NEWS

RAs report rising drug use

By Laura Britton
CONTRIBUTING WRITER


Robert K. Pietrzyk  enlarge image

Resident assistants in University of North Florida housing report evidence of drug and alcohol use in residents' rooms. The University Police Department said the number of incidents is rising but there is not a problem on campus.

Resident assistants at the University of North Florida dorms say they're seeing increasing evidence of illegal substances in student's dorm rooms.

While no concrete numbers are available for this school year, University Police Department Chief Mark Foxworth said the number of drug and alcohol related incidents are increasing because of higher enforcement and better relations between students and police.

"We don't see an alcohol and drug problem in the housing areas on campus," Foxworth said.

However, Christina Rock, an RA in Osprey Landing, said students are finding more effective ways of doing drugs on campus without getting caught.

"We typically see alcohol and marijuana being used in the dorm rooms," said Rock, a sophomore physical therapy major. "It can be as often as three to four times a week where we have a drug-related problem at the Landing," Rock said.

"I see drugs being used and offered on an everyday basis," said Jasmine Hunter, a freshman criminal justice major and a resident of The Crossings.

According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration and the National Survey on Drug Use & Health, illicit drug use rates among young adults ages 18-22 were similar for full-time college students (37.5 percent), part-time college students (38.5 percent) and nonstudents (38.4 percent) last year. Full-time college students were less likely to have used cocaine, crack cocaineand pain relievers in the past year than non-students.

According to the study, there was a steady trend and pattern in the rates of alcohol use by full-time college students ages 18-20 from 2002 through 2005. Binge drinking, defined in the survey as five or more drinks on the same occasion at least one day in the past month, and heavy alcohol use remained consistent.

Based on data from the 2002-2005 survey, 57.8 percent of full-time underage college students consumed alcohol in the past month, 40.1 percent engaged in binge drinking, and 16.6 percent engaged in heavy drinking.

In February 2006, the University Police Department partnered with the Jacksonville's Sheriff's Office for an undercover drug operation in the dorms. They uncovered drug use and the sale of drugs between students. Fourteen students were found with drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and Ecstasy.

"The main way people get caught is through noise complaints or if they have the marijuana smell on them," said Katherine Clark, a senior criminal justice major and RA at Osprey Landing.

Typically, UPD officers investigate any potential drug issues on campus and might refer the individual to student conduct, Foxworth said. The student either receives a misdemeanor citation or is arrested.

"Student conduct could include anything from a research paper that the student would be required to write as part of their punishment, to community service, to suspension from school," Foxworth said.

In 2003, a residence life officer was appointed by Foxworth to oversee student living areas and take on a more proactive approach with students in the dorms. Students have responded well to this change, Foxworth said, and the residence officer has become more involved with the students living on campus.

In the 2004-2005 academic year, there was a 100 percent increase in drug-use from 43 to 86 incidents from the year before, meaning more arrests and referrals to student conduct, Foxworth said. There was also a 16 percent increase in alcohol use from 129 to 150 incidents.

In 2006, the number of drug-related incidents was significantly lower, with 60 occurrences in the school year, Foxworth said. However, the number of alcohol-related incidents rose from 150 in 2005 to 251.

"For a lot of college students, the weekend starts on Thursday and people aim to get drunk, high, or both, depending on how hard-core they are," Hunter said. "It's all about the party."

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SG trying to tie up loose ends

By Marc Von Mandel
CONTRIBUTING WRITER


Rebecca Daly  enlarge image

A cleaning service for University of North Florida residents as proposed by SG is not currently possible, as are the free oil changes for UNF students.

As their term ends, University of North Florida Student Body President Justin Damiano and Vice President Dorrell Briscoe are trying to fulfill their campaign promises.

Damiano and Briscoe made a campaign promise last spring for a cleaning service for housing students and free oil changes for UNF students. The idea was to reach out to both those living on campus and commuter students, Damiano said.

"Dorrell and I were elected on these promises, and we want to follow through on them," Damiano said.

