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Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505
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Volume 95 | Issue 5 | Free in single copy | October 28, 2011
Committee aims for higher food quality By GERI ANNA WILSON Staff Writer
By WILL HOUSLEY Managing Editor
Tech’s Food Services has established a Food Committee in an effort to help improve the quality of food and students’ overall experiences in oncampus dining. The committee, which is expected to meet once a month, met Oct. 11. The committee consists of students, faculty and staff. Sam Holm, director of Food Services, is head of the committee. The committee focuses on helping the Food Services managers and staff so that they may grasp a better understanding of what students would consider an ideal dining service. Geri Anna Wilson “Help us create the Freshman Chayla Bell orders lunch at Chartwells’ Chef Yan Can Cook. best meal program on A Tech athlete at the Capitol Quad. campus,” Holm said. more frequently. Holm has tried to iniAnother student com- meeting suggested keep“That’s what the commitmented on the efficiency ing Mondo Subs and Back tiate a food committee in tee is about.” Several students of the service at Yan Can Yard Burgers open later the past, but was unsucthan the restaurants at The cessful with the attempts. brought forward issues Cook. “We’ve tried to start it “I like the food there,” Perch. The athlete said during the meeting. Two of the main topics includ- Allen Mullis, graduate stu- that her team usually does off and on, but we never ed the efficiency of Yan dent, said. “I like the qual- not finish practice until af- got any student support,” Can Cook and the opera- ity. I like how they cook it ter Swoops Food Court is Holm said. “Last year was tion hours of Swoops Food right then. It’s fresh; I just closed, and she feels that the first year that we actuthink the ordering process there is nowhere to get ally seemed to get some inCourt. a lighter, healthier meal terest, and this year seems One student said that could improve.” Some of the Food Ser- on campus after certain to be a little stronger so Yan Can Cook has been maybe we’re gaining some out of certain menu items vices staff members who hours. Holm explained that momentum.” several times when she were present at the meetHolm said that, idehas eaten there. She also ing attributed the long The Perch is open later said that the food was of lines in Swoops Food than Swoops Food Court ally, he would like to have poor quality when served. Court to students being because it is more conve- a committee consisting of “That shouldn’t be too selective with their nient for students living 15-25 members. He would the case,” Holm said. “It’s orders. They said that stu- in the residence halls sur- like for the students to fresh and hot. There’s dents who are unprepared rounding it. The original outnumber the staff, but nothing worse than Asian and overly particular intent of The Perch was to have equal representation food that’s soggy and while ordering may cause be open late for the conve- of both on-campus and other students to wait in nience of students living off-campus students. gross.” Holm added that he unnecessary long lines, on campus, Holm said. However, this doesn’t would further investigate and eliminating the probthe matter and would be lem relies on the students hold true for students in See “Food” page 6 Crawford Hall and the visiting Yan Can Cook themselves.
Doctorate not required for Tech presidency By NICK ROLLINS Asst. Managing Editor The Tennessee Board of Regents chose do not require a doctoral degree in order to become the next president at Tech. T B R voted on the criteria for Greppin-Watts Tech’s presidential search during their quarterly board meeting Sept. 23. Among the qualifications for each candidate, the first one listed states that they must have “an earned doctorate from an accredited institution (preferred).” “The earned doctorate is not required, but is preferred, so candidates without a doctorate can apply and be considered,” said Monica Greppin-Watts, communications director of TBR.
