Meghan Berneking 
News Editor
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Senate undergoes constitution review
By Sarah Wieten
Campus News Editor
In attempts to define its role more accurately and keep the document up to date, Student Governement Association’s Senate is reviewing its constitution.
The constitution revies occurs every three years with the last review in 2006-07.
This most recent article-by-article review has been undertaken by the Senate as a full body led by the Association Affairs Committee rather than only by the Association Affairs Committee.
“It’s a very difficult process to make as many people as possible happy,” said junior Neil Heckman, chair of the Association Affairs committee.
“Each word matters because these are the bare essentials of SGA,” he said.
The changes the senators are making largely have to do with keeping the constitution up to date with the titles of the people and positions involved with their day to day business and editing the document for consistency.
However, the constitutional review also provides a time for Senate to reflect upon its relationship with clubs, student working groups and Student Activities Council and to alter those relationships if necessary.
Specific changes include an alteration to article four which changes the goals of Senate from “projects” to “initiatives,” meant to encourage more long lasting structural changes to the university and fewer wasteful projects.
“Initiatives have long term implications for the university as opposed to flashy obvious projects that have no substance,” junior Chris Hale, senate coordinator said.
Other changes include the mandate of a yearly club charter renewal regardless of leadership changes in the club as well as clarification regarding who may be a club advisor.
The review was made more difficult by senators who seemingly had not read the articles that were to be discussed, but Heckman was hopeful about the group’s participation.
“The majority of people are reading and the people I didn’t expect to read are contributing,” Heckman said.
The constitution review is to be completed and the new constitution approved by Monday, Nov. 23.
This work is not only important in terms of its impact on Xavier’s campus but its impact on other campuses as well.
“Last year we reviewed the elections code and we used examples from other schools across the nation.
“Similarly, other schools will look to this constitution to provide an example,” said Heckman.
“I think we are slowly learning actually how to try to make the school better through our discussion, but it’s taking awhile,” senior senator James McShane said.
“No one currently on the board was a part of the previous review, so we have had some struggles learning how to do this work, but we are getting there,” he said.
To see the 2006-2007 revised constitution, the pdf file can be found on the SGA website.
‘Grants for Grads’ aims to ease Ohio’s brain drain
By John Schroeck
Staff Writer
Xavier graduates who earned a high school diploma in Ohio may want to think twice before moving out of state.
An incentive designed to keep college graduates in Ohio will provide grants to college graduates to go toward the purchase of a house.
On Oct. 19, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) stated the official stipulations of the “Grants for Grads” program.
Under the “Grants for Grads” incentive program, Ohio residents who have recently received an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or other postgraduate degree can receive financial assistance in purchasing a house.
This assistance would cover 2.5 percent of the purchase price of the home.
Signed into law by Gov. Ted Strickland in July 2009, this program aims to halt the “brain drain” problem that has been affecting Ohio.
Keeping qualified individuals in Ohio will bolster the future of the state as a whole.
“By offering the program, we can better position the state to meet the needs of future graduates as they make plans to build their personal and professional lives in Ohio after college,” Strickland said.
“Retaining educated and qualified graduates will also help to attract new jobs and prevent others from leaving the state,” he said.
“If a college graduate has a job offer in Ohio and one in North Carolina, that young person is going to weigh the salary, perhaps the taxes and the cost of housing.
“If we can say that you’ll receive $5,000 if you stay in Ohio, that might be enough incentive to keep those people at home,” State Sen. Stephen Buehrer (R-Delta), the original sponsor of the “Grants for Grads” bill, said.
Ohio loses more than 5,800 bachelor’s degree holders and nearly 2,900 graduate degree holders annually.
If this program is successful, there could be a decline in those numbers.
States such as Louisiana have adopted similar programs in hopes of keeping qualified individuals in state.
Graduates have an 18-month period after earning a degree to apply for the program.
Individuals partaking in this program who stay in Ohio for at least five years hold no obligation to pay back the money loaned.
Homebuyers who do decide to move out of state are required to pay back a portion of the loan at a zero percent interest rate.