Cleaning service
They aimed to make the cleaning service available in all campus housing and to include the expense in the cost of housing, Damiano said. If a student decided to opt out of the service, he or she would be able to go online and request his or her room not to be cleaned, he said.

Damiano said Student Government was told to choose an external contractor, and the service would cost students around $90 a month. However, Damiano said SG proposed a $100,000 budget for the service and it would cost students from $5 to $20 a month. Under this plan, three UNF housing employees would be responsible for cleaning the facilities, he said.

"SG approached housing prior to elections and housing decided that it was not financially affordable," said Director of Housing Operations Paul Riel.

Riel said housing has different priorities such as its new focus on Osprey Fountains, the $80 million new housing development.

"Our resources and dollars are better served in the new projects," Riel said. "Our focus is on phase six of housing, which has tons of amenities. The resources and dollars we have are better served in that facility."

Riel also said housing's resources should go into the improvement of existing facilities. There are plans to remodel The Crossings and other housing.

It is possible the cleaning service might be available in the future, but it will increase housing rates, Riel said.

"It's always something we consider but for us budget cycles have already been figured out for the 2007-2008 year and the 2008-2009 year," Riel said. "Anything that would have to do with a cleaning service would mean an increase in rent, and we don't believe students would want to see an increase in rent for a cleaning service."

Damiano said SG believes the service will eventually be enacted if there is demand by the students.

"The cleaning service would be great for the new facility, and every student that we have talked to said that they would like that kind of service," Damiano said.

Oil changes
Briscoe and Damiano said they are also working on fulfilling their promise of giving free oil changes for students by the end of their term in office. Briscoe said he negotiated a program with Tires Plus for 1,000 free oil changes but said the proposal was not approved.

"We cannot use the Activity and Service fee money to pay for the oil changes because the oil changes would be considered traveling, and you can't use those fees for travel."

Oil change tickets would cost $14.99, almost $15,000 in total, Briscoe said. He said SG hoped if the oil changes were popular enough, the new SG president and vice president would continue with the service.

"It would have been $15,000 for the 1,000 oil changes, and there is no possible way, legally, for this to happen," said Briscoe. "We were trying to make this an end of the summer gift for students."

Briscoe said SG will still try to fulfill the promise.

"We are going to try to go around to different businesses and see if we can work out a deal for discounted oil changes in exchange for a good clientele relationship," Briscoe said. "I don't think we will pay anything for the tickets. I think, for example, that they would give a bunch of discounted prices."

Briscoe said he feels by offering discounted tickets, companies will jump on the idea because they would capture the UNF market.

"I'm not going to give up on it, and basically we're going to open up our school to these businesses," said Briscoe. "I think it's a good compromise, and it's a promise that we made."

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AOL Building deal finalized

By Tami Livingston
NEWS EDITOR

After more than seven months of negotiation, the University of North Florida has signed an agreement to purchase the AOL Building on Kernan Boulevard.

The university signed a lease agreement with Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund with the option to purchase the 125,000-square-foot building located east of campus April 3, said Shari Shuman, vice president of administration and finance. The pension fund completed a purchase agreement with AOL April 2, Shuman said.

The university plans to purchase the building in the fall if public education capital outlay funds are approved and made available by the Legislature and the Board of Governors.

"It's a tremendous, tremendous move for us," said President John Delaney. "It will allow us to eliminate all the trailers and free up space for faculty and classrooms."

To purchase the building after a one-year lease would cost approximately $18 million, Shuman said. "However, we anticipate buying it before that," Shuman said. Delaney said the university will begin to relocate select administrative offices to the building within the next few weeks.

The UNF Marketing and Publications Department, Information Technology Department and Equal Opportunity Programs office are some of the offices to be moved to the building temporarily, Shuman said.

Along with space for offices and possibly classrooms, the building will provide 1,200 additional parking spaces. The shuttle system will be in place by fall and is planned to run between the AOL building and the core of campus.

By summer, the building will be about half full and over the next six to 18 months the university will determine the best use for the space, Delaney said.

Which offices will relocated permanently to the building have not yet been determined, Shuman said.

University administrators will discuss a new name for the building over the next few weeks as well, she said.

