the student handbook concerning sexual assault, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The former offenses led to a one-semester suspension and an expulsion. However, in both cases, Marron was also allowed to finish his semester before leaving the school.
SANCTIONS FOR ASSAULT
XU’s student handbook outlines specific benchmark sanctions for various sexual offenses; for rape and sexual assault, “the benchmark sanction for a respondent … is expulsion,” according to the handbook. Students found responsible for stalking are subject to, “a one-semester suspension from classes and all activities, and removal from campus,” according to the handbook.
ObamaCare decision slotted for summer
It’s not uncommon for student in similar circumstances to be allowed to finish the school term after their disciplinary hearing, said Amy Howton, assistant director at the University of Cincinnati’s Women’s Center and coordinator for the Sexual Assault Response Team. “I fully believe that administrators in high education are generally trying very hard to do right in responding to sexual violence on their campuses,” Howton said. “We don’t do this in a bubble; our society has a lot to learn on this issue.”
UC’S POLICY
“It would really compromise personnel spacing and you wouldn’t really be able to feel that you could trust the university,” said Trisha Durham, a reclaim peer advocate in the UC Women’s Center and fourthyear student in international relations and women gender and sexuality studies. As a peer advocate, Durham serves as a resource for students who are victims of sexual crimes. These services offered by the Women’s Center are some of the methods SEE XAVIER | 4 GRAPHIC BY GIN A. ANDO
SHOW ME MONEY If three Ohio lawmakers have their way, it could mean up to $8,000 in stipend money for Division I athletes.
LANCE LAMBERT | SENIOR REPORTER
Controversial legislation will be settled as the United States Supreme Court is set to make a decision on the constitutionality of ObamaCare by June. Survey information collected by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati was filed Jan. 19 in an amicus curiae — information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it, providing the United States Supreme Court with impartial information regarding the court’s decision to consider the constitutionality of Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as ObamaCare. The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati — a nonprofit foundation with the goal of improving health in the city of Cincinnati and 20 surrounding counties in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky — provided data to the court, showing insurance affordability is closely related to individuals’ income. “[The survey] shows most people who do not have insurance are not choosing not to go without insurance, they [just] cannot afford the insurance,” said Patricia O’Connor, vice president of the Health Foundation. The deadline to submit information to the court was Jan. 20, O’Connor said. “It was an opportunity to bring information to the attention of the courts,” O’Connor said. “We have information here which is in the favor of neither party.” Signed into law March 23, 2010, by President Barack Obama, the ACA would stop health care providers from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, and would require providers to grant policy holders the option to allow their children, until the age of 26, to remain on their parent’s policy. No official opinion of the ACA SEE OBAMACARE | 4 INSIDE
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Classifieds Entertainment College Living Sports
MONDAY
37° 21°
43° 28°
WED
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BEN GOLDSCHMIDT | STAFF REPORTER ollege athletes may have the opportunity to gain more than just scholarships for their time and talent as legislation to allow student-athletes to receive pay is in its early stages. House Bill 411, if passed, would allow Division I athletes to be paid up to $8,000 per year. Athletes in Division II could receive up to $6,000 and all other divisions would have a cap of $4,000. All stipends would be in addition to the scholarship and grant money most student-athletes already receive.
WHAT’S A FULL SCHOLARSHIP WORTH? 2010-2011
TUITION & BOOKS FEES
THU
FRI
48°
47°
33°
36°
ROOM & BOARD
TOTAL
IN-STATE
$10,065
$1,275
$9,510
$20,850
OUT-OFSTATE
$24,588
$1,275
$9,510
$35,373
2010-11 Total Scholarship Expenses: $5,955,453* *Figure represents both full and partial scholarships INFORMATION COURTESY OF UCATS MEMBERSHIP GUIDE
PAY FOR PLAY In addition to Division I student-athletes having the opportunity to earn up to $8,000, Division II student-athletes could receive up to $6,000, and those in all other divisions could receive up to $4,000 under proposed H.B. 411.
The bill includes a provision that would allow each athlete to establish a separate account where contributions could be made. Anyone, including friends, family and boosters could contribute money to any given athlete, up to a $4,000 cap with the stipend. Rep. Clayton R. Luckie, D-Dayton, introduced H.B. 411 last week. Reps. Alicia Reece, D-Bond Hill, and John Barnes Jr., D-Cleveland, are co-sponsors of the bill. Being a former collegiate athlete, Reece said she believes firmly that this legislation is necessary because student-athletes don’t have enough time to have a job during their season. Reece noted that student-athletes without money coming in from family or friends must often quit their sport to financially support themselves through the school year. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), however, adamantly believes student-athletes should not be paid. “Student-athletes are students first and athletes second. They are not university employees who are paid for their labor,” according to the NCAA’s website. “Many receive athletics grantsin-aid that can be worth more than $100,000.” Supporters of this legislation, such as author Taylor Branch and Sports Illustrated columnist Frank Deford, argue that studentathletes generate billions for their organizations, and it is unjust for them to receive no other compensation than scholarships. The NCAA, however, thinks this argument is unfair to make. “Only about two dozen programs nationally, all of them large Division I programs, actually yield revenues over expenses after the bills are paid,” according to the NCAA’s website.“The remainder rely, to varying degrees, on institutional financial support.” The National College Players Association conducted a study that shows Division I athletes on a full scholarship still suffer a yearly shortfall on expenses. They estimated that student-athletes’ expenses, not paid by scholarship funds, average $2,951 per year, which racks up $14,755 in debt for a four-year program, according to ncpanow.org.
Textbook spending trending down ADA SEWELL | TNR CONTRIBUTOR
BETHANY CIANCIOLO | STAFF REPORTER
FORECAST
TUE
Student-athletes may have opportunity to earn pay
Every student knows the pain brought by the price of textbooks; one study suggests that pain is easing. The amount of money students spend on textbooks each year is decreasing, according to OnCampus Research, a research group dedicated to helping companies better understand the college market. A division of the National Association of College Stores (NACS), OnCampus Research’s nationwide Student Watch study found that students spend an average of $655 each year on textbooks and other course materials, down from $667 two years ago and from $702 four years ago. “This is terrific news for students,” said Julie Traylor, NACS chief of planning and
BY ITS COVER Average money spent on textbooks has gone down by $12 since the 2010-11 academic year and by $47 since the 2009-10 academic year.
research. “The steady decline indicates that the money-saving strategies college stores are implementing to keep required course materials as affordable as possible … are having a positive impact.” The University of Cincinnati bookstores base the available number of used textbooks on sales history and enrollment, said Linda Gindele, district director of the UC Bookstore. “We then purchase as many used books as we can find,” Gindele said. “What we cannot find used — either from students or used-book wholesalers — we purchase as new from the
publisher or distributor.” Specific data for UC bookstores cannot be tracked, but “textbook sales have been relatively flat,” Gindele said. The number of college stores offering textbook rentals jumped from 300 in 2009 to more than 2,500 in 2011, according to
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OnCampus Research. But many books with consumable components — such as workbook pages or access codes — are not rentable. “Rental titles are based on national usage and the point in the text life cycle,” Gindele said. SEE BOOKS | 4