The Appalachian
TheAppalachianOnline.com
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Vol. 86 No. 06
Say goodbye to 24/5 - Library slashes hours after budget cut by MEGHAN FRICK Associate Editor, Editorial Content
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fter a $1.5 million cut to its budget, Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons is no longer open 24/5. Library hours have also been reduced by two hours Friday and four hours Saturday. According to calculations supplied by University Librarian Mary Reichel, the library will save $69,360 per academic year by reducing its hours. The 24/5 hours were a result of legislation passed under the Meisner-Armstrong Student Government Association (SGA) administration. The hours began in the fall of 2009 and continued throughout the 2010-11 academic year. “Once we figured out that we could in fact
keep the building open 24/5, I loved the idea and worked as hard as I could to make sure it happened,” Reichel said. “So I hate to roll it back, but I also hate getting a budget cut of that magnitude.” Ken W. Johnson, coordinator of learning and research services, worked with former SGA president Peter A. Rowe, then director of academic affairs, when the 24/5 hours were first being discussed. “We went through a transition at first where we were open for midterms and finals 24/5,” Johnson said. “Then we were finally able to secure funding at the university level for 24/5.” From the beginning of the extension in hours, there was a disconnect between use and availability. The average head count after 1 a.m. was about 54 students, according to data supplied
by Reichel. That meant paying four security guards, as well as utility costs for around 140,000 square feet of the building, for a fraction of the student body. “It’s a real squeeze whether that’s worth it or not,” Reichel said. The library atrium will be open 24/5 throughout the year, but Reichel said it will not accommodate as many as 54-student average, Reichel said. As part of the reduction, students will also lose 24/5 hours during exams and midterms. SGA is attempting to work with the library and restore the 24/5 hours during exams, said Kyle L. Schermbeck, SGA chief of staff. “Obviously, those two weeks are the most trafficked times in the library,” Schermbeck said. “We’re going to push for that to start with, and hopefully they’ll see the benefits and we’ll be able to find funding to support
that.” SGA Vice President Mattie L. Hardin, along with Director of Academic Affairs Alex G. McPherson, met last week with Johnson, Reichel and Associate University Librarian Ann A. Viles. “The library is very open to suggestions and student opinions and have been great to work with,” Hardin said. “They are just as disappointed about the hours that were cut as we are.” Reichel said one option to restore 24/5 during exam periods may be to use the funds currently keeping the atrium open 24/5. She also said she is unsure about whether the 24/5 exam hours will return. “We had the meeting, and Ken [ Johnson] and I said we would indeed work on that,” she said. “Whether or not that can happen, I’m not quite sure.”
Obama aims jobs bill speech at college students App hosts
McDougall
by BRANDI CROSMER Senior News Reporter
President Barack Obama gave a speech at North Carolina State University (NCSU) yesterday to promote the his proposed American Jobs Act. Ten thousand people, most of them students at NCSU, filled Reynolds Coliseum to see the president. “I’m in HR, so I’m really interested to see how he’ll improve the jobs and how temporary it’ll be. I also want to hear if he’s gonna talk about the economy and what the job market will be for college graduates,” Dianne Sexton, a senior human resources and international studies major at NCSU, said before the speech. College graduates were just what the president focused on. Beginning with the joke, “I just hope none of the students here are skipping class,” Obama went on to explain the American Jobs Act and how he believed it would help college students. “The public is looking to see that the Obama administration is taking care of the economic crisis,” said Adam J. Newmark, Appalachian State University political science professor. “The only options are cutting spending and cutting taxes.” Obama chose to cut taxes, which Mike J. McKee, Appalachian economics professor, said he was counter-productive because “they’re already sitting on cash.” McKee said that he hadn’t looked at the numbers yet, but he saw this bill as being ineffective because no one is spending money, giving manufacturers little incentive to make products, which is the reason no one is being hired right now. “Instead of cutting taxes, [the president should] raise taxes and put that back into the public sector,” McKee said. Obama said the primary focus of this act would be to give tax cuts to small businesses, which would hopefully create more jobs and give a tax break to the middle class. “When we’re creating jobs for the middle class, we’re creating jobs for students graduating,” Obama said. “We’re gonna give young people a chance.” Obama said was not trying to pass the bill in order to secure a win for the 2012 presidential campaign, but to secure a win for students and the American people. “We’ll make sure we live within our means,” Obama promised. “We know what we need to do to create jobs.” After the election, students spoke about Obama coming to NCSU and about the jobs bill. “I like his support of the young people and his enthusiasm to make the future better,” said Jenna Wadsworth, senior political science and women and gender studies major at NCSU. “I’d love to see people put back to work.” “A lot of it makes sense to me and it seems a lot like a well balanced approach,” said Erik Fessler, junior business administration major at NCSU. Some students were not as enthusiastic about the bill, though. “With what’s going on, we just don’t know,” said Stephen Kinane, senior forest management major at NCSU.
by HANK SHELL News Editor
Alex Sanchez | Technician (N.C. State University)
President Barack Obama visited the N.C. State University campus yesterday to promote the American Jobs Act. His proposed plan is to cut taxes for small businesses that aims to create more jobs and give a tax break to the middle class.