The building was built in 2002, and AOL closed its call center and vacated it in May 2006.

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Bush blames Dems for delay

By William Douglas
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS


McClatchy-Tribune  enlarge image

President Bush cited Democrats' debates in Congress as a potential roadblock to securing additional funding for troops in Iraq.

President Bush turned up the rhetorical heat April 3 on antiwar Democrats in Congress, saying their insistence on adding troop-withdrawal terms to a war-spending bill risks delaying money that's needed within weeks and could endanger service members in Iraq.

In a wide-ranging news conference that also touched on a Supreme Court ruling, gasoline prices and Middle East diplomacy, Bush stressed his belief that Democrats are being "irresponsible" on Iraq. He repeated his threat to veto any bill that contains a troop-withdrawal date, warned that if war-funding legislation isn't signed by mid-April it could force cuts in equipment and training, and said further delay could force extended tours of duty for soldiers there.

The Senate passed a $123 billion war-spending bill last week that also called for most U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The House of Representatives passed a similar measure the week before, which calls for American troops to be out by September 2008.

Democrats say they're trying to respond to the public majority, which wants to get out of Iraq while ensuring that troops who are there now get the money they need to protect themselves.

The president and most Republicans say the Democrats' stance undermines the troops and micro-manages a mission that's better left to the military, although Bush himself manages key elements of the war strategy, such as how many more troops to send to Iraq this year.

"The bottom line is this," the president said in the White House Rose Garden. "Congress' failure to fund our troops on the front lines will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones heading back to the war sooner than they need to."

Democrats responded in kind.

"The president today asked the American people to trust him as he continues to follow the same failed strategy that has drawn our troops further into an intractable civil war," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a written statement. "The president's policies have failed and his escalation endangers our troops and hurts our national security."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., issued similar statements.

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Colleges seek applicants' criminal records for admission

By Kathy Boccella
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Along with SAT scores and extra-curricular activities, college-bound students increasingly are being asked to divulge information that may not be so flattering: their discipline records.

Since late summer, the Common Application, a form used by about 300 institutions, has asked students and guidance counselors whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime or disciplined at school.

Kids with rocky pasts may not make it beyond 12th grade.

In an effort to weed out troublemakers before they hit campus, colleges with their own forms also are requiring prospective students to disclose behavioral black marks.

The University of Pennsylvania put its admissions policy under review after the discovery in January that a 25-year-old child molester taking graduate courses was commuting from his Bucks County, Pa., prison cell. Saint Joseph's University will ask about applicants' misdeeds beginning next year.

"It's an issue that's exploding," said Timothy Mann, dean of student affairs at Babson College, who is writing his doctoral dissertation on the subject.

The debate over whether to screen and for what is contentious. Opponents cite privacy issues and the risk of penalizing offenders twice. Education encourages rehabilitation, argues the United States Student Association, the nation's largest student group.

"Are we now putting institutions of higher education in the position of dispensing post-judicial punishment?" Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers asked.

Offenders can still slip in.

"No background check is foolproof," cautioned Stephanie Hughes, a professor at the University of Northern Kentucky and security expert who owns RiskAware, which runs background checks on college employees.

Federal law prevents most schools from releasing educational records - including disciplinary information - without a parental approval. Counselors can leave the questions blank, a spokesman for the Common Application said.

Though campus crime has not appreciably increased since 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Education, a few high-profile crimes committed by students with rap sheets have led institutions to reexamine their admissions process. The Common Application added its inquiries at the request of schools concerned about liability, executive director Rob Killion said.

Students are warned not to omit information. If they're caught lying, they're dis- qualified. Administrators believe most comply.

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Arabic classes grow in Wash.

By Erik Lacitis
THE SEATTLE TIMES

After the 36 spots for Arabic 101 were filled at Bellevue (Wash.) Community College this past quarter, there was still a waiting list of 14 students. An additional 21 students were signed up for Arabic 102.

Robert Foulk was one of the lucky ones who got into the introductory class. He showed up recently wearing his Air Force ROTC fatigues.

