Shuttle changes in place

By Josh Salman
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The North route of the Osprey Connector shuttle will now only stop at parking lot 18, lot 14 and the library. It will not continue around the core of campus.

No changes will be made to the South route, Director of Auxiliary Services Vince Smyth said.

However, a new stop light will be added on the corner of Alumni Drive and Betty Holzendorf Drive that Auxiliary Services hopes will allow buses to make smoother turns.

The changes came as a result of an on-site visit and report last semester from Skipper Consulting Inc., the company that helped implement the shuttle. The goals of the changes are to cut wait times and free up bus space, Smyth said.

"According to our consultant, headways [drive time] on the North route can be cut down to five minutes, beating our original goal of six minutes," Smyth said. "If we can make the ride five minutes, we will move approximately one-sixth more people in the same amount of time. So buses shouldn't be as full."

Smyth hopes the new route will normalize wait time and provide better service for the students.

"I take the bus everyday and I think the change will be good," said Renier Rodriguez, a sophomore business accounting major.

The UNF bus system is five months old and this is the first tweak to the system, but Smyth said it is an ongoing process and if they continue to see problems they will continue to make changes.

"We are trying to get as many stops as we can out of parking lots to reduce time and create a smoother ride," Smyth said.

One of these changes includes adding more buses when construction of Osprey Fountains is completed.

All drivers and buses are contracted from American Coach Lines of Jacksonville.

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Track installation to complete Hodges Stadium

By Holli Welch
MANAGING EDITOR

David Morico

The UNF athletic program has one New Year's resolution in mind: to complete Hodges Stadium, said Athletic Director Dr. Richard Gropper.

With 10 years invested in the project, the university plans to break ground the second week of February for the installation of the Olympic-quality track.

"This stadium is a long time in the making," Gropper said.

In 2007, the university installed new field lights and an estimated 9,300 stadium seats to replace the original concrete seating at the complex.

The press box was also renovated. The final step - the nine-lane competition track - will not only complete this phase, but catapult the stadium into the Division I competition level, Gropper said. This will make UNF one of five schools in the United States with an Olympic-quality track.

"It will be one [stadium] that the university and entire city is going to be proud of," Gropper said.

The track will be installed by Mondo, an Italian construction firm that installed the last eight Olympic game tracks as well as the track for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

When completed, the track will be certified by the International Amateur Athletics Foundation if it meets all national and international regulations.

"Think about the potential for the university as well as the city of Jacksonville - it could be very significant," Gropper said. "We'll have the means to attract the brightest and best athletes from the high school level to showcase our campus."

The total cost for the stadium is $4 million, which has been funded through fundraising and a donation by the Hodges family.

For track and field head coach Mark VanAlstyne, the stadium will make recruitment much easier.

"We are going to be more visible," he said. "It is hard to recruit athletes to a team without a home track, but we are in Division I, and this facility will put us right up with the Floridas and Florida States, if not at the top."

The completed stadium will also mean a more unified team, VanAlstyne said. Currently, the team is divided among various high school track facilities in order to practice.

"Not having our own track and having to divide everyone up just to practice is really hard," said Lauren Delbovo, a junior on the team. "It is hard to be a Division I school and not have the facilities. It is just expected."

Delbovo, a double major in transportations and logistics and marketing, said she is looking forward to having home meets, but she isn't crossing her fingers to have it completed in 2008 - her fourth and final year on the team.

"They have the plans and the money, but I've talked to people who already graduated and were promised a track," she said.

VanAlstyne agreed that the timeline has been slow but said things are hopefully moving faster - the track will take 20-24 weeks to be completed and should be finished by the end of summer.

"We want our athletes to be able to train and compete on their own track and field come next fall," Gropper said. "We've always felt we needed to build a stadium that supported and met the needs of our athletes and we are almost there."

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Last week by the numbers

Each week the Spinnaker staff reports what's going on around campus: the good and the bad. In this little space, we want to summarize the life of the Osprey during the past week.

2170 Students moved back into dorms after the winter break (estimate).

5 Men and women basketball games.

45 Students cited in UNF police reports.

35 Students laying on the Green.

0 Screaming preachers on the Green ... yet.

Compiled by Holli Welch
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Campus expansion projects on schedule

While construction continues on projects throughout campus, students, faculty and staff can notice marked progress at the Brooks College of Health Expansion and Student Union sites. Both projects are well underway and on schedule.

David Morico

Brooks College of Health Addition

Completed: Steel structure and floor decks. Some studs have been installed.
In progress: Plumbing, electrical and duct work.
Next two months: Installation of the exterior panels and continuation of current projects.
Completion date: Fall 2008

David Morico

Student Union

Completed: Steel framing of the west wing, two of the three floor decks installed. Elevator cores poured and some panels installed.
In progress: Steel framing of the east wing is 90 percent complete. Floor decks have been started.
Next two months: Completion of steel framing for both wings, start of plumbing and electrical and duct installation.
Completion date: February 2009

Compiled by Tami Livingston
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Donations benefit campus departments

By Josh Salman
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The university received $575,000 of donations over winter break from the Cascone Family Foundation and the Main Street America Group.

The Cascone Family Foundation made a $350,000 donation, establishing the Cascone Family Study Abroad Endowment.

