A&E 22
Campus Pulse 13
Sports 26
Party-geddon
Trinity Holiday Traditions
Sports on the Screen
Writer Paul Cuclis instructs us how to rage like it’s the end of the world, literally.
Hit up Oakmont, drink hot cocoa and learn about the history behind Vespers.
Aly Mithani gives readers a heads up about the best sporting events to tune into over winter break.
Trinitonian Holiday Guide Pages 14-18
theTrinitonian Volume 110, Issue 14
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Serving Trinity University Since 1902
Winter break extends seven days longer than last year Every fifth year, academic schedule and calendar year sync to create a super holiday break
by Carlos Anchondo NEWS REPORTER This winter break, Trinity students have seven more days than the previous year. For 2012-13, the last day of fall finals is Thursday, Dec. 13, and the first day of spring classes is Wednesday, Jan. 16. In 2011-12, the very last day of finals was Dec. 15 and classes resumed Jan. 11. This change gives students and faculty an additional week to relax. According to Fred Rodriguez, registrar, the
calendar for each academic year cycles alongside the annual calendar to create a comparable number of meeting days for classes each semester. Rodriguez says that slight variations can be expected from year to year. The earliest starting date for the spring semester has been Jan. 10, which occurred in 2007. “The academic calendar is based on a formula developed by an ad hoc committee of faculty and staff some 10 years ago. We’ve used the formula quite consistently since then. It enables Trinity to develop long-range calendars for planning purposes, which can be very useful,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez points out that the number of days for the 2012-13 break is identical to
the break of 2007-08 and will be the same length in 2017-18. Every five years, the number of days between semesters is the same. This year, students have 33 days off from coursework, up from 26 last year. Duane Coltharp, associate vice president for faculty recruitment and development, seconds Rodriguez’s thoughts and says that the first day of spring classes follows a “fairly predictable pattern.” “I doubt that this sort of fluctuation has any concrete effect on students or faculty members,” Coltharp said. Rodriguez believes that this break, although slightly longer than last year’s, will be beneficial to students. “Hopefully, they’ll get lots of rest, use their time
University Volunteer Action Community, Trinity Diversity Connection and the Student Programming Board. The rest of the funds were made available to other student organizations via funding requests. The biggest funding request approved for the fall semester was to recreational sports for $87,500 and the smallest funding request was to the Korean Student Association for $100 for their “Peppero Day.” As of Nov. 19, $35,391.53 remains for fall funding requests. This amount will roll over into the spring if unused.
and identified the categories that distinguish student groups from one another. “There are four broad categories that we split funding into: programming, operational funds, travel and physical resources,” Moore said. “Whether or not you receive that tier of funding depends on what type of organization you are. [The Big Six] are university sponsored, and they are essentially set above the rest. Then we have registered groups, and that’s everything else that’s an organization.” Aside from considering the type of organization that is applying for funding, ASR has a broad set of loose requirements that are also necessary for funding request approval. “[In order to receive funding] the event needs to benefit the whole student body,” said Sean Solis, vice president of ASR. “Usually, you can tell if a group has done advertising to market the event to everyone if all students can go without having much of a problem or without thinking that they can’t attend.” Controversy According to Moore, three of the recent funding proposals, as well as an issue concerning the Honor Council have led to discrepancies and discussion within the senate. Moore himself issued three separate presidential vetoes regarding the funding of diversity and
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NOVEMBER 30, 2012
“All of the lights”
photo by Anh-Viet Dinh On Saturday, Nov. 17 in Laurie Auditorium, students celebrated the Hindi festival Diwali through dance. Here, seniors Asavari Jalan, Preksha Vankawala, Raza Faizi, and Lizna Makhani pose after finishing their senior piece, which they also choreographed. The festival, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a five day event that celebrates the triumph of good over evil.
ASR ends semester with big changes, challenges Year review recounts controversy, internal affairs and funding in student government Faith Ozer NEWS REPORTER After starting the year with new leadership and an expanded budget, the Association of Student Representatives is working on reforming elections, overhauling the student constitution, confronting areas of student concern and dealing with recent funding challenges. Here’s a recap of the fall semester, with a preview of what is to come in the spring. Funding According to ASR’s online budgeting record, available through the university website, an increase in the student activity fee from $90 to $150 resulted in a larger operating budget for the governing body, so that ASR began the school year with $683,770.90 in their account with $341,885.45 available per semester. At the beginning of the year, ASR allocated about $500,000 of the initial budget to chartered organizations— campus publications, Greek Council, Student Ambassadors, recreational sports, Trinity
“[In order to receive funding] the event needs to benefit the whole student body. Usually, you can tell if a group has done advertising to market the event to everyone...” Sean Solis
Vice President Association of Student Representatives Joe Moore, president of ASR, described the funding process
social issues on campus. This is important to note as last year’s president, Logan Walsh, never used his veto power.
“ASR presidents in the past have been more concerned about not offending the senators so they have not really controlled conversation that much, whereas Joe Moore is controlling the heck out of the conversation. ”
David Tuttle Dean of Students and ASR Adviser The first controversy surrounded the Oct. 29 meeting, where Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity on campus, requested funding to send three non-voting executive members to a national conference. This request generated Moore’s first presidential veto. “My only qualm was that APO goes to three leadership conferences a year outside of the Trinity ones. The national one deals a lot with membership orientation and what it is to be an APO member, not to be a
Trinity student, but what it is to be in APO,” Moore said. “The regional and local do the same thing. If we are paying for a local and a regional conference and they are going to ask us for those funds, then why should we pay for a national? At that point we are paying too much.” Moore’s veto was eventually overturned by the senate, a process allowed in the ASR constitution with a two-thirds vote, and APO received $2,112 of the requested $5,434 to fund the national leadership conference. One of the main arguments for funding the organization was the size of APO related to its campus impact. In response, Moore expressed concern over using the size of an organization as a criteria for funding, arguing that it could lead to a decreased presence of smaller organizations on campus. The second controversy of the year arose when the Black Student Union requested funding for executive members to attend the Southwestern Black Student Union Conference in College Station. This issue raised questions pertaining to promoting diversity on campus. “I can tell you ASRs from the past have been concerned with the student issue of diversity, and now we have more of it,” said David Tuttle, dean of students and adviser to ASR. “So, now the
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