"I'm planning to be a pilot, and if I'm staying in the Middle East, it's a huge language to learn," said the Maple Valley, Wash., 19-year-old.

The Arabic-language class is a first for Bellevue, a reflection of the growing interest in what's called "critical languages" - those languages that basically cover the world's hot spots, from the Middle East to China, Africa and Russia.

The need for proficient linguists in these areas is so great that the FBI ran a recruitment ad in the 2006 Super Bowl. Four years ago, Congress established the National Virtual Translation Center to recruit at-home linguists to translate documents for various intelligence agencies.

The class at BCC is funded by the U.S. State Department through the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, the first time the Fulbright language program has extended its reach beyond four-year universities. BCC and Quincy College in Massachusetts are the only two community colleges in the nation offering the class, but more are planned.

"We want to make sure we are able to open the minds of all U.S. students," said Marsha Frith, senior program officer for the Fulbright program.

The program brings in native speakers from foreign countries who teach both language and culture.

At Bellevue, the Arabic instructor is Fahad al-Balushi, 28, of Oman, an oil-rich monarchy of 3.1 million that borders Saudi Arabia and is across the Gulf of Oman from Iran.

Given the response this year, Arabic 103 will be offered next quarter, and the college is looking for an instructor to continue the classes next year.

Besides the cultural differences, Arabic is a language with a completely different alphabet, with writing done from right to left. Books begin at the last page and end at the front. Many words are sounded out with throat muscles English speakers would use for coughing.

On this morning at BCC, however, the students are just beginning.

As each one rose to speak to the class, he or she would begin with, "Ana ismi ...," meaning "My name is ...."

The class would reply in unison, "Al-salaam alaikom."

"Peace be with you."

Then the halting process of learning this language spoken by 256 million people worldwide began.

"You are very smart. You study, you practice, you learn," al-Balushi encouraged them. "You have to work hard. We had a deal here? Cool."

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Experts predict busy storm season

By Martin Merzer
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Taking another toss at the tropical weather dart board, a group of university forecasters predicted "a very active" hurricane season April 3.

They expect 17 named tropical storms to grow into nine hurricanes, including five intense hurricanes with winds above 110 mph.

The averages over the past 40 years are 11 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two intense hurricanes.

In 2006, we had 10 named storms that became five hurricanes, two of which were intense, a welcome relief after the barrages of 2004 and 2005.

The six-month season begins June 1. Long-term predictions such as those issued Tuesday sometimes prove wrong.

"We are calling for a very active hurricane season this year, but not as active as the 2004 and 2005 seasons," said Phil Klotzbach, leader of the team of Colorado State University scientists that includes famed expert William Gray.

One reason for the prediction of above-average storm production: developing La Nina conditions in the western Pacific. Those relatively cool sea temperatures can suppress crosswinds that help us by tearing apart developing hurricanes.

La Nina is the opposite of El Nino, relatively warm Pacific temperatures that can amplify those crosswinds. Last year, a mild El Nino helped diminish hurricane activity.

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Osprey rides to raise safety awareness

By Sarah Diener
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR


Rebecca Daly  enlarge image

Valeria Nolla, a Peru native, is the youngest and only UNF student to join the second annual S.A.F.E Ride team. The team's route of 1,200 miles started in Tallahassee.

The University of North Florida was the second stop last week on a 1,200-mile bike ride to raise awareness of seatbelt safety and alcohol abuse.

"S.A.F.E. Ride," which stands for Stay Alive From Education, is a team of nine cyclists taking the trip across the state stopping at colleges and high schools to speak out against drunk driving and the use of seat belts to save lives. Valeria Nolla, a sophomore biology major, is the youngest person and only UNF student joining this team.

"I wanted to be part of the solution." Nolla said. "If I have to go through physical pain to change one person's life, it's worth it."

Nolla got involved with the group after she met the founder and a few members of the team, she said. After hearing their plans for the ride, she said she wanted to join. She then had a series of interviews with team members and was invited to take part in the ride.

Nolla said she trains year-round but has found the first day of this trip challenging.

"The first day was grueling," she said. "Some members were having mechanical problems with their bikes. But we got through it."

