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Adult program reentry moves
forward
By
Jonathan Meyer
Before there was UIS, there was Sangamon
State. Historically, that institution had many adult learners.
Even with the introduction of the Capital Scholar program, there
are still many adults and reentry students on campus.
Right now there is no specific
department designated for reentry students. However, there are
several programs on campus that work together to help this
population. These include the daycare center, the Center for
Teaching and Learning, and the Counseling Center.
"Our primary focus is on what we can do
to better serve our students," said Assistant Dean of Students,
Jim Korte. He outlined several ways to go about improving current
programs.
One way UIS is working to develop in
this fashion is by looking at what has been done on other
campuses. At that point, the Administration can get ideas, look
at advantages and disadvantages of current systems, and develop
new innovations.
"Our main focus is on helping previous
students get readjusted to campus life," said Korte, "this campus
is completely different now than it was ten years ago. If you've
been out of college for that long and then come back, it takes
some time to get used to the new surroundings."
In a sense, reentry students face
nervousness just like first-year students. They worry about
tests, grades, getting adjusted, and fitting in with their fellow
students.
The Administration is also looking to
speak to reentry students who have been back on campus for a
while. The goal here is to find out what their fears and concerns
were coming back and then using this information for the
betterment of new reentry students.
Currently, UIS does not actively seek
out these individuals. However, they happily accept the help if
one of these readjusted reentry students wants to offer it.
There is also a more direct plan to help
reentry students get used to college life again. It consists of
speaking with reentry students themselves to find out what they
are concerned about. This activity is especially useful because
general concerns can change over the years.
The Administration also plans to give
greater flexibility. The idea is that when these students have
faculty and advisors available at the students' convenience, they
are more likely to seek that assistance. When students receive
help in areas they need it, they are more likely to readjust
successfully.
Many of these ideas are somewhat new so
feedback is limited. However, the feedback the Administration has
been getting tends to be positive.
UIS will continue to alter its reentry
student programs as time goes by. Just as each new batch of
Capital Scholars have different concerns than the year before
them, every group of reentry students have their own distinct
fears and concerns. There is no specific set of measures to
institute that, when all in place, will signal the end to any
further developments.
"This is an ongoing process," said Korte.
"Every year we readjust based on the information we have. The
focus is always on how we can help the next group of reentry
students get used to this campus."
Snow Removal Improves
By Ben Grafton
When snow first covered the campus this
year, many rejoiced and set out for a snowball fight. Others were
upset and some could care less. When the excitement finally
subsided, almost everyone realized one similar problem: the ice.
As snow continued to fall, the sidewalks
and roads of UIS began to freeze over. A snow removal team had
arrived and began their hard work of removing the snow. For a
while it seemed that a decent job was done, even though the snow
was still around on the ground, just imprinted in clumps along the
driveway and roads. After a little more work, this task was also
done.
According to last year's Journal
article on the ice [February 19, 2003], the service was extremely poor. People were plowed in, couldn't get
to their cars, and would have to walk in single file just to get
somewhere. Another problem was that even after the area was
shoveled for them, there were sheets of ice covering the sidewalk
that weren't attended to. However, the Lincoln Residence Hall was
well taken care of by being shoveled, and sprinkling their
combination of a potassium-chloride de-icing solution with finely
grained sand. This issue infuriated the apartment residents, and
began to deepen the gap between CAP Scholars and Upper-Class
Students. As stated in the article:
“James
Greer, SGA Secretary feels that the resentment between
upperclassmen and capitol scholars is perpetuated by Housing and
the Administration. ‘It doesn't seem justifiable that places such
as Sunflower that has small children or apartments with
handicapped residents would not be able to get out. The school
administration appears to have an inability to treat all students
equally. This inequality is causing the tension and conflict
between upperclassmen and Capital Scholars.’”
John Ringle, UIS Housing Director,
attributes the snow to UIS’ location in what he calls the "Snow
Belt". "It snows, it melts, it freezes or refreezes overnight in
this climate - that's a cyclical fact of life which people need to
recognize by individually exercising caution this time of year
within this particular region."
According to many sophomores and
upperclassmen, this year's snow removal team in comparison to last
year's is a huge improvement. Many of the sidewalks have been
shoveled along with the roads. People are not being "plowed" in.
People can get out and go to class or any other activity of their
daily lives. There are actually two teams. Around LRH and the
parking lots Standefer Lawn Care comes out from Sherman to help
take care of the snow and ice. On the other parts of the campus,
a team of five individuals take care of the snow and ice.
The student workers who take care of the
ice and snow problems on the other parts of campus have done their
best to make sure that no one is at hazard.
Will Rogers, member of the shoveling
crew and a Clover Court RA said, "We've had times were we started
at 6:00a.m. We could get done with something by noon and it would
start snowing a couple hours later so we'd be back out there by
five."
