Too often when graduating seniors write their “senior column” which is filled with the same sentiment, just worded differently: enjoy your four years here—they go by quickly.

While I would encourage you to do that, this column will not be taking that approach. Instead I feel like after four years here I’ve learned some things the “hard way” and maybe, just maybe, you can take a lesson out of my book and the remainder of your time will be just a little easier.

The most important thing I learned—and this is a lesson I learned in my first month of college—is the first jury you face in any situation when you may be “flirting with the law” is the police officer. If that particular officer feels you are not being adequately cooperative, they will cite you for disorderly conduct. Makes for a half-decent story four years later, but leaves your pockets feeling substantially lighter at the time. What to do is really your call; I just wanted you to be aware of the consequences.

While on the topic of heavy expenses and police, don’t speed on I-480. This lesson I learned about two weeks ago. The officer there will kill you with kindness—his salutation of “have a great day” seems somewhat less sincere when you look at the pamphlet he hands you and find out what you owe the city of North Olmsted. Not worth it.

Another particularly important lesson to learn is how to address professors. For example, “Dean” is not Professor Birch’s title (chair of the political science department)—it’s his first name.

So if you’re, lets say, a freshman reporter for an award-winning newspaper and you need to interview him, opening your e-mail with “Dean Birch” is surely not going to score you any points.  There was no retribution from him at the time; in fact, I’m not even sure that he noticed—but it made me feel quite awkward.

The cafeteria has so many things you need to know that I’m not sure I can fit them all in this column. Always say “hi” to Betty and Sharon—they are wonderful.  Always get a good seat; if you thought airports were a good place to people watch, you’ve either never been in Schott Dining Hall or you’re not paying attention—either way, wasted opportunity.

This last one may be the most important: never, EVER, have the chicken a la king.  When you think in your mind “wow, that looks like vomit,” it probably tastes like it. I should admit I’ve never tried it, but I’m not about to start now.

Lastly, and I know I’ve said this before, but don’t worry about your grades—they don’t matter. Trust me when I tell you that you’re going to remember the time you listed your friend on Craigslist much better than what you got in Psychology 101.

Take these lessons to heart—while I loved my four years here, I probably would’ve had a little easier go of it had I known these earlier. Good luck and enjoy what you’ve still got left.

If I hear the song “MMMBop” one more time I’m going to throw a plate full of sub-par food through a cafeteria window, and guess what? I’m sending you the bill.

Here’s why: what you’re doing should be illegal—it sounds like extortion to me. In the real world, if you tell someone you’re going to continue to do something until someone pays you enough money to stop, you go to jail for quite some time.

Those of you who don’t know, in an effort to raise money to combat child literacy (which is laudable), KKG is playing Hanson’s “MMMBop” on repeat in both the Atrium and Cafeteria. They will stop this violation of our Eighth Amendment protection from cruel and unusual punishment once they have raised enough money to satisfy their donation goal.

I’m all for helping kids learn how to read, I’m just for doing it legally. So let me propose this: rather than extorting the Blue Streak community, let’s raise some money together and have a little fun in the process.

We will turn the tables, rather than us be subjected to the cruelty of Hanson, you will. If you’re really committed to raising money, this should be a no-brainer.

Here’s my plan: you all go around and get pledges (i.e. a nickel for every minute you take part in my plan). I’ll secure a room and some unimaginably large speakers. Then, the Saturday before finals, I’ll put you all in there and put “MMMBop” on repeat.

The clock will then begin on your pledges, and every minute you stay in the room will determine how much money you collect. Also, don’t be ridiculous—I will absolutely NOT be in the room with you—I’m a supervisor.

We can raise more money by selling tickets to what promises to be a great show; I’ll install soundproof glass and people can watch.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “that’s a terrible idea.” You’re right, for you it is. But let me outline the ways it trumps your current plan.

We begin with legality: my idea is legal, yours is questionable. While a picture of every Kappa on campus being taken out of your next chapter meeting in handcuffs will play great on our front page, I think that’s worth avoiding.

