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THE APPALACHIAN TheAppalachianOnline.com

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Interpersonal Violence Task Force sends out campus safety survey by STEPHANIE SANSOUCY

Belk Library awarded books and films with Muslim Journeys grant by STEPHANIE SANSOUCY

Senior News Reporter

hancellor Kenneth Peacock sent an email to faculty, staff and students Wednesday advocating participation in a campus climate survey to help the Interpersonal Violence Task Force. “In an effort to gather additional information and to comply with a resolution agreement between Appalachian and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, the task force is launching a campus climate survey on interpersonal violence,” Peacock said in his email to students. The link to the survey is available until Feb. 20, said Linda Foulsham, director of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Compliance and the Title IX coordinator. “The survey data will be reviewed by the task force and result in recommendations regarding policies, programming and outreach and support to address the needs of our community,” Foulsham said. Sociology professor and member of the Interpersonal Violence Task Force Amy Dellinger Page said the Task Force was created in May of 2012 and began meeting in August 2012. The task force is divided into four sub-committees to work on the survey. The survey also addresses the sexual misconduct policy for the university, which was revised over the sum-

Vol. 87, No. 27

Paul Heckert | The Appalachian

Sophomore appropriate technology major Jacob Gaffigan completes the campus climate safety survey that was sent in an email by Chancellor Peacock on Wednesday morning. Research from the survey will help the Interpersonal Violence Task Force make recommendations to address issues of interpersonal violence.

mer, Page said. The task force will use the data from the survey to put together programming that addresses the university’s sexual misconduct policy, Page said. “We are also looking at our support and outreach and the services we currently have in place for students so we can do a better job of informing students about the resources that are available to them,” Page said. Along with the questions of whether people on campus have knowledge of the university’s policies and what constitutes various forms of sexual misconduct, the task force wants

to “get an idea about rape myth acceptance,” Page said. “We also want to know about bystander intervention attitudes because both of those can then inform what we are doing in terms of programming for our students to help them better understand,” she said. The survey also asks questions about safety. “There is also safety aspect on the survey that talk about are there certain times when you feel unsafe on campus and what are those locations so we can take information and do a better job of making our student feel safer,” Page said.

The survey is anonymous and should be completed honestly in order for the task force to get the best understanding of what is going on and how to make any improvements to the campus, Page said. “Its about 15-20 minutes and it is on violence,” Dean of Students J.J. Brown said. “It’s on relationship violence, sexual assault, some of it’s going to talk about a number of key aspects to drive our interpersonal violence task force.” Brown said after taking the survey students can enter to win prizes such as an iPad, parking pass, gas cards and money on AppCards.

Belk Library and Information Commons has been awarded the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys grant. The grant is $2,500 worth of materials, including books, films and the Oxford Islamic studies database, said librarian Allan Scherlen, who applied for the grant. The purpose of the grant is “to help educate,” Scherlen said. “People hear negative things about Muslim people, some people have prejudices because of extreme views they hear in the news,” Scherlen said. “What we do at universities is to educate people and increase their awareness about cultures and people that they don’t know about.” Part of the stipulation of the grant is to host public events around the materials such as showing films or reading the books with an expert to lead discussion. The library will work in conjunction with the Humanities Council and Muslim Student Association to put the events together, Scherlen said. “We have all these experts in the area as well as in the region who can discuss various aspects of different kinds of Muslim cultures because really we are talking about a wide rang of cultures,”

Scherlen said. “I think there is a growing interest in wanting to have more resources to understand the world around them,” Scherlen said. President of the Muslim Student Association Lena Aloumari said the Muslim Journey’s grant is something that is near and dear to the cause of the club. “We want to increase awareness in the community not just on campus and we have been doing that so far just by hosting events and having discussions,” Aloumari said. Aloumari said the group will help plan film and discussion panels or a student book club and the group will be able to chose what movies and books of which they will take charge. “We have access to all this material and we can do more with it, like take the ball and run with it,” Aloumari said. The fact that they have a variety of resources, that is going to make the difference because not everyone who likes to read likes to watch movies and vice versa said Aloumari. “I think it would be relatable to a lot of people this way,” she said. Aloumari said because the grant is year-long, meaning it will last this semester, summer semester and fall semester, the library is planning on having a book club and book discussions at the public library this summer while students are home.

Appalachian grad lands job in the Lieutenant Gov.’s Office by JOSHUA FARMER News Editor

Kelsey Crum graduated from Appalachian State University last semester and has already landed a high-profile position working in the Lt. Gov.’s office. Crum is the new director of Constituent Services under Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in Raleigh. In her new position, Crum is responsible for fielding concerns from citizens statewide. She directs people to the correct contacts to help them more in-depth with their particular issues. “Simply going to work everyday reminds me of how blessed I am,” Crum said. “Everyday is something new and exciting, from talking to state representatives to learning my way around the capital, and making friends in politics. The biggest first step to success is just showing up. Put yourself out there to be a little vulnerable and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.” While at Appalachian, Crum worked in the area on the Romney presidential campaign and was the chair for the College Republicans on campus. Crum said she met Forest and his Chief-

of-Staff Hal Weatherman when they visited Boone. Weatherman later emailed her thanking her for the work she did on the campaign. “I contacted him back and asked if he had any available internships,” Crum said. “He got back with me and offered to interview me for a position on the staff. That started the interview process. I had several phone and face-to-face interviews before I was hired in early January.” Crum said there was definitely a transition to her new job. “State government is a whole different animal,” she said. Crum said her time at Appalachian helped her learn time management skills and foster an independence and work ethic. “Being involved with the Appalachian College Republicans and learning leadership skills really helped me establish a will to be independent and self-reliant,” Crum said. She expressed gratitude for her political science professors, as well. “Dr. Ehrhardt and Dr. Ardoin were tremendous teachers and mentors for me,” Crum said. “I thank them for pushing me in class and for helping me discuss career options.”

Paul Heckert | The Appalachian

Former College Republicans Chairwoman Kelsey Crum poses for a shot at Mitt Romney's campaign bus desk. Crum is the new director of Constituent Services under Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in Raleigh.

Plemmons Student Union remained open to shelter possible refugees

Paul Heckert | The Appalachian

Appalachian State University’s Plemmons Student Union stayed open until 9 p.m. Wednesday as a shelter refuge for “students, faculty or staff […] unable to safely travel home because of the flood conditions,” according to a email sent out via the ASUInfo system. Student union evening Operations Supervisor Paul Ford said this is a policy the union has in place and that the decision to put the plan into motion was made by administration. In his eight years with Appalachian, Ford

said this is the first time he remembers applying the policy. Ford said the union was only open to those seeking shelter and not for regular operations. Senior health care management major Ashley Rader and senior finance and banking major Sarah McTeague were the only two student employees to stay at the union to help keep it open. “At first we were very alarmed,” Rader said. “But, I think it’s good that [people] have a safe, dry place to go.”

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