The Appalachian
TheAppalachianOnline.com
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Vol. 86 No. 24
Mountaineer football seniors leave empty-handed by JAKE AMBERG Sports Editor
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ppalachian State’s season came to a stunning end Saturday, as Maine upset the Mountaineers 34-12 – handing ASU its third season-ending playoff loss in four years. With the exception of a few fifth-year seniors who have been on the roster since the last championship in 2007, this is the first Mountaineer graduating class since 2004 that has never played in a national championship. “I hurt for our seniors,” head coach Jerry Moore said. “Many of those guys were a part of our last national championship and we know what it’s like to play in games of this magnitude. This was nothing new for us and we should have handled it.” Though the Mountaineers got close during Armanti Edwards’ senior season in 2009, reaching the semifinal game against Montana, Appalachian has been handily defeated in three of its last
four playoff appearances. Maine was no different, jumping out to an early lead behind a 44-yard pass from senior quarterback Warren Smith to freshman wide receiver Damarr Auttman. “The one thing I was worried about out there was if the earth would crack open and for us to fall in it,” Moore said. “That was about the only thing that didn’t happen.” Among the seniors who just played their final ball games, Appalachian’s biggest hole to fill is the one left by graduating wide receiver Brian Quick. Quick broke DaVone Fowlkes’ record for career receptions in the fourth quarter against Maine and will finish his career with 202 receptions. He’s also the ASU career leader in yards, receptions and touchdowns. Another senior, Travaris Cadet, saw an especially disappointing end to his career as Appalachian was limited to just three rushing yards – the fewest for ASU since
the beginning of the 2004 season, when Northwestern State held the Mountaineers to negative yards rushing. “Today, they wanted it more than us,” Cadet said. “They took advantage of opportunities on the field.” Despite its early playoff exit, Appalachian will enter next season confident in the skills of quarterback Jamal Jackson. Jackson finished Saturday’s game completing 26 of 45 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown and three turnovers. And Coach Moore is confident in the future of the program. “We’ve got a lot of kids coming back,” he said. “We’re going to learn from today and we have a chance to be a pretty good football program.” Junior defensive back Demetrius McCray walks off the field in frustration during the Mountaineers' 34-12 loss to Maine in their home playoff opener.
Adam Jennings | The Appalachian
Services, technology, hours disappear at Belk Library
Budget cuts will reduce access to informational resources by ANNE BUIE Senior News Reporter
Cuts to Belk Library & Information Commons’ overall budget will result in the loss of access to databases and other electronic equipment, University Librarian Mary Reichel said. The library lost 18 to 19 percent of its overall budget, a total loss of $1,942,000 for the 2011-12 academic year, Reichel said. As a result, Reichel said information services reduced its spending on collections for databases and e-books, as well as technology that would have been purchased this year. “I hope students really don’t notice much difference in the tone of the library or the safety they feel when they’re in here, but unfortunately, students can look for continued reduced hours,” Reichel said. “They can expect – maybe not this year, but next year – that they’ll have more frustration because specialized databases that they need are not here.” The loss of these electronic databases will have a negative impact on faculty and graduate students in particular which comes at a “very unfortunate time,” Reichel said – just as the university is growing new research-based programs like sustainable development and nursing. Library administration also expects difficulty in updating technology, including nearly 500 computers and laptops currently available for student use. Last year, almost $200,000 was spent replacing computers, said Ken Johnson, coordinator of learning and research services. This year, the library will only receive a total of $84,000 in education and technology funds. “Within the next year or so, the computers won’t be as fresh and as fast and as high-quality, laptops in particular,”
Erika Barnett | The Appalachian
Senior criminal justice major Alexandria McPherson uses does research on a library laptop. Students should expect a decline in the overall quality of laptops the library provides.
Johnson said. “They don’t have nearly the lifespan as a desktop, so our ability to replace those and keep those good – that will be a compromise we have to make.” Reichel said the library is meeting the need for laptops “adequately,” but knows it will get harder to meet the need as the devices continue to die. Ultimately, Reichel said her top priority was to “protect personnel.” “If you let people go, you lose their years, their experience, their knowledge and their ability to keep services and programs going,” she said. Starting in December, the Library Services Committee will begin creating a process that will allow for student and faculty input about which electronic databases will be cut from the system. The process will involve “serious negotiation,” Reichel said.