Secondly, in my scenario, there are no restrictions on what you can have in your room, including food. In your plan, what are we supposed to do if it’s fish day? Then, not only is the food bad, but we have to listen to Hanson. If not for the always smiling and lovely faces of Betty and Sharon, I would literally go insane.

Locking you in a room with Hanson playing on repeat is no ones ideal scenario, but you can admit there are obvious up-sides to my plan.

If my mere suggestion isn’t enough, I’m willing to bet the fact that I just told everyone that what you’re doing might be illegal will be.

So please, for the love of God, turn off the music.

Honors students tend to epitomize those students who are absolutely obsessed with their grades. For me, watching their faces as a professor hands back papers or tests is arguably better than Christmas morning.

Newsflash: grades are not the end of the world. That’s not to say that you should be riding a 2.0 GPA, but is the difference in work that it takes to get a 3.7 instead of a 3.3 really worth it? I don’t think so.

I think you all know the student I’m talking about: the one who will follow the professor down the hall after receiving a paper back and is so worked up that he got an 89 and not a 91 that he is speaking almost incoherently. It’s those two points that are really going to change his life.

I had a philosophy class here several years back where we randomly had “participation days” and if we were there and participated we got credit — each “participation day” counted for one percent of our overall grade.

One day we (probably mostly me) were a little chatty, and the professor decided that no one would receive the one percent that particular day. Boom, roasted; we all were now starting with a 99 percent.

I joke, some didn’t. There was a girl who I think almost had a heart attack. She was beside herself, and it was excellent. I personally would have paid to see the show that followed, but lo and behold, it was free. She cried and complained and I think she actually earned that one percent back for herself — well done, it was totally worth it.

When I’ve told this story before there are people who have said my reaction was “mean” or “insensitive,” but I don’t think so. Writing a solid paper is important; losing one percent is not.

I took an honors class last year where, after receiving back the first paper, the professor later told me a student told her “Well, I know I did C work, but I figured you’d give me an A.” Uh, wrong.

There is so much more to learn in college than what is taught in the classroom, I think it’s high time some people started to respect that.

If you leave here having never skipped a class (and I know someone who did), then I say to you: wasted opportunity.

You think you’re going to be able to pull that once you’re in the real world? Wrong. If you think there will ever be a day where you can simply say “screw this test tomorrow, it’s karaoke night” once you’re out of here, you’re crazy. And wrong.

In my view, the most mature people in college are the ones who have respect for their particular situation and are willing to have a little more fun in exchange for the B+ instead of the A-. You can either waste your time here, or enjoy it.

So next time you’re faced with this decision, I say: grow up and live a little.

Sophomore Cody Gullette was found dead in his room by a friend.

Gullette’s roommate was out of town, but when his friend entered his unlocked room, Gullette was unresponsive, according to Mark McCarthy, vice president for student affairs and Sherri Crahen, dean of students.

A call to 9-1-1 was placed at 11:47 a.m. and the University Heights Police Department arrived in Campion at 11:52 a.m., according to the UHPD incident report.

Students who were in the basement of Campion were gathered in the Campion classroom until UHPD cleared the scene at 1:48 p.m. on Sunday.

John Carroll, we have enough votes to sway this election, and I think it is our responsibility to future classes that the “Consolo administration” that he loved to reference never materializes.

Consolo began the debate with a long, superfluous tribute to University Heights’ current mayor. It’s not exactly a secret that Mayor Rothschild is no friend to JCU. Strike one.

This “business as usual” language sharply contrasted him coming dangerously close to calling himself a maverick in his closing remarks. As I recall, there was a vice presidential candidate who also attempted to embody that title recently. Strike two.

Answering a question about relations between the City and the University, Consolo said he thought we needed to “increase dialogue” between the two; I suppose that is true. Dialogue between the City and University cannot get any lower than the University sending the City it’s Master Plan over a year ago and still has not heard a response.

That is most troubling because not only is Consolo the chair of the University Affairs Committee of the University Heights City Council, he is the creator. Don’t worry though, these things take time, he really has our best interests at heart. Strike three—you’re out.

