THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWS ORGANIZATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | WWW.NEWSRECORD.ORG
THE NEWS RECORD
131 years in print Vol. CXXXI Issue XXXxII
THURSDAY | MARCH 3 | 2011
EBB AND FLOW LOSING STREAK
sports | 5
SNAPPED
Natural born musician parts waves in CCM.
spotlight | 2 COLLEGE–CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
Budget cuts may lower admissions SCOTT WINFIELD | Senior Reporter
If next year’s budget cuts increase, the University of Cincinnati’s CollegeConservatory of Music might face recruitment issues and struggle to remain one of the nation’s top performing arts institute. UC’s budget cuts could climb upward of 20 percent, which in turn could mean a restriction on funds available for student recruitment for CCM. Michele Kay, chair of the Department of Theater Design and Production and an associate professor of stage management, and Stirling Shelton, an associate professor in CCM’s Technical Direction program, both voiced their opinions on the coming cutbacks. Kay attributes much of CCM’s production-budget funding to funds acquired through donations and through box office ticket Photo Provided by curt whitacre
MONEY PROBLEMS ABOUND Pending cuts at CCM might affect future recruitment for the renowned performing arts program.
sales, but shows concern for those funds as budget cuts inch closer. “We don’t know how [budget cuts] are going to affect us overall,” Kay said. “The one thing that is kind of nice is that our production budgets are sponsored by donors and our box office pays for our production budgets. So, hopefully that will remain untouched.” Most of CCM’s donations come from endowment offered by the Corbett Foundation. This endowment is then divided evenly among the various departments within CCM, and each recruiter must work within their limits to attract prospects while maintaining a balanced budget. “You get this amount of money, and I might get three or four thousand dollars this year to get four or five students,” Kay said. “Each student might get a thousand bucks, so it’s like here is some book money or here, this might be a meal plan for half a quarter.” The real concern for CCM recruiters is whether or not these incentives will be enough to attract the most talented prospects to CCM as it competes with other leading performing arts institutes around the country. CCM could also aim to retain funds for
recruitment by promoting its strengths and by cutting operations where necessary. “When you’re forced to budget in an earn-income environment, as much as you don’t want to think this way, you have to be colored a little bit in that you think, ‘I need to do shows that are going to put butts in seats,’ ” Shelton said. “We need to do shows that have casts that we have the diversity of talent to fill.” Shelton went on to cite examples of such instances. “Particularly with opera, if we have a whole group of tenors, then we pick operas that have a lot of tenors in them,” Shelton said. “If we don’t have a counter baritone, then we probably don’t do that opera.” Shelton also used metaphor to explain some of the changes CCM may need to make in operations in order to remain efficient. “We’re all going to have to deal with a little less global support for this kind of thing so maybe the floor only gets mopped once a week instead of twice a week,” Shelton said. “Are we OK with that? I think we’re going to have to be. That’s the belt-tightening that we’re going to see.”
PHOTOs BY ELIZABETH Odum | TNR Contributor
SB5 TOWN HALL
Trustee, SG talk transit Jason Hoffman | Senior Reporter
HEARING VOTERS’ VOICES Ohio Sen. Kearney, Rep. Driehaus, Rep. Pillich and Councilman Young stated their opposition to Senate Bill 5, answered questions from the audience and allowed those in attendance to make statements concerning the legislation.
Emergency town hall meeting called at UC “We are very concerned about this at UC,” McNay said. “We think it damages our ervor concerning Ohio ability to maintain this great university. The AAUP was founded on principles of Senate Bill 5 came to the Tangeman University Center’s Great Hall at the academic freedom and shared governance and we think these are under attack by this University of Cincinnati Tuesday as state legislation. These are important things to legislators hosted a town hall meeting to maintain the quality of a university.” discuss the controversial bill. As the oldest and largest chapter of the Many in the audience were firmly AAUP in Ohio, McNay said the AAUP will be against the bill. leading the way in defending those rights. “I was very pleased that the Republicans Although less visible, those who supported called and asked me what’s wrong with the the bill were vocal of their views as well. bill, out of the blue,” said James O’Reilly, a “This needs to be a wakeup call,” said law professor at UC. “What I told them is the Tea Party member John Fitch. “We don’t alternative of not having collective bargaining have enough money, and the government — having individual grievances, having the is spending too much money … we need to potential for strikes, having a lot of conflict uphold constitutional — does not work.” law, know our true Dan Labotz, a former history and principles Socialist congressional and have discussions candidate, sees SB5 as on those instead an aggressive attack. of [SB5].” “We are in a war to In its current form, destroy the American Senate Bill 5 revokes labor movement,” the rights of public Labotz said. “Today —john mcnay employees to strike. there are more public president of UC’S aaup These include members employees in unions chapter of police or fire than there are private department, member sector employees in unions, and that is why the far right, backed by the big corporations of the state highway patrol, sheriff deputies, with billions of dollars, is financing this dispatchers, nurses units, employees of state schools for the blind and deaf, guards at attack on the unions. This is a war … the mental institutions, youth leaders employed big battle is in Wisconsin. We are with at juvenile correctional facilities and Wisconsin.” psychiatric attendants employed at mental President of UC’s AAUP chapter John health facilities. McNay agrees.
