NEWS
- Debate over tuition-hike veto leaves questions for students Tami Livingston
- Administration looks to trim student union costs Tami Livingston
- SG Senate regulates sponsorship of credit card solicitors on campus Tami Livingston
- Summer enrollment breaks university records Sarah Diener
- Students research new energy source Matt Olsen
- Dorm castoffs become bounty for locals Erin Ailworth
- University begins campus makeover Tami Livingston
- Lawmaker pushes for end to preferred lenders at school Sarah Diener
Debate over tuition-hike veto leaves questions for students
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Despite Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of a proposed tuition hike in May, legislators and administrators are still waiting to see if there will be a tuition increase for the 2007-2008 school year.
According to University of North Florida President John Delaney, a tuition increase is still possible because the legality of the veto is under question.
"There is some question [as] to if it was an effective veto," Delaney said.
While the governor has the authority to veto specific items within a bill line-by-line, lawyers are arguing that he can't edit only a few words within each line. It must be a veto of the whole line or no veto at all, Delaney said.
Increase or not, student fees will be effected. The university student fee assessment committee voted last year to increase the athletic fee by 43 cents per credit hour and the activity and service fee by 34 cents per credit hour for the 2007-2008 school year. Currently the athletic fee is $12.25 and the activity and service fee is $7.49 per credit hour.
The UNF Board of Trustees approved both increases, based on an estimated 3-percent increase in tuition.
While tuition is undecided at the moment, university officials are reviewing the possibilities of increasing both fees. The amount is yet to be determined. According to Shari Shuman, vice president of administration and finance, an increase is still possible because of the university's reclassification as an NCAA Division I university three years ago.
Reclassification as Division I school allows a university to increase its athletic fees by up to $2 per credit hour, surpassing the 40 percent of tuition and fees covered by Bright Futures. Currently the athletic fee is about 12 cents over the cap, but can be raised, Shuman said. This would allow for an increase of other fees, such as the activities and service fee below the
cap, she said.
"We [in student government] fully respect the decision made by the committee last year and are planning to implement the fee increases because there is a need in athletics and student government," said student body president Rachael Tutwiler.
"We frankly don't know what's going to happen with tuition," Delaney said.
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Administration looks to trim student union costs
The University of North Florida is preparing to break ground this summer on the student union building, a project that's approximately $1.5 million over budget.
While a construction contract has not been finalized yet, university officials are conducting value-engineering analyses to see how to bring the estimated costs in alignment with the $50 million allotted for the project.
"What we're looking for now is to save money to come within the budget," said Dr. Lucy Croft, assistant vice president of student affairs. "We're considering concrete instead of brick, stucco instead of other materials, etc. [...] The idea is to not compromise the aesthetics of the building interior or exterior but find a way to cut costs."
While reviewing the project for cost, the university is also preparing the area where the building will be constructed.
Many, if not all, of the portables next to parking lots 3 and 4 have been vacated and offices have been relocated, Croft said. The parking lots are expected to be closed later this summer. Then, the portables will be removed and the area will be fenced off.
"The groundbreaking will happen sometime this summer - it's just a matter of when," Croft said.
Rink Design Partnership Inc.,
the firm who designed and will construct the student union building, recently won an award for the design of the building.
The design was submitted
as an "unbuilt" project, according to Chris Belyea, the Rink project manager.
"It was recognized as a project that has a good design and will be eligible for more awards after it is built," he said.
While dealing with some budget issues, the university is trying to finalize construction documents and is set to break ground later this summer,
Croft said.
"While most of it is behind the scenes right now, progress is being made," she said.
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SG Senate regulates sponsorship of credit card solicitors on campus
Unanimous vote shuts door on solicitors
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Although the University of North Florida Student Government Senate voted against a similar bill in the spring, it recently passed a joint resolution restricting credit card solicitation on campus.
By a vote of 10-0-0, the Senate approved the resolution requesting all student-funded entities be restricted from sponsoring activities involving credit card solicitation of any kind.
The resolution also recommends the university's board of trustees, legal counsel and student affairs department adopt the same policy, while providing credit and debt information at student events. Over 300 student signatures were collected in support of the resolution.