Probably the most painful part of the debate was watching Consolo take shot-after-shot at Susan Infeld, another candidate for mayor. He really should have picked up on the fact that not only was she handling his arguably rude delivery of criticism gracefully, she was turning the tables on who looked unqualified to be mayor.

I have long believed that the University needs to take a firmer stance against a city that, despite the fact that they’d barely survive without our taxes, has decided to treat the University like garbage. It seems to me the best way to do that is to start with helping to elect a mayor who is truly interested in working with JCU.

University Heights tells us when we can use our football field, where we can park and, at times, has held a notion that all JCU students do is party. They ignore the emphasis on service that JCU holds and the deep roots that Campus Ministry has in this campus.

I adhere to the idea that residents of University Heights moved into this city fully aware of the fact that there is a college in it. I’m not saying that the University should run the city, I’m aware other people live here too, but we should at least be on equal footing.

So on Nov. 3, the 700 of us that are registered to vote in this city need to go to the ballot boxes and begin the process of strengthening JCU’s stance in the city—in my opinion, the best way to do that is not a vote for Consolo.

The goal was to signal how interdependent JCU’s projected operating budget is on enrollment because, as Mausser pointed out, JCU is primarily a tuition-driven institution.

The downturn in the economy continues to affect the budget of the University, which is currently projecting a $1.75 million dollar deficit for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. However, the 2008-2009 fiscal projection estimated a $3 million deficit and the actual numbers showed a $300,000 surplus at the end of that fiscal year.

JCU’s operating budget is funded primarily through tuition. When the economy crashed, Williams said the office of admissions lowered their goal of incoming freshman in the class of 2013 to 720 students, but only 661 arrived on campus this fall.

That discrepancy in projected students to actual students is the cause of the deficit; in May of this year, Mausser presented a balanced budget to the Board of Directors that assumed an incoming freshman class of 720 students.

Williams and Mausser both discussed the tension of how to best project an accurate and balanced budget: should the University cut costs or raise tuition to cover the shortfall in projected revenues?

If tuition is raised, especially in a bad economic climate, it can push students toward lower-priced public colleges and universities, according to Williams. Cuyahoga Community College’s enrollment, for example, is up 40% this year.

Also, according to Mausser, the University cut about $4.0 million in expenses last year, and worries about the impact on students of further cuts.

The faculty, staff and administration will be having conversations with the Rev. Robert Niehoff, president of JCU, next week to get their input on the best way to move forward.

Despite all of this, Mausser stressed that the University’s balance sheet is strong because JCU’s investment assets exceed debt obligations at a ratio of about 233 percent—a ratio that is up from 187 percent in 2004.

The University’s endowment also took a severe hit of about $70 million in the last fiscal year, but has since rebounded. “We are still strong institutionally despite that loss in our endowment,” Mausser said.

Before the markets crashed, the endowment was at about $180 million—that dropped to a low of $110 million but is currently back up to about $146 million.

JCU instituted a cost-savings plan last spring, which among other things, included a new medical plan for the faculty which saved about $800,000; furloughs for administrators which saved about $750,000 and a reduction in part-time faculty.

However, enrollment is now below 3,000; JCU’s enrollment peaked at about 3,500 undergraduate students in 2001.

The goal, as stated by both Mausser and Williams, is to find a way to increase the incoming freshman classes. The Rev. Niehoff suggested, in a separate and exclusive interview with The Carroll News, that one way to do that might be to expand recruiting more strategically into the northeast Boston-Washington High School corridor.

As aforementioned, conversations will continue between staff and faculty and the Rev. Niehoff on how to best do that, but at last weeks meeting, among different ideas that were floated, were to decrease the size of the University and try to find a way to expand JCU’s academic programs that will attract more working-adults to take professional classes.

It seems to me that the Nobel Committee decided not to award Obama’s accomplishments towards peace (which even I will admit are hard to find), but rather decided to use the Nobel Peace Prize as a mechanism to yet again have an international rebuke of the George W. Bush administration’s policies towards international diplomacy.

I think that is petty and petulant; a childish “we told you so” in a world that is far too complicated for such waywardness.