The trip started in Tallahassee March 26 and will end at the Busch Gardens amusement park in Tampa April 6.

The 1,200 miles is in honor of April being Alcohol Awareness Month and to symbolize the 1,200 preventable alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities reported each year by the Florida Highway Patrol. The ride is sponsored by Anheuser-Busch's 180 energy drink, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Student Association.

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State Senate reviews bill limiting textbook price hikes

By Sarah Samoraj
CONTRIBUTING WRITER


Jen Quinn  enlarge image

Johannes Gutenberg's printing press made books more available and less expensive to the public in 1445, but in the 21st century, it takes an act of legislature.

House Bill 289, recently passed by the Committee on Postsecondary Education, will require new textbook editions to differ substantially from earlier editions or they won't be used. The bill also requires a 45-day advanced notification of required textbooks from professors, and suggests ways to provide textbooks to students who can't otherwise afford them. If passed by the House, the bill will take effect July 1.

"As students, we're forced to buy books at ... near outrageous sums and then by the end of the semester they're either discontinued or the bookstore, any bookstore, won't really give you a fare price for them," said Stephen Oleszek, a senior English major at the University of North Florida. "It's a racket."

College textbook prices have been steadily increasing each year, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's College Textbooks report. Since 1986, textbook prices have risen at double the rate of inflation, a 186 percent increase.

North Florida students spent approximately $6.5 million on textbooks in the campus bookstore during the 2005-2006 fiscal year, said Vince Smyth, director of auxiliary services.

Jonathan Caplanis, a junior construction major, said the bookstore buys books back at low prices and sells them for much more.

Dr. John Eisler, an associate professor of psychology at UNF, spent two years working on a textbook that would be inexpensive and educationally effective for his psychobiology students.

At wholesale, Eisler's book sells at approximately $67 and he receives $6 per book sold. However, at Follett, the company that contracts the UNF bookstore, the book is sold at approximately $89, a 33 percent increase.

The average cost of a new textbook is $102.44, according to California Public Interest Research Groups' Rip-off 101 report.

Students spend an average of $900 on textbooks each year, according to Rip-off 101. This represents approximately 20 percent of the average tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges nationwide.

"I think we are extremely overcharged," said Tami Luxon, a junior international relations major. "I have to get loans to cover [my books]."

Oleszek has saved hundreds of dollars by borrowing required books from libraries and also going to used-book stores.

"Textbook publishers put new editions on the market frequently - often with very few content changes - making the less expensive, used textbooks obsolete and unavailable," according to Rip-off 101.

However, HB 289 will change all that. Under the bill, professors can only use a revised textbook edition if it's vastly different than the previous edition.

"I think [the bill's] wise," Oleszek said. "It couldn't have come any sooner."

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JEA, UNF explore energy options

By Matt Olsen
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Jacksonville Electric Authority has enacted several programs to help promote the use of alternative energy and is exploring alternative fuel options with a University of North Florida professor.

Headed by Dr. James Fletcher, the JEA Clean & Renewable Energy Lab explores alternative energy sources such as solar energy and fuel cell technology and analyzes the exhaust emissions of alternative fuels, according to the lab's Web site.

There is an increasing amount of money and effort being put into fuel cell technology, according to Dr. Fletcher's assistant, Benjamin Swanson. Swanson said fuel cells can utilize clean-burning fuels like hydrogen to produce environmentally-friendly energy.

"This seems to be a promising technology that a lot of major manufacturers are behind," Swanson said.

Support for these and other alternative energies has grown recently, Swanson said.

"The government, oil companies and car companies are all putting large amounts of money and man-power into renewable energy," Swanson said.

The alternative energies currently under development greatly reduce pollution-causing emissions, Swanson said. It's not going to be easy to stop using oil and other non-renewable energies, he said.

As part of its environmentally-friendly initiatives, JEA has promised to generate at least 7.5 percent of its energy from clean and renewable sources by 2015. The company has installed solar power systems at local high schools, universities and community buildings. JEA's agreement to purchase energy produced from burning plant material from a facility in south Florida is outlined on it's Web site.