"We [student government] are not the only department that has sponsored these companies in the past, and if other departments continue to sponsor them, we want to make educational materials part of the process and requirements for soliciting on campus," said Jasmine Butler, SG attorney general.
Student Body President Rachael Tutwiler has signed the resolution and it's in the process of being forwarded to UNF President John Delaney and other university officials,
Butler said.
"Students tend to think for the next few minutes and grab some shirts and free stuff - especially freshmen and sophomores," said Tarek Chammah, a senior science major who worked with SG to develop the resolution. "They don't think about the long-term consequences of bad credit."
A similar resolution passed unanimously in the Senate in fall 2004 but was vetoed by the student body president at
the time.
Other Florida universities such as University of Florida, University of Central Florida and University of South Florida have enacted similar policies regulating when, where and how credit card companies can solicit on campus, Butler said.
"Hopefully the administration will listen to the will of the students and enact this resolution," Chammah said.
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Summer enrollment breaks university records
This summer marks the largest enrollment in summer classes in the University of North Florida's history.
Enrollment numbers are up by approximately 1,000 students since 2005. About 1,200 classes are being offered for the A, B, and C sessions of summer curriculum, according to Director of Admissions John Yancey. Florida state law requires that students at public universities take at least nine hours of classes during the summer in order to graduate.
Although enrollment has increased, classes being offered for the summer have declined by 150. Yancey said this is due to budget cuts and the fact that UNF was overenrolled last year and admitted too many freshman for the summer term.
"We are at a happy medium in terms of enrollment and class offerings," Yancey said.
Summer A semester began on May 15 and Summer B will begin June 27. UNF administrators are expecting approximately 700 freshmen for the Summer B semester.
"I thought that starting in the summer would be an easier adjustment to college," said Ashley Kidd, an incoming freshman. "I'm really excited."
Another student said summer semester is something to "get out of the way."
Junior accounting major Chris Burger is now taking his required nine summer hours.
"I like the fast pace," he said. "It doesn't give me time to
slack off."
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Students research new energy source
Students at the University of North Florida have begun working with a new eco-friendly technology that may soon replace traditional laptop
batteries.
Led by UNF professor Dr. James Fletcher, a team of graduate students are getting familiar with a direct methanol fuel cell at UNF's JEA Clean & Renewable Energy Lab in building 50.
Working with PolyFuel, a fuel cell development company in California, the team will spend time getting to know the technology and will ultimately help to further develop and improve the technology, said Benjamin Swanson, one of the graduate students working on the project.
The eco-friendly fuel cell uses methanol as its fuel source and only produces water and very small quantities of carbon dioxide as emissions, according to the Methanol Institute.
"Due to the nature of the reaction," Swanson said, "there is actually more water released as a byproduct than what is used."
One of the issues the team is working on is what to do with the extra water, Swanson said.
Despite its small size, the fuel cell is capable of delivering a low-to-moderate amount of power for a long period of time, Swanson said. While its low power output makes it unsuitable for powering an automobile, Swanson said it is ideal for most low-power mobile devices like laptops, cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players.
"Some companies have said they ran laptops for 10-20 hours on a single methanol charge," said Jason Harrington, one of the project's graduate students.
While conventional batteries have to either be completely replaced or charged from a wall outlet, neither method is needed to charge a direct methanol fuel cell, Swanson said. A methanol-charged refill canister the size of a lighter is all that is necessary to instantly restore the fuel cell to full power.
Traditional batteries are also limited by the number of charges they can take and are difficult to dispose of because of the toxic chemicals they contain. In contrast, direct methanol fuel cells offer almost zero pollution and can be recharged indefinitely, Harrington said.
Although there is currently no infrastructure to get methanol to consumers, Harrington said he thinks that will likely change.
"I imagine methanol is going to be quite easy to buy from a drugstore just because it is such a small quantity," Harrington said.
And although the technology is expensive right now, that will also change as more and more companies market the fuel cells to consumers, according to the Methanol Institute.
"Companies like Samsung and Toshiba intend to release [methanol] products within the next year," Swanson said.