Those interested in applying can find more information at ohiohome.org.
Class withdrawal carries various consequences
May boost GPA, hurt financial aid
By Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Cheif
Photo courtesy of Xavier.edu
Dr. Jim Snodgrass.
Students facing failing grades can withdraw from classes with fewer long-term consequences compared with the consequences of a low GPA due to ‘D’s and ‘F’s.
Xavier’s policy allows students to withdraw from classes until Nov. 23 for the Fall 2009 semester.
They must receive an advisor’s signature to drop a class.
“The decision to withdrawal should be made as a joint decision. Students should talk with their parents, professors and advisors before deciding to withdraw from a class,” Doris Jackson, director of Academic Advising said.
Students should find out if it is possible to move their grade up to a C or B before they withdraw, she said.
There are many legitimate reasons to withdraw from a class including personal circumstances, medical conditions, or a change in majors, said Dr. Jim Snodgrass, associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Withdrawing from classes does not usually have a negative impact on student’s transcript and admissions into graduate school or employment.
Although some programs, including Teach for America, may ask about class withdrawal on applications or in interviews, this is atypical, said Director of Career Services Jen Franchak.
“Employers and graduate schools generally request transcripts to verify grades, coursework, dates of attendance, and degree/certification awarded,” Franchak said.
“Rarely do they want to assess your documents as closely to review the dropped course notations,” she said.
“Withdrawal from classes in and of itself does not have negative effects on one’s admission to graduate school,” said Roger Bosse, director of the Office of Graduate Services.
“Earning grades of ‘D’ or ‘F’ in undergraduate courses can have a definite negative effect on one’s graduate school options due to the fact that such grades have an immediate and long-term impact on a student’s grade point average,” he said.
Withdrawing from classes may have negative consequences—specifically regarding a student’s financial aid package.
Students need to complete a certain number of credit hours to maintain their financial aid packages.
For example, to receive federal financial aid, students must complete 2/3 of the credit hours attempted in an academic year.
On the other hand, Snodgrass said others may need to drop a class to maintain a GPA necessary for a scholarship.
Jackson said students must also consider if a withdrawn class is a prerequisite for other courses and make a plan for when to take the dropped class, so he or she can take subsequent classes.
The two departments with the most commonly dropped classes in the College of Arts and Sciences in Spring 2009 were the Mathematics Department with 137 drops and the English Department with 74 drops.
H1N1 vaccine due at Xavier, clinics around Cincinnati
By Mike Glynn
Staff Writer
The H1N1 virus has started to make a comeback around campus.
“Emergency Response Team is prepared to respond in the event of another outbreak and reopen the recovery center,” said the H1N1 update online.
The last known number of cases was 175 at Xavier. Miami University and Northern Kentucky University have both stopped reporting cases. Miami was last reported as having 280 cases while Northern Kentucky saw 32.
The new vaccine should assist in the fight against the virus.
A clinic will occur 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 19 on the concourse of Cintas Center in order to administer the vaccine to students under 24 years-old only. This date may be postponed depending on when the university receives its vaccine supply. The vaccine is free, and all students are required to present a valid All Card.
The Cincinnati Health Department will be offering vaccine clinics the rest of this week at various health center locations for high priority groups. Adults under the age of 24 are considered “high priority.”
Ohio University received the vaccine on Nov. 1 while Cincinnati University’s first vaccination session occurred on Oct 21.
Miami University and Northern Kentucky do not have scheduled times posted.
Campus constuction forums
By Amy Windhorst
Features Editor
Newswire photo by Amy Windhorst
Students attend the first of three Campus Construction Forums regarding the planning of new residence halls.
On Monday, Nov. 2, the Student Government Association, along with university administration, hosted the first of three student forums to discuss plans for the newest residence hall at Xavier.
Led by Associate Vice President of Facilities Management Bob Sheeran, the sessions are aimed to get feedback from students concerning the preliminary drawings and floor plans of the new space. The next sessions will take place on Tuesday Nov. 10 at 2:30 p.m. and Wednesday Nov. 11 at 4 p.m.