JEA's vehicles are included in the company's efforts to use clean and renewable fuels. At least 44 percent of the fleet vehicles use alternative fuels such as bio-diesel, ethanol, electricity and propane, said Kathy Para of JEA Fleet Services.

While propane fueling is being phased out, JEA is working with the Electric Power Research Institute to implement a hybrid fueling system for its bucket trucks, which Para said will use both plug-in electricity and regular gasoline.

Although the general public seemingly has limited access to alternative-fuel vehicles, most of the public could reduce their vehicle emissions right now, Para said. By using a mixture of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, known as E10, Para said vehicle emissions can be decreased by 10 percent.

"Any car - your car, my car -can take E10 fuel right now," Para said.

JEA vehicles use ethanol fuel E85, which is a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, Para said. The result is a nearly 85 percent reduction in harmful emissions.

The JEA Solar Incentive Program gives a rebate to customers who install solar water heating systems in their home or business, according to JEA's Web site.

"Nine hundred and twenty-seven solar systems have been installed as a result of our rebate," said JEA employee Kimberly Owens. "We only have a hot water system rebate now and 315 of the 927 are hot water systems."

In addition, JEA offers a net-metering system for customers who choose to power their own homes with solar or wind energy. JEA will use a special meter that will essentially run backwards if a customer produces more energy than consumed, according to the program's Web site. While the customer won't get paid for any excess electricity produced, the result will be a credit on future electric bills.

JEA is also involved in a number of "green" partnerships to educate the community and protect the local environment, according to its Web site. One such program is based at UNF.

"Our current forms of energy are reliable and allow us a lot of personal freedoms at a relatively low monetary cost," Swanson said. "Alternative energy cannot compete with that. Once we begin to value the advantages of alternatives enough to change the way we live alternatives will have a chance."

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Students 'die' to raise Darfur awareness

By Tami Livingston
NEWS EDITOR


Darlene Humphreys  enlarge image

As part of Darfur Awareness Week, sponsored by Sasha Milicevic's sociology class, about 50 students "died" on the Green to protest the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Students weren't hallucinating when they "saw dead people" on the University of North Florida Green last week.

More than 50 students, faculty and staff participated in a "die-in" on the Green March 29 by pretending to be dead on the Green for a half-hour. The goal was to raise awareness about the genocide occurring in Sudan's Darfur region.

"We hope people would take a look and get involved," said Vicki Parman, a junior anthropology major.

The "die-in" was part of a weeklong series of Darfur-centered events sponsored by Dr. Aleksandra Sasha Milicevic's War and Violence class.

"We wanted to do an outside event to raise awareness," said Milicevic, an associate professor in the sociology department. "We've said many times it will not happen again, and it's something that's happening right now as we speak."

Lindsay Moriarty, one of Milicevic's students, came up with the "die-in."

"I was looking online for good ways to raise awareness and read about other 'die-ins' that have been done," said Moriarty, a senior anthropology major.

Other events included a Rock Against Genocide Concert held at local pub Shanty Town, face-painting and an awareness booth, and a showing of "Hotel Rwanda."

Milicevic said she hopes the Darfur Awareness Week will become an annual event.

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Administration considers French Studies major

By Laurel Wright
STAFF WRITER

University of North Florida students might soon have another option when picking a major. French Studies is going through the approval process to join Spanish as the only foreign language majors offered at UNF.

"French Studies as a major is not yet definite, but chances are it will be approved," said Jorge Febles, department of world languages chair.

The program hasn't faced any resistance in the approval process thus far, but it still has to go through more committees before it can be implemented, Febles said. It will be presented to the Faculty Association April 5, and eventually has to be approved by the Florida Board of Governors.

"We [the World Languages' Department] don't have a sufficient number of language majors to be a credible program," said Febles. "The two main languages taught in the U.S. are Spanish and French, and to have a good department, we need both languages." If approved, the major will be officially implemented in spring 2008, but students could begin taking pre-requisites anytime, said Dr. Shira Schwam-Baird, associate professor of French.

"We anticipate lots of double majors," Schwam-Baird said. "Completing a French major enhances student's marketability for lots of different jobs because many companies go outside the U.S. and French is useful in many countries."