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Dorm castoffs become bounty for locals
Florida universities recycle more than paper and plastic
The futon was the first to go, carried away by two boys.
Behind them, more than 100 people sorted through the clothes and sundries beneath a pavilion at the Bithlo Community Center last week.
High-top Converse sneakers. A plaid, button-down Burberry shirt. Several TVs and computer monitors. A 12-cup Mr. Coffee. A small refrigerator. Assorted toasters, toaster ovens and microwaves. A toddler-sized green dragon costume.
The stuff - more than 1,700 pounds of clothing and bedding and 429 pairs of shoes - all came from one place: University of Central Florida dormitories.
For the past five years, departing UCF coeds have dropped whatever they can't take with them into boxes placed in residence halls by Brian Wormwood and his staff at the university's recycling center.
Wormwood said he tells students: "If you don't want it, don't need it, your parents don't know you have it and you can't take it home, [or] it doesn't belong to you and you don't want to give it back, put it here."
Whatever is left behind gets put in trash bags and hauled to the community center, where volunteers with the Bithlo/Christmas Neighborhood Center for Families distribute the bounty.
Schools across the nation have similar programs, said Norbert Dunkel, vice president of the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International. That includes the University of Florida, where Dunkel is the director of housing and residence education.
Not only are students leaving more behind, he said, but they are also chucking expensive possessions such as bikes and computers. Some students live too far away to move the items, have no room to store or transport them, or simply have plenty of money to replace them.
On Wednesday, Wormwood and his workers helped volunteers arrange items on picnic tables and pavement.
Lorraine Howard and Sarah Meisenheimer sorted small sizes from large, and everyday wear from special-occasion items. Each volunteer kept an eye out for stuff they might later take home.
"My kids - it's the end of the year. All their clothes are kind of grubby, but you don't really want to go out and spend, so this will help me get through the summer," said Meisenheimer, 32.
Howard, said she sympathized with parents who spent so much to provide for their kids.
"The parents bought this stuff, and the kids leave it [...] They don't realize how much mommy and daddy spent. But I'm glad they did."
About 10 a.m., locals were waiting for the green light.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
University begins campus makeover
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The University of North Florida has begun
construction of fall proects.
Here's an update on the progress.
Parking Services Building
- Will relocate parking services from the Martin P. Garris police building to a new building located in parking lot 100 near the State Road 9A entrance.
- Structural work almost completed. Work on inte rior and details to be done.
- Expected to be finished in November, with parking services relocated no later then the end of December.
North/South Connector Road
- Will connect parking lot 14 to the north end of campus.
- Two weeks ahead of schedule.
- Needs paving and landscaping.
- Expected to be operable by the first week in August.
Parking Lot 18
- 1,200 new parking spots.
- Four-five weeks ahead of schedule.
- Needs landscaping.
- Expected to be operable by the first week in July.
Compiled by Tami Livingston
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Lawmaker pushes for end to preferred lenders at school
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently appeared before the U.S. Congress asking it to consider nationally adopting his plan for student loans in public universities.
During the 2005-2006 school year, more than $85 billion was loaned to students at postsecondary institutions nationwide, Cuomo said.
In 2007, the Student Lending Accountability, Transparency and Enforcement (SLATE) Act was passed by the New York Legislature.. The act bans public universities from working with specific lenders who provide a portion of their earnings to the school. Cuomo wants this act to be adopted by all universities.
The University of North Florida currently works with six different preferred loan agencies.
According to UNF Associate General Counsel Richard Buck, the school doesn't earn any money from specific lenders that are preferred by UNF. In the 2006-2007 financial aid year, UNF awarded approximately $31 million to more than 5,000 students.
Buck said although there are preferred lenders, a student can choose any company they'd like to work with as long as it's approved by the Department of Education.
"We work with specific lenders because we believe these companies have a good working relationship with the university, consistently show good customer service and get students their funds quickly," Buck said.
If the SLATE Act were to be passed nationwide, it would mean UNF could no longer suggest specific preferred lenders and would have to provide students with a list of all approved lenders or let the student privately choose which institution they want to use.
"This is an important issue for UNF and for students." Buck said. "We want to do everything that we can for them."
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