The images and plans shown to students on Monday had already been changed slightly since the presentation was prepared, said Sheeran. They featured a four-tower residential plaza accompanied by a new dining space that would replace the current dining center in Cintas Center.
The plans also include a 4,000 square foot retail area, which could incorporate a convenience store and alternative dining depending on who buys the space. The construction is set for completion in 2011.
Already determined was a suite-style layout, including four-, six-, and eight-person suites. Ideally, the new residence halls would be used alongside Buenger hall to host second-year students, while the more “traditional” residence halls of Brockman, Kuhlman and Husman would house freshman. According to the residence hall’s current layout, 522 student beds will be added to campus.
The construction will take place on the space currently occupied by the Dorothy Day House, the Loyola House and the C-5 parking lot. After the construction is complete, half of Cleneay Ave. and Ledgewood Ave. will be closed to traffic and incorporated into campus.
Students at the forum expressed concerns about issues both within and outside of the construction. One topic of conversation was parking, which Sheeran felt would not be a problem.
“We don’t have a parking problem—we have a problem of convenience,” Sheeran said. He reported that there are nearly 2,000 unused spots currently on campus, and that more parking would be created with the business school and the Learning Commons.
Other central issues discussed in the forum included security, the lack of central RA offices at residence hall entrances, the lack of full kitchens in the building, and the need for both quiet study spaces as well as recreational areas. Students also raised the question of being able to personalize residence hall spaces, perhaps with wall paints or student art.
For now, the project is moving quickly. “We show the board [of trustees] again in December, and then again in February,” Sheeran said. The team hopes to break ground in Feb. 2010.
Senate project updates
By Sarah Wieten
Campus News Editor
Senators both new and experienced are addressing student concerns on campus.
Freshman senator Brock McMorran is looking into reviewing the university’s smoking policy in light of student complaints.
“We have been getting a lot of complaints through the MyXU portal from the students in Kuhlman Hall saying they cannot open their windows for ventilation because of the volume of smoke rising up from the smokers below. We just want to tentatively look into that, policy-wise, and see what can be done to make that situation better for everyone,” McMorran said.
Freshman senator Victoria Massey is hoping to work with the Department of Residence Life to allow sophomores the option of moving off campus.
She hopes this will lessen pressure on the university’s residence hall system until the new residence hall is completed.
Freshman senators Jimmy Geiser and Andrea Goodrich are working together on their projects related to food service and sustainablity. “We inherited the Hoff marketplace project from [senator] Kevin Contrara because he moved off-campus and doesn’t have a meal plan anymore. It just made sense that we should work on this because we are the ones it impacts,” Geiser said.
They plan to implement some kind of ticket system to shorten the line at the sandwich station and increase marketing efforts regarding the marketplace’s green initiatives such as cutting down on styrofoam use and encouraging the use of the new reusable to-go containers.They also plan to work together on campus wide sustainability efforts.
Upperclassmen projects include senior James McShane and sophmore Liza Magley’s work on creating a set of guidelines for Xavier student behavior off campus in an effort to smooth the university’s relationship with the city of Norwood, junior Daniel Francis’s sustainability efforts in setting up paperless end-of-course evaluations and sophomore Ryan Alleman’s work exploring Xavier’s archives to learn about the history of Xavier’s SGA in hopes of creating a group seal.
New navy blue ‘X-shirt’ unveiled
By Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
In recent years, the outline of the Xavier student section has looked like a veritable rainbow: tie-dyes, light blues, grays, whites—even reds.
A committee of nine students, headed by X-Treme Fans and the Student Government Association, has aimed to change that this year by reverting back to a navy blue “X-Shirt”—the official fan t-shirt of Xavier Nation. The front of the shirt portrays the words “Xavier Nation” in block letters, with the words split by a sword.
“We had always wanted to come back to putting Xavier Nation on the front because people seemed to like it when we have done that in the past,” Tim Conroy, president of X-Treme Fans and SGA legislative vice president said.