Grant provides opportunities for students with diverse abilities by BRANDI CROSMER Senior News Reporter
Appalachian State University introduced the Students with Diverse Abilities Program (SDAP) this semester after receiving a Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) grant in May. The program will offer a full college experience to non-degree-seeking students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. It was initiated by Hubbard Center Interim Director Kate T. Brinko, Appalachian music professor Cathy H. McKinney, Assistant Special Education Director Sharon M. Richter and Associate Professor of health, leisure and exercise science Mandy B. Harrison. “Each student that will come in will have their own plan of learning, so depending on what their career interests are, they will take courses leading up to that,” said Melody B. Schwantes, SDAP program director. The two-year program will allow students with diverse abilities
to take college classes, have individualized instruction, participate in recreational and extracurricular activities and volunteer with fellow students. The goal is to have 0.01 percent of Appalachian’s population, or 16 students, participating in the program by 2015, Schwantes said. Currently there is only one student in the program: Courtney L. Bell. “Courtney is interested in hospitality, so she’s taking Appalachian Music so she could work at the Jones House or the Cone Manor House. She is also taking CPR and lifeguarding because she’s interested in working at a pool and she’s taking the firstyear seminar so she’s plugged in that way,” Schwantes said. “My favorite class is Appalachian Music,” Bell said. “I like the songs.” To help Bell with her transition to the college experience, music therapy and special education majors volunteer as “Appvocates” or “natural support.” Each Appvocate spends one hour per week with Bell, helping her with homework or recreation.
Carlyn E. Waller, a senior music therapy major, attends Appalachian Music class with Bell once a week, helping her with notetaking and modeling classroom behavior. They also eat lunch together on Mondays. “It’s a really big deal for her. It’s just little things like getting her lunch and paying for it with her AppCard. You can tell that she feels excited about having all these responsibilities,” Waller said. Mollie E. Woodell, a senior music therapy major, spends her hour with Bell at the pool in the Student Recreation Center. “We go to the pool, we hang out. It’s kind of like two friends hanging out,” Woodell said. Woodell said the main goal of the program is for Bell and future program participants to have the full college experience, gain independence and have opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available. “It’s a really neat opportunity because I think so often there are all these boundaries and limitations, so this is just opening new doors and opportunities for her
Brandi Crosmer | The Appalachian
Courtney L. Bell is a member of the Students with Diverse Abilities Program. The program allows for members to take classes and participate in the collegiate lifestyle.
life” Woodell said. SDAP will attend Appalachian’s fall open house Sept. 17 to recruit participants for next year’s program.
Author Christopher McDougall will speak today as part of the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series and the Summer Reading Program. The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of Plemmons Student Union and kicks off the fall 2011 series. “I think it really just helps to see these people in person and realize they’re not just books on a shelf, you know,” said Susan C. Weinberg, associate professor of English and member of the committee that organizes the series. “They’re people who brought themselves to that point, and they’re very willing to talk about how they got there.” McDougall will also speak at convocation. His book “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” was Appalachian State University’s 2011 summer reading book. In the book, McDougall seeks an answer to the question, “Why does my foot hurt?” While searching for that answer, McDougall meets a number of ultra marathoners, including an elusive Mexican tribe called the Tarahumara, and finds compelling research that challenges his ideas about running. “To me, what this was, was an adventure story about running,” McDougall said. “I think running is the adventure that made our species possible.” Through a combination of storytelling and research, McDougall articulates that humans were made to run, many have just forgotten how. “What I think it all boils down to is that the Tarahumara are living something that the rest of us have forgotten, and what they’re living is this idea that fish are swimmers, birds are flyers – humans are runners, and any other animal that you remove from its true nature, it’s going to start to suffer, and that’s it,” he said. “We’ve forgotten that we are naturally runners and we are paying the price for forgetting that.” McDougall has written for Men’s Health and The New York Times Magazine, and has reported for the Associated Press. He previously discussed his book on The Daily Show and the academic conference website TED.com. The visiting writers series brings five writers to Appalachian each semester. Though the series was largely funded by an endowment from Frank, it is also partially funded by the university. Weinberg said that with current budget cuts, the future of next year’s series is uncertain. “I don’t really know what’s going to happen but, you know, for now we’re just determined to make this year as great as we can,” she said. Weinberg said any students interested in joining the series committee should contact her at weinbergsc@appstate.edu . Poet Jeff Daniel Marion, the next speaker in the series, will hold two talks Sept. 22. For more information, visit visitingwriters.appstate.edu.