The donation was eligible for state-matching funds and brought the total contribution to $525,000, according to UNF assistant director of media relations and events at UNF, Joanna Norris.

"This gift will make it possible for students from World Languages and the Coggin College of Business to experience the greater global community in ways they might not otherwise be able to experience," said Barbara Hetrick, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Michael Cascone, a Jacksonville resident, is a retired chairman of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida.

According to Norris, he was awarded the Coggin College's Prime Osborne Distinguished Leader award in 2004.

Cascone has two children that graduated from UNF and his foundation contributes annually to the Coggin College and French study abroad scholarships at UNF.

The Main Street America Group, a Jacksonville-based insurance carrier, also donated $50,000 that will benefit the Coggin College Career Management Center, which offers specialized services to help business students begin successful careers.

"We hope our support helps Coggin's students be as prepared as possible for their future careers in the business world," said Tom Van Berkel, chairman, president and CEO of the Main Street America Group, according to a company statement.

The donation will allow the Career Management Center to provide resources for students and help provide support for recruiting efforts and staff training, Norris said.

"The generous investment made by the Main Street America Group will support us in creating a focused approach to professional placement for Coggin College students and graduates," said John McAllister, dean of the Coggin College of Business. "The Main Street America Group is not only investing in the Coggin College of Business, but also in the students who will be the future workforce of Jacksonville."

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Textbooks: Will they pay off in the end?

The Spinnaker staff recently interviewed a cross-section of students to see how much they were spending on books this semester. The results are below. We will speak with these students again at the end of the semester to see if they are able to sell their books back and at what price.

Name: Joseph Cunanan
Year: Senior
Major: Political Science
Classes: 3
Books: 4
Cost: $150

Name: Kerrie Rourke
Year: Graduate student
Major: MBA
Classes: 3
Books: 4 and 1 computer program
Cost: $447

Name: James Lashbrook
Year: Senior
Major: Marketing
Classes: 4
Books: 5
Cost: $530

Name: Brittany Hughes
Year: Senior
Major: Sociology
Classes: 4
Books: 4
Cost: $150

Name: Kristin Hutchinson
Year: Senior
Major: Sociology
Classes: 4
Books: 6
Cost: $200

Compiled by Tami Livingston
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Colleges take hard stance on psychological disorders

By Bonnie Miller Rubin and Megan Twohey
CHICAGO TRIBUNE (MCT)

Jill Manges was in her French history class at Eastern Illinois University, when she felt the symptoms - the waves of nausea, the tightness in the throat - that signaled an impending flashback.

Threading her way through the row of desks that September afternoon, Manges - who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder - willed herself to the door, blacking out just outside her classroom.

Twelve days later, the school gave her two options: Take a medical leave or we'll kick you out.

That same month, Michelle Pomerleau, a student at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, faced a similar fate when she overdosed on prescription drugs.

"I am concerned for your well-being, Michelle, but your behavior is impacting other students in a negative manner," wrote a school vice president in a letter delivered while Pomerleau was still in the hospital.

From large public institutions to small, private colleges, a growing number of schools are taking punitive action against students who display mental illness, ranging from bipolar disorder to eating disorders, experts say.

With better mental health services in younger grades, more youth with mental illness are arriving on college campuses than ever before. At the same time, courts have indicated that schools can be held legally responsible if students harm themselves or others.

Administrators, mindful of the safety of the larger community, say they need to be proactive.

But critics call it overreactive. They say schools are discriminating against those who have a medical condition, deterring students from seeking help and driving dangerous behavior underground.

"The message is that we only want people here who don't have physical or mental impairments," said Karen Bower, an attorney with the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "And if you have one, you'd better have it under control at all times."

A turning point occured in 2002, when a state court held that officials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology could be sued for failing to prevent the suicide of a student. Then came the Virginia Tech shootings last April, a wake-up call that today's counseling centers are dealing with much more than angst over failing grades or bad break-ups. Administrators say it doesn't take a violent episode to disrupt a campus.

St. Norbert would not take action against students who quietly battle their own demons, said Jay Fostner, a vice president at the school. But it would move against students who repeatedly pull classmates or faculty into their suffering.

"It is not about suicide attempts or mental health issues," said Fostner, who, like all administrators in this story, cited privacy laws in declining to comment on specific cases such as Pomerleau's. "It's about behavior."

Pomerleau said she displayed a suicidal gesture last year - taking nearly 20 painkillers, anti-anxiety pills and muscle relaxers one night in an attempt to self-medicate manic symptoms - before she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and placed on medication. Months later, she took a medical leave when her best friend committed suicide.

But Pomerleau said her grades were good and she had been commended by the college for performing community service.

"It felt like they were dismissing me strictly for my mental health," said Pomerleau, who opted for a medical leave because it allowed her to get a tuition refund.

Dan Nadler, an Eastern Illinois University vice president for student affairs, said such contracts are used in a variety of situations - from aggressive students with a penchant for punching walls to those prone to binge drinking - and should not be viewed as punitive. The pacts, he said, are a way to keep students on campus, not oust them.

"If that was our philosophy, we wouldn't bother," Nadler said. "Our first goal is to ask: How can a student stay in the environment? How do we help them be successful academically and personally?"

The colleges, though, are walking a fine line.

Federal law permits a school to remove a mentally ill student for disruptive behavior, but only if the institution would act against other students for similar conduct, according to the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.

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