Anthony Orozco | NEWS EDITOR
F
We think [Senate Bill 5] damages our ability to maintain this great university.
STUDENTS SPEAK OUT UC students attended the town hall meeting, many of whom where outspokenly against SB5. A 99-page amendment to the bill was revealed Tuesday that would remove the right to strike for all public employees and replace binding arbitration with a system giving a legislative body authority to vote on public contracts. Along with the prohibition the right to collectively bargain with their employers, the SB5 also would limit teachers to bargaining only on their wages. The right to bargain for benefits, the time they work or how many kids are in a classroom would be stricken. Dispute resolution would be ended as well. The town hall meeting was a joint effort between the offices of Sen. Kearney, Rep. Driehaus, Rep. Pillich Rep. Dale Malory and Rep. Alice Reece.
Panel discussion analyses Libya Sean peters | Chief Reporter As tensions begin to rise in Tripoli, Libya.The University of Cincinnati’s history department presented “Revolution and Human Rights in Libya: Intervention or Not?” Wednesday in the Max Kade German Cultural Center. Panelists discussed a broad range of issues relating to the current social upheaval in Libya. Elizabeth Frierson, associate professor of history, spoke first and analyzed the demographic and motivation of the protesters, along with speculating the potential future leaders of a post-Gaddafi Libya. Assistant professor of history Ethan Katz followed with a dissection of Libyan/African affairs paired with American/Libyan foreign relations. Noting the reversal of Libya’s state system due to the “quasi imperialism” of the United Kingdom and United States in Eamon Queeney | PHOTO editor
EVALUATING THE UNREST Mohamed Banoun spoke at a panel discussion on recent Middle East protests hosted in the Max Kade German Cultural Center Wednesday night.
Student Government hosted its weekly proceedings Wednesday, where a new senator was elected and UC trustee Robert E. Richardson Jr. spoke about the possibility of the streetcar in Cincinnati’s future. Richardson, UC alumnus and former SGA president, discussed his reasoning for a rail car connecting uptown and downtown. “Looking at a city like Portland, the return on investment in a rail system is 3-to-1,” Robinson said in response to concerns about funding. The senate will discuss possible SGA involvement in the rail debate next week. Loren Willson, a first-year engineering student, was elected to an at-large senate seat via a majority vote. Willson presented a platform including increased SGA/student interaction via a web application and installation of Red Box video rental machines in Tangeman University Center. SGA President Drew Smith also announced that Homecoming was scheduled for Oct. 15, following the UC football game against Louisville.
the 20th century, Katz hypothesized on the challenges facing Libya in the next few years. Having just returned from Libya in January, speaker Mohamed Banoun gave a firsthand account of the current social atmosphere in Libya. Born and raised in Tripoli, Banoun’s speech offered a personal perspective as opposed to a scholarly view. Banoun lost his uncle, Mahmoud Banoun, to Gaddafi’s regime after speaking out against the government, which had been imprisoning and killing political dissidents. “When I came here in 1973, I knew [Gaddafi] was no good,” Banoun said. “He appointed only the people who agreed with his ideology to government positions.” After Banoun, assistant professor of history Stephen Porter spoke on what Libya may expect next. Porter discussed the diplomatic, economic and military responses Libya should prepare for in the coming months. After exploring the region’s role in establishing international human rights, he asked “How does the Middle East define human rights?” After the panelists spoke, the floor was opened to a Q&A session with the audience.
NEWSRECORDNEWS@GMAIL.COM | 513.556.5908
Eamon Queeney | PHOTO Editor
DRUMMING UP SUPPORT UC Trustee Robert Richardson speaks to SG concerning the streetcar. INSIDE
2 3 4 5
Spotlight Entertainment Classifieds Sports FORECAST
THURSDAY
57° 40°
fri
sat
63°
60°
47°
36°
sun
47° 29°
mon
46° 27°