The back of the shirt—designed by the Xavier Alumni Center—portrays an ‘X’ with images from Xavier basketball history in the middle and “The Tradition Continues” above and below the design.
“We wanted to play on the motto of ‘The Tradition Continues,’” Conroy said. “With getting a new coach in Chris Mack, we wanted to emphasize that Xavier basketball will continue to move forward. So that was a big theme of the shirt this year.”
Continuing a three-year-old tradition, a portion of the X-Shirt sales will go to a non-profit organization. This year’s charity is Cooperative for Education, a Cincinnati-based non-profit group that volunteers time, money, books and school supplies to children in Guatemala.
“We are thrilled that Cooperative for Education has been chosen to receive the proceeds from this year’s X-Shirt,” Holly End, director of development for Cooperative for Education said. “It’s great because the money will go to provide educational tools and opportunities to some impoverished students in Guatemala.”
“We wanted the whole student section to wear one color. Since people are most likely to wear navy blue, we went with that this year,” Conroy said.
Vandana Shiva Recap
By Sarah Wieten
Campus News Editor
Newswire photo by Alyssa Konnermann
Physicist and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.
Vandana Shiva, a physicist, author and environmental activist from India, addressed issues of environmental social justice in her lecture last Wednesday Oct. 28 in the Schiff Family Conference Center and spoke about her newest book, “Soil Not Oil: Food Security in Times of Climate Change.”
The speaker was co-sponsered by the Brueggeman Centerand the Women’s Center. So many students, faculty and staff were in attendance that many students were forced to find seats in the aisles on the floor.
The audience heard Shiva touch on topics such as the so called “green revolution” and seed sovereignty in India, the effect of chemical fertilizers on the production of agriculture, and the plight of the small farmer worldwide. She also extolled the benefits of organic farming methods.
Shiva is the second speaker in this year’s Ethics/Religion and Society Focus’ lecture series.The series theme this year is Ecology and Sustainability: Food and Agriculture.
The next speaker is David Montgomery, a geologist at the University of Washington who will speak March 14, 2010.
Police Notes
Oct. 27, 2:56 a.m. – A student observed urinating on a tree in the Admissions lot was cited for underage consumption of alcohol.
Oct. 27, 8:14 a.m. – Campus Police, Cincinnati Police and Cincinnati Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a person passed out in his or her vehicle in the Village lot. The non-student had pulled into the lot to sleep due to exhaustion and was issued a trespass warning before being escorted off campus by officers.
Oct. 30, 12:54 p.m. – Campus Police assisted Cincinnati Police with a possible burglary in progress at a vacant house on the intersection of Dana Avenue and Herald Avenue. The house was searched and all was ok.
Oct. 30, 10:17 p.m. – A student reported that someone had left a post-it note with an excerpt from Psalm 23 on his or her vehicle which was parked in the R-1 lot.
Oct. 31, 1:10 a.m. – Campus Police investigated a report of subjects fighting on the Residential mall. Three students suspected of being involved were questioned and released to Residence Life to follow up. The remaining subjects were gone on arrival.
Oct. 31, 8:29 a.m. – An employee reported the theft of a cordless telephone receiver from his or her office on the first floor of Cohen.
Oct. 31, 11:35 p.m. – Two students observed urinating on a wall in the O’Connor Sports Center lot were cited for underage consumption of alcohol.
Nov. 1, 2:05 a.m. – A student observed having difficulty walking through the C-2 lot was transported back to his or her room in Brockman Hall, released to Residence Life and cited for possession of marijuana.
Nov. 1, 8:25 p.m. – An employee reported the theft of two movie items valued at $44 from the Flix store in Gallagher Student Center.
Police Note of the Week
Nov. 2, 12:52 a.m. – Campus Police, Cincinnati Fire and Rescue and Residence Life investigated a small fire on the greenspace outside Kuhlman Hall. Investigation revealed that unknown subjects threw toilet paper that was on fire into the trees. The fire extinguished itself and five students were identified as possible suspects in the case. Investigation is pending.