Funds for student employment decrease by 26 percent, 10 positions and 18,224 hours lost
Erika Barnett | The Appalachian
Caleb Taylor, a freshman psychology major, searches for a book on the first floor. New library hours may require students to find elsewhere to study after 2 a.m.
by REBECCA GITLEN Intern News Reporter
Belk Library & Information Commons lost ten student positions this year, after reducing budgeted funds for student employees by 26 percent, Associate University Librarian Ann Viles said. The library reduced funds for student temporary employees by $132,124 this year. That’s 18,224 hours for the year, assuming students make $7.25 per hour. And most students do, University Librarian Mary Reichel said. “Students need those hours to paper over the cracks of their financial needs,” said Caleb Son-
neland, a senior English and journalism double major who works in the library’s main stacks. “It’s too bad. It’s hard enough to find a job already.” Reichel said losing ten hours a week of student labor has had two major impacts on the university. “Staff will have to do more responsibilities when they already have a full schedule and students may not have jobs they need in order to fund their education,” she said. Khou Xiong, an employee of the library’s digital media studio, started the semester with 10 hours each week but now only works four. “I work late most nights,” said Xiong, a non-degree
seeking undergraduate. “Then I get some studying done before they start dimming the lights around 1:30 [a.m.]” The digital media studio lost three hours from its Saturday schedule this semester. But the library’s bottom line was ultimately only affected by a loss of eight full-time equivalent positions. The library added the equivalent of two fulltime positions for student employees through the Work-Study program. The program receives federal funding, so it is easier on the library budget to hire Work-Study students.
Deans react to university budget cuts as colleges work to ensure graduation
In the face of recent budget cuts, Appalachian State University has struggled with a multi-million dollar question: how to rein in spending without compromising the quality of education. Budget cuts are distributed throughout various university programs – including the nine colleges that preside over the university’s academic departments. Each college receives a budget that defines the amount of state funds they will have at their disposal throughout the year. And some colleges fare better than others by attracting grants and private donations. For the deans of each college on campus, the results have impacted day-to-day life tremendously.
going into the budget reductions three years ago, but the cuts are taking their toll. “We have lost one third of our funding, forcing us to utilize our resources to the optimum efficiency – pushing operating funds directly out to the departments and faculty and filling classes to the brim,” Calamai said. The primary goal for the college of arts and sciences has been protecting teaching positions, Calamai said. “We’ve scrambled to protect instruction, even discussing Saturday classes and extending class times late into the evenings,” he said. No existing positions have been cut, but hiring freezes have created problems for expanding departments. However, the positions that the University and College earned in response to enrollment growth have been lost. “The sciences are growing very fast, and there is no place to put classes,” Calamai said.
College of Arts and Sciences
University College
Tony Calamai, dean of the college of arts and sciences, said Appalachian was “in good shape”
University College Dean Mike Mayfield said his college has handled cuts by assigning profes-
by MIKE RUTLEDGE Intern News Reporter
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a three-part series exploring perspectives from the deans of Appalachian State University’s nine colleges.
Tony Calamai, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Mike Mayfield, Dean of University College
Glenda Treadaway, Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts
sors to more classes, with higher numbers enrolled in each course. “We grew in enrollment, but had to use that money to cover cuts,” Mayfield said. “We couldn’t hire more teachers and add more classes that were needed.” For University College, making sure students can graduate on time is a top priority. “Higher level courses were hit the hardest, but we worked hard to ensure that the classes students need to graduate are offered,” Mayfield said. Overall, the largest problems have taken place in the nursing
department, Mayfield said. “There are 200 interested nursing students, but we can only accept 40,” he said. “If not for the cuts, we would have added about 55 jobs to alleviate this pressure.”
college worked to keep existing classes and up enrollment, but that it is important for students to graduate in a timely fashion. “There are departments that have seen large growth,” Treadaway said. “With the increase in students, we couldn’t add sections. We just had to up the numbers enrolled.” Currently, the college’s largest needs stem from the department of technology and environmental design, Treadaway said. “It’s the fasting-growing on campus and hosts upwards of 1,000 students,” she said.
College of Fine and Applied Arts Glenda Treadaway, dean of the college of fine and applied arts, cited similar strategies for dealing with the cuts, including protection of existing instructional positions. Treadaway reiterated that her