President Obama has done nothing to deserve this award—the irony is rich in the Committee selecting Obama to receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize around the same time that he is announcing he will escalate a war in Afghanistan.

The Committee acknowledged Obama’s spoken commitment to solving the Israeli conflict as a reason for the award, but if they are serious about that they would have had to hand out the Prize to every sitting president since Israel was created.

It’s not hard to stand up and say that a stable Israel is important to the United States’ Middle East interests; it is, however, difficult and probably deserving of that award to actually accomplish an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Not only has Obama not come close to facilitating that agreement, he was rebuked by Israel for suggesting that he would want to broker this compromise. Shortly after his announcement, Israel came out and said that it would not happen in the near future.

In a sense this award is bad for Obama. It solidifies that even the international community believes that he is all bark and no bite—and they’re okay with that.

Even if they are, I’m not. By and large I’ve been rather happy with the President; I think he’s navigating the terrible situation that this country is in rather well, but that doesn’t mean he deserves a Nobel.

He doesn’t even think he deserved it. Him winning this prize wasn’t on his or his staff’s radar. The White House Situation Room, who monitors activity around the world, first picked up the news—they sent an e-mail to White House staffers to inform them, the subject line of which simply read “item of interest,” according to The New York Times.

The White House had no official comment for several hours after finding this out, pointing quite clearly to the fact that they were so surprised they didn’t really know what to do.

What is clear in all this, though, is the Committee who selects the Nobel Peace Laureates acted inappropriately and should be ashamed of their international conduct. A Nobel Prize should celebrate work, not condemn others. America’s image in the world was quite apparently damaged under W’s eight years, but the Nobel Committee equally damaged their reputation with their selection for the 2009 Peace Prize to go to the freshman war-time president.

In 2005, the University decided to extend Weis’ contract through 2015. Estimates from ESPN.com predict his end of that contract to come out between $30 and $40 million—and ESPN guesses he’s on the higher end of that scale. That makes him one of the highest paid coaches in college football. And for what?

I’ll concede that Weis is a terrific play-caller, and has been since his NFL play-calling days, but that’s about all he’s working with.

He has no control over his team. For those of you out there who live and die each Saturday afternoon by the Fighting Irish, you’re also looking forward to not sweating out the last few minutes of a nail biter with the Irish’s bye on Saturday. But USC is coming up—along with Pitt, Stanford and Boston College. These are not pushover teams.

The way I see it, these past four games, which have all either been decided in the last minute of regulation or over time, could and should have been different. The Irish are a better team than they’ve been playing—they just don’t have a coach.

If Weis were serious about winning games, he would’ve gotten their penalties under control after the Michigan loss, but he hasn’t. The Irish continue to take late hit personal fouls and off sides calls—at home. That is absurd.

Think about how many 10- and 15-yard losses the Irish have taken. They are killing themselves. They are a better team than Michigan, and should’ve buried Purdue, Washington and Michigan State (although I was happy to see ‘little brother’ beat the Wolverines for the second year in a row).

All the talking heads are saying that Weis is on the hot seat, but for me, his chances are up. He took Ty Willingham’s players and had a few great seasons, then came in his class.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Jimmy Clausen is a terrific quarterback and Armando Allen can catch just about anything, but that doesn’t mean much when your line is taking penalty after penalty.

A football coach worth keeping around would have spent the Monday after every eight plus penalty game running his team until they understood, without equivocation, that if they wanted to stay on the field, their total number of penalties needs to come down.

Either Weis isn’t doing this, or the team doesn’t care what he thinks, and neither is a good thing.

Weis should go back to play calling in the NFL, his attempt at head coaching college football just isn’t working out. Notre Dame has the potential to be a ranked team—they just need a leader with them to guide them through the final steps. Until they are willing to take this final step and get a coach who the players know is for real, and who can keep them from shooting themselves in the foot week after week, they will continue to simply be the most overrated team in college football.

That being said, the President is not having much success regulating the financial industry, and as is custom, the industry is taking advantage.  