The list of qualifications also states that the candidate must have a minimum of five years of successful campus administrative experience. “The search firm working with the Board felt it would help attract a broader and more diverse pool of candidates, including those with proven experience in fields related to or other than higher education,” Greppin-Watts said. “However, the terminal degree will be a very strong preference.” Sophomore Briana Fulton said “I feel like with a doctorate, they have a better understanding of how to do the job and that they would perform at a higher degree.” However, there are current university presidents without a doctorate. One example is James Danko, who became president of Butler University in August 2011. According to an article in the Butler Collegian, Jay Howard, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences at Butler, defended President Danko about earning his new position. “Some faculty will have some degree of suspicions [of a president
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Former Tech Athletics trainer arrested for child pornography
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without a Ph.D.], but I believe that President Danko has the ability to win over their approval,” Howard said. “He realizes it’s his job to inspire and challenge the staff. I think President Danko is capable of doing it.” Prior to his presidency at Butler, Danko lead the business school at Villanova University, where financial giving more than quadrupled while he was there. Because of his success there, Butler chose Danko to help strengthen their fundraising and financial goals. By hiring someone with just a master’s degree, it opens the door to applicants who may not have a doctorate, but do have a strengthened background that could help Tech increase current financial giving. For the presidential search at Tech, TBR has yet to announce a search committee, and it is also unknown how many applicants there are so far. For more information on the presidential search at Tech, as well as the search criteria, visit http://www. tntech.edu/president/search/.
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A former Tech Athletics trainer was arrested on child pornography charges Oct. 21 in Cookeville, according to a Putnam County grand jury indictment. Upton Dabney Jr., 43, of Briarwood Street, was arrested Friday afternoon by Putnam County Sherriff’s Deputy Tory Womack and booked into the Putnam County jail, where bond was set at $10,000. The case was investigated by Cookeville Police Detective Sgt. Yvette Demming. The indictment charges Dabney with sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, both stemming from 2009. According to the indictment, between June 8 and July 14, 2009, Dabney “knowingly possessed over 100 images or
material that includes a minor engaged in sexual activity.” Dabney also allegedly intended to distribute or exchange material that includes a minor engaged in sexual activity. Dabney posted bail the same day of his arrest and he is scheduled to appear in the Putnam County Criminal Court Nov. 15. Dabney Cookeville Police led the investigation in conjunction with Internet Crimes Against Children, a multi-agency unit in which detectives monitor internet sites for evidence of crime against children. Dabney was an athletic trainer at Tech from 2008 to spring 2011. Before that, he was a sports medicine employee at Oregon Tech University. Dabney is a graduate of East High School in Morristown, Tenn., and he earned a degree from Fountainhead College of Technology in Knoxville, Tenn.
Panhellenic announces plans for new sorority next semester By LINDSEY WALLACE Staff Writer The Tennessee Tech Panhellenic Council has decided to bring a new chapter onto campus in the spring of 2012 due to overcrowded sororities. National Panhellenic Council area officer Tricia Barber and Greek Life adviser Katie Williams agreed to open campus for expansion in the spring. Waiting until spring will allow chapters to increase house total and better prepare for the expansion. “This decision will benefit all four chapters on campus to compensate for overcrowding and allow more women to get into the sorority of their choice,” Shelby Reagan, Greek Life graduate assistant said. Expansion will start with all four current sorority chapters agreeing to invite a new chapter to campus, according to Winningham. “Every time, the process is always the same,” Winningham said. From there, outside sororities send their information to the Tech Panhellenic Council explaining how they can make Tech’s campus and Greek Life better. Next, a special expansion committee will be formed by taking two members from each of the sororities— Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Phi Mu— currently on campus. This committee will be in charge of making the final decision of which submission will be the new chapter
on campus. “That way each sorority is equally represented in the decision, but everyone on Panhellenic Council usually gets to meet all the competing sororities,” Reagan said. “We are excited for expansion here at Tennessee Tech,” Laura Horton, Kappa Delta chapter president, said. “It will be interesting learning about a new sorority and seeing how they would fit into our campus. Another Panhellenic sorority will mean more chances for girls going through recruitment to find their places. It may also mean greater participation in philanthropic events and greater good done for Cookeville. “Our chapter is also excited to be able to help the new sorority get involved and bring about positive change for all of our organizations,” Horton said. The most recent organization to come to Tech was Delta Gamma, which established a chapter in 1980. Until now, there was no push to go back to five chapters on campus, according to Winningham. Expansion is different at every campus, it depends on the campus size. According to Winningham, some will expand every two years and some every 31 years. Bigger schools tend to plan in advance which organization joins at which time. Greek Life currently makes up 10 percent of the student body with 383 Panhellenic women. The average chapter includes 95 women.
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