The snow crew is normally called out
when there is over two inches of snow or if there's a possible
hazard spot reported. They are constantly on call to go out and
help. The crew is a team of five, and currently is short in what
they were hoping to have as crew members.
"We are short staffed," Rogers
explains. Ringle also explained that the buildings are taken care
of in a particular order. The houses with handicapped residents
or anyone who has children that would need to go to school or
anything are primary, then they will go from there.
However, some students argue that some
areas, especially the streets, need more attention for the
apartments and townhouse residents.
Ringle strongly encourages students and members of the campus
community to feel free to call the housing office if they have any
problems so that they may take care if it immediately at
206-6190.
Students Prepare for Nicaragua Trip
By Heather Shaffer
After many months
of hard work, fundraising, and preparation, a delegation of eleven
students and three faculty members will be visiting Nicaragua from
February 28 to March 7. The group hopes to see the effects of
globalization and free trade on the economy of this third world
country. They plan to visit with local factory workers and
farmers in order to understand the living conditions and social
problems suffered in Nicaragua.
The students going
to Nicaragua are part of the classes PAC 448: Working in a
Globalizing World and PAC 449: Nicaragua in a Globalizing World.
According to Heather Dell, Delegation Leader of the Nicaragua trip
and Professor of Women’s Studies, “PAC 449 is a seven week long
course focusing on how the richer are getting richer and how the
poorer are getting poorer.”
The group has done
much preparation work in order to be familiar with the country of
Nicaragua before their trip. “We had to read a lot of material
for the 438 class, most of it is about the economies of Nicaragua
and of the United States and how they affect each other. We also
learned about free trade and fair trade. We are going through
Witness for Peace and they have some publications that we read to
learn about the country,” said Kelsey Dennison, Sophomore Capital
Scholar.
According to
Brandon Pietit, member of the Nicaragua delegation, students of
PAC 438 have also been learning about the effects of sweatshops,
women and their role in Nicaragua, as well as social programs that
have been initiated and how they have changed.
The delegation
attended a retreat at the Girl Scout Camp on February 21 in order
to further prepare for their trip. According to Dennison, one of
the Spanish teachers from UIS attended to give the students a
crash course in Spanish for those who did not already know it.
“The cost of the
trip is approximately $1600 per person. For fundraising we had a
silent auction in the cafeteria, had a raffle, sold t-shirts, and
held a bowling night at the bowling alley on MacArthur. We also
asked for donations from individuals,” said Dennison.
Students enrolled
in the course have studied studying free trade, labor, debt, and
peace issues in Nicaragua as an example of how the global economy
is currently functioning. According to Dell, the students
traveling to Nicaragua will be seeing first-hand how globalization
has caused unemployment and low wages in third-world countries.
“Many jobs are going to third world countries. Some of the jobs
that were paying $15 an hour in the United States are transferring
to the third world countries, paying less than $1 per hour.”
The delegation will
be able to experience for themselves the effects of globalization
and free trade on the Nicaraguan people. “We will be visiting a
factory in the free trade zone that supplies jeans to Kohl’s
Marshal Fields and Target. We are going to be talking to some of
the workers there about their wages, working conditions, and how
many of the unions in Nicaragua are finding pressure to disband.
Some of the workers are being blacklisted from jobs when they join
unions,” said Dell.
Delegation members
will also be looking at some of the ideas of Sanbanista, which was
a wing of the Nicaraguan government that took government power in
the 1980s and lasted ten years. According to Dell, this group
redistributed land, increased the literacy rate, encouraged
preventative medicine, and became a model for the United Nations.
Students will also
be meeting with farmers who are having problems getting credit
from the Nicaragua government. “Many of the small farms are
having a hard time surviving because the Nicaraguan government has
been forced to cut back funding by World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund, which are controlled by rich
countries,” said Dell. The delegation will be able to see how the
lack of credit from the Nicaraguan government is forcing many
farmers to loose their land because they cannot afford to buy
fertilizer or many other necessary supplies.
The effects of
monopolization on certain goods, such as seed, will also be
explored by the delegation. According to Dell, “Terminator”
tomatoes are being grown in Nicaragua, which are a type of tomato
that will not germinate, causing farmers to buy new seeds every
year. The seeds are sold by the company Monsanto out of St.
Louis, which is the largest monopoly to sell seed with the
possibility of making farmers dependent across the world. The
delegation will be able to see how monopolies such as this one are
creating problems for farmers across the world.
“The main sponsor
for this trip is the Greater Springfield Trades and Labor Council,
which is an organization or unions who understand that countries
need unionization. They believed in us first and supported us
last year. Dr. Christopher Miller, Vice Chancellor of Student
Affairs, has also been a tremendous support and we are really
grateful” said Dell.
Dell hopes that her
students will come away from this trip knowing that it is possible
to change the world through activism. “The world of work is
changing quickly through activism. These students will see, meet,
and talk with activists that they can join with who are changing
the world to make a difference,” said Dell. |