Looking back about 15 months, as Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman recently pointed out, macro-economists were thrilled with themselves and the job they were doing. They truly believed that there were financial markets in place that accurately regulated and priced assets.

Then the capital markets froze, Lehman Brothers crashed, and all hell broke loose. The Dow crashed and the biggest banks in the world realized, virtually overnight, that they needed billions of dollars from the federal government or they would go belly-up; an action that in all likelihood would have sent the world economy into a free-falling, sustained depression.

Largely this happened because bank executives are hugely rewarded for short-term profits, yet there are few repercussions for the down-the-road effects of action taken to earn those short-term profits, so the executives take massive risks to earn massive profits. Oh yeah, they did that with your (or your parents’) invested money.

A year later the Troubled Asset Relief Program money is being paid back and President Obama is being credited with the stimulus bill bringing our economy back from the brink, but the banks are going back to business as usual, with one addition: they are fighting financial regulation tooth and nail.

Markets were hardly regulated before the Great Depression. The first recession in America was in 1797, just ten short years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and continued regularly until the Depression.

Roosevelt took action and regulated markets, which held the financial/insurance industry to less than four percent of GDP even in the bull-market years of the 1960s; but once Reagan deregulated markets and the insurance/financial sectors of the economy shot up to eight percent of GDP. Then Clinton decided it was a good idea not to subject financial derivatives to the scrutiny of the SEC. This crash was inevitable, because greed is hard to overcome. When a company can return investment profits of 40 percent annually without lifting a finger, there is little incentive to hold back.

So the markets crashed, and as the president has said, “we were on the brink of disaster.” And it doesn’t seem like the financial industry learned anything from this. They are back to taking investment risks, this time largely with money printed by the fed, which will greatly expedite the rate at which it will become inflationary. They are also back to bundling and trading, just life insurance policies this time instead of mortgage-backed securities.

All of this is leading to an increased urgency that the president pass financial regulation. The industry needs to know that both this administration and the American people are serious about making sure nothing like this will ever happen again.

Frank Kinmonth was a JCU sophomore.

John Carroll University was troubled last Sunday with the news that a student was found dead in his dorm room.

Nineteen-year-old sophomore Frank Kinmonth was found dead by sophomore roommate Rudy Donatelli at 3:55 a.m. in Millor Hall.

JCU responded quickly to provide support to the campus and Kinmonth’s family. “Our community is hurting,” said the Rev. Robert Niehoff, president of the University. “And that matters to us.”

Freshman Melissa Maksim, Kinmonth’s girlfriend, said “Frank was one of the better ones. He was such a happy person, loved to have a good time and loved his family and friends so incredibly much.”

Kinmonth was a member of the JCU lacrosse team and was considering a major in the Boler School of Business. Donatelli said, “[he was a] caring, generous, upbeat [person who] would do anything for us.”

According to Donatelli and Maksim, Kinmonth was a fan of fishing, the Dave Matthews Band and the Baltimore Ravens.

Donatelli placed a call to 9-1-1 once he woke up and found Kinmonth. University Heights police responded along with JCU EMS, who attempted to resuscitate Kinmonth, according to Sherri Crahen, dean of students. University Heights EMT then arrived and continued to try resuscitating Kinmonth while they transported him to South Pointe Hospital, where he was officially pronounced dead.

Area Coordinator Anne Kowalski was the first JCU staff member on the scene and began the process of notifying University officials. Crahen received a phone call from Chief of Campus Safety Services Timothy Peppard and then notified Vice President for Student Affairs Mark McCarthy. Both Crahen and McCarthy were on campus by 4:30 a.m.

Their first priority was to notify Kinmonth’s parents. His stepmother, Caroline Sanchez, lives near campus, so Crahen and McCarthy went to her house to break the news. From there they called Frank Kinmonth, Sr., who lives in Baltimore. First Sanchez spoke with Kinmonth Sr., then Crahen talked to him.

Kinmonth Sr. arrived in Cleveland later that day.

By 5 a.m. members of the JCU counseling center, residence life, campus ministry, office of student affairs and administration were on campus to begin responding to the situation.