"A sizeable number of students coming to UNF have a background in French from high school. Most of them had to stop at a minor, but now we can encourage more," Febles said.

Sarah Coghlan, a senior graphic design major, said having a French Studies major would benefit UNF because of the current lack of language options.

"It will draw more students to UNF and help current UNF students communicate with the French students who come here," she said. "It's always beneficial to learn about other cultures and their ways of living."

The program will be interdisciplinary, said Dr. Patricia Geesey, associate professor of French.

"It will focus on French language and culture, but anything that has a French emphasis can count," she said.

Students can take some courses that are taught in English, such as French Cinema, and have them count toward the French Studies program, as long as 60 percent of courses taken toward the degree are taught in French.

This is a sound proposal, Febles said.

"It's cost effective, right now we don't have to hire anymore staff," she said. "The courses being offered are already in the catalogue, but are not being taught regularly. With a major, they will be taught more regularly so students can expand their skills to a higher level."

"I don't anticipate this to be a large program like communications," Febles said. "It will grow slowly at first, but we have good professors so it will produce good results. I hope eventually we can establish more language programs, like a minor in Chinese."

Focusing on international programs is important for UNF, said Schwam-Baird.

"Their contents are valuable and help us understand how the world works in other cultures," she said.

For questions about the French Studies program, contact Dr. Shira Schwam-Baird at 620-1248.

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Relay raises $17K for cancer research

By Amanda Tew
CONTRIBUTING WRITER


Rebecca Daly  enlarge image

Students, faculty and staff members from the University of North Florida participated in the Relay for Life event March 30 and 31 at the recreation field next to The Crossings.

Approximately 200 people participated in this year's relay, significantly more than previous years. This year's relay raised $17,500, more than doubling the funds raised during last year's events. The relay came short of its goal of $35,000. Proceeds made from the 28 teams in the relay will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

At the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, the Relay for Life Club was created. This marked the first year the committee was an official club gaining the support of President John Delaney, said Megan Donaldson, Relay for Life Representative and junior psychology major.

"It is fun to see so many people different people from so many different parts of UNF," said Kelli Richards, a senior athletic training major and Golden Key team member.

The relay began around 8 p.m. with opening ceremonies. The chair of the event, Mike Tenord, introduced the committee and then spoke about the history of the relay. After a speech from cancer survivor Dawn Watley, all of the cancer survivors took a ceremonial first lap around the track.

"We are still pretty excited because we still had a pretty good turn out considering the weather," Megan Donaldson, a junior psychology major and a relay representative.

Shortly into the event, the luminaria service took place. White bags with the names of victims and survivors were placed around the track to honor those who have fought cancer.

"The luminaria ceremony was just as touching even though we didn't light the candles," said Renee Tomey a junior special education major. Tomey was the activities planner of the Relay for Life committee.

Although it rained and many bands could not perform, UNF's Shawn Fisher was still able to perform for the patrons at the event around 10 p.m., followed by various acoustic guitar performers through out the night.

When the night sky became darker and the hours passed , fatigue showed in a few faces.

"I'm getting tired, it's almost midnight. You realize that's when you're usually asleep," said Jamie Spruell, UNF alumni coordinator and MBA candidate.

The energy was high early in the morning of the event. There were football and soccer games on the field while other teams were line dancing in their tents.

The Relay for Life committee provided numerous activities to keep everyone awake. Some of the activities included dodgeball, hula-hoop, tugs of war, limbo and a tent-decorating contest.

The closing ceremony began early Saturday morning, Donaldson said.

"Due to the fact that the teams had been out all night in the rain, they were tired and were starting to leave, we decided to close the event a little early so that we could have as many people possible still here for closing ceremonies and awards," she said.

The UNF athletics team earned more than $3,000 dollars, the highest amount out of all the teams. The student life team was awarded with the most spirit at the event.

This is the fourth year UNF has hosted the event. This year's theme was "Passport to a Cure: an International Theme."

Contact Amanda Tew at uspinnak@unf.edu/a> --  PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE