SEEING DOUBLE | THE SECRET LIVES OF TWINS ON CAMPUS | SCENE, PAGE 10
STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 VOLUME 128, NO. 63
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2007
Committee presents heightened security recommendations to senators, administrators BY SAM GUZIK ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR Immediately after the assault of a student on campus this past February, the Chancellor formed a committee to review the University’s safety and security policies. The committee, consisting of students, staff, members of the Residential Life Advisory Board and the police department, presented its results to the Student Union Senate on Wednesday night. “What we’re trying to do is balance everyone’s interests by having an open campus while still meeting concerns about safety,” said Executive Vice Chancellor John Kline and the leader of the work group. “That balance will reduce the number of incidents...and make people safer.”
The Chancellor’s work group reviewed a number of initiatives ranging from preventative education to the installation of closed circuit video cameras (CCTV) in residence hall entrances. These changes will apply to University housing both on and off campus and are on track to be implemented by next fall. “The chancellor embraced the recommendations and said ‘Yes, move forward,’” said Don Strom, chief of University Police. One of the most notable changes on campus will be the installation of card locks and automatic closing doors in the old dorms. “Card locks are more convenient for the students and this is something that lots of schools are doing,” said Tim Lempfert, assistant director of
Residential Life. “There’s a value for the students that comes from the fact that cards are easier to replace when lost, and there is added security because cards cannot be copied.” The combination of card locks and doors that close automatically is meant to cut down on students who leave their doors unlocked even as they leave their rooms. The installation of these new locks represents the acceleration of a five-year plan that had been in place to transition from traditional, key locks to card locks. The installation of CCTV in residence hall entrances also represents an accelerated version of a previous plan. Originally, CCTV was to be installed on a pilot basis. The committee chose to recommend the installation of
CCTV cameras rather than suggesting that security guards be placed in the entranceway of dorms, as some other institutions have done. “Putting security staff at the entrances to buildings seems to create a lockdown environment. During meetings with students, the committee found that students were not favorable to that type of plan,” stated Rob Wild, assistant to the chancellor. Importantly, the initiatives suggested by the work group also focused on additional preventative education. “We’ve already tired to have some basic education by using the RAs to go over basic safety, but we feel that we could do more about education throughout the year,” said Lempfert. “All the new hardware will only
See SECURITY, page 3
NEW SECURITY MEASURES 1) CCTV cameras to be installed at dorm entrances 2) Swipe Card Locks to be installed on all dorm doors 3) WUPD trying to establish Rape Aggression Defense Program course 4) Additional preventive education through ResLife, focusing on basic safety
SU Treasury runs out of cash
PUTTING THE SPARK INTO ON CAMPUS ROMANCE
BY SARA RAJARAM STAFF REPORTER
LIONEL SOBEHART | STUDENT LIFE
David Wygant, the inspiration for the movie Hitch, spoke at Lauderman Hall Thursday night. Students enganged in role playing to demonstrate the right and wrong moves to make when picking up that special someone.
Medical school enrollment increases at universities across the nation v WU School of Medicine remains steady BY PUNEET KOLLIPARA STAFF REPORTER Although an annual survey of American medical schools conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges indicates that fi rst-year national medical school enrollments will increase 17 percent by 2012, Washington University’s School of Medicine does not currently have the capacity to expand its enrollment. In a press release on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Web site, AAMC President Darrell Kirch said that the major reason for the expansion is the need for increased physician manpower to accommodate an increasing
United States population. “The need for more doctors is real and will become more urgent as our population grows and ages,” he said. “This increase is a significant step in the right direction, and we are pleased that 71 U.S. medical schools plan to expand their class sizes over the next five years. But clearly, we must fi nd additional ways to stimulate more growth in medical school capacity so that we have enough doctors to care for our nation in the coming decades.” According to the survey, the future predicted enrollment was compared to enrollment in the 2002-2003 school year. That year, fi rst-year enrollment totaled 16,448 students. By
Men’s basketball takes third in D-III Senior sports editor Andrei Berman chronicles the Bears’ final four run that finished off an epic season. Sports, Page 4
2012, with the expansions implemented, fi rst-year national medical school enrollment is projected to reach about 19,000 students. According to W. Edwin Dodson, associate dean for Medical School Admissions and Continuing Medical Education, the School of Medicine’s applicant pool size has generally fluctuated in eight- to 10-year cycles. In 1996, applicants peaked at 7,014, but according to admissions data from the School of Medicine, in recent years there have been about 4,000 applicants per year, with 4,064 applicants in 2006. Even with the increasing and aging U.S. population, the School of Medicine has kept its
entering class size constant at approximately 120 since the mid 1970s. According to Dodson, 99 percent of entering students will eventually graduate. “Once someone is accepted, the medical school is extremely supportive and tries to provide whatever [the students] need to fi nish,” said Dodson. Additionally, graduates get into some of the most competitive residency programs in the country, including programs affi liated with the University of California-San Francisco, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Harvard University. A significant number of
See MED SCHOOL, page 3
One last slice of pizza pie Our Stepping Out team of Matt and Ryan bid adieu to their column. What restaurant do they honor with their final review? Scene, Page 8
For the remainder of the semester, student groups will no longer be able to appeal for Student Union treasury funds. Treasury doled out the last of its funds at Tuesday’s meeting, leaving some student groups disgruntled over aspects of the appeals process. “If they adhered more strictly to the rules, they would have more money now. There is a tendency of a lot of people in treasury to give additional funds to student groups just because they asked for it,” said junior Olawale Hassan, a former Student Union treasury member and the current treasurer of the African Students Association (ASA). The ASA received the final $705.27 of funds out of the requested $1,260 to bring in the speaker Nwando Achebe, professor on gender studies in Africa. According to Hassan, the treasury strayed from the rules on Tuesday and on other occasions when it has approved student groups for funds who have not sufficiently fundraised on their own. Treasury policy mandates that groups must fundraise approximately 35 percent of the money necessary to conduct events or activities. Treasury cannot compensate groups for the money they fail to fundraise. On Tuesday, debate over
whether to fund the Washington University Political Review (WUPR) to publish its eighth issue of the semester focused on the publication’s inability to meet this requirement. SU had already allocated enough funds for WUPR to publish seven of its eight issues for this semester. Excess funding at this point is considered a violation of the fundraising percentage rule. Representatives of WUPR cited that it has not been able to generate its own funds because businesses are generally unwilling to advertise in a magazine that is relatively new and contains political content. “We do want to support WUPR because they are a publication that can’t fundraise $10,000 like other groups can. But at the same time, we did require them to fundraise some part on their own,” said SU Treasurer Jason Lewis, a senior. Out of the $4,000 of remaining revenue that Treasury gave out on Tuesday, the elected body granted the publication $1,449 out of the requested $4,347.69. “What’s the point of having a fundraising percentage if Treasury is going to give them the money anyway?” said Hassan. “Treasury needs to be bit more strict.” Senior Ashley Smith, presi-
See TREASURY, page 2
LUCY MOORE | STUDENT LIFE
Student Union Treasury members debate on how to address the current funding crisis during the meeting on Tuesday in Simon Hall.
INSIDE: Forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sudoku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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