Kinmonth’s friends who were already aware of the situation were first moved from Millor Hall to the office of residence life, then the campus ministry conference room, according to Crahen and McCarthy.

The decision was then made by members of the JCU community to begin spreading the news in an orderly manner.

Heather Losneck, director of residence life, was also serving as a JCU liaison at South Pointe and made the decision to wake up resident assistants and area coordinators to inform them, according to Crahen.

McCarthy and Crahen also sought to meet with groups that were already assembled on campus such as the sororities, which were meeting for recruitment (that was postponed) and the football team.

According to Crahen, the decision was also made to hold a prayer service that day, which was announced to the JCU community via e-mail to be held at 5 p.m.

The University has continued to provide support to those in need. Director of the University Counseling Center John Ropar has visited all of Kinmonth’s classes and the lacrosse team to offer support, according to McCarthy.

Kinmonth’s Mass of Christian Burial was yesterday at Gesu Church, and he will be buried tomorrow in Cincinnati.

“I ask that you all seek refuge in God’s love, immerse yourselves in his spirit and let’s together begin our journey to healing,” said Kinmonth Sr. in a written statement. “Peace be with us all to my son, peace be with you my little boy,” he added.

“Times such as these challenge us,” said the Rev. Robert Niehoff. “We struggle to see our loving God at work, loving Frank and loving us. We continue to share with each other the loss we feel, our questions and our tears.”

“I am grateful to the Carroll community, who once again came together to support each other and celebrate Frank’s life,” he added. “This is when JCU is at its best.”

It’s not entirely your fault, I do appreciate that you’re trapped in a failed system, but it’s time to pick up the slack.

The roads, lights and traffic patterns around here make absolutely no sense. It’s like the city planners were a little hung over, so they gave their 6-year-old child a crayon and a piece of paper and said “tell me where I should put roads, and that will be where I put them.”

Either that or intersections were drawn with the intention of making them the highest possible accident risk intersections in America.

The Cleveland drivers default move is to slam on the brake. No matter what happens, you all brake; every single one of you. This action is conducive to accidents.

People are talking a lot about preventative healthcare in the current debate, and I think some Ohio congresspeople should seriously consider earmarking money to beef up drivers-ed programs in Cleveland.

Stoplights are more like recommendations to you people, and stop signs are apparently optional if they have the white outlining.

For a Cleveland driver, if there’s a car in a lane that you would rather be in then they should get the hell out of your way—I mean what are they thinking just driving there?

Realizing this makes me feel bad. I used to make fun of CN Editor in Chief Rachel Szuch because she has a 1:1 ratio of minutes lived to accidents gotten in, and it really isn’t her fault that much.

I read a study on MSNBC.com over the summer that said Cleveland had the most courteous drivers in America, and I’m not sure what the guys who did that survey were smoking, but it was intense.

I mean I don’t get the middle finger the way I do in Chicago or have in New York. I’ve never been to L.A., but I hear driving there is a beast in its own league, and so in that sense, I suppose you are all very nice, but that doesn’t make you good.

Sometimes I wonder if there’s a big contest I’m not aware of to see who, in fact, can be the worst driver on the road. One guy I saw last Sunday was reading a book while driving—I’ve seen that other places too, but at least when that happens in Chicago the driver is periodically looking up and checking on the road. Not so much with my dude yesterday—that must have been the most interesting chapter of any book ever.

My main point here is I only have until December left in this city, and I would like to see my way through to that point without sustaining any serious injuries. So I’m asking all of you to help me. Please don’t get in an accident with me. They haven’t passed healthcare reform, yet, and I’m not sure I can afford the damage you people are capable of.

Now there are nay-sayers out there who will claim that all I’m doing is having fun at other peoples’ expense and it’s an immature and petty thing to do, but I say to all of you that you are only looking at the surface of my intentions.

I’m a firm believer that only about 30 percent of the total amount that you learn in college is in the classroom. There are so many things that you learn about life, yourself and the way that other people act that are equally as important as what you learn in the classroom. And, to be frank, there are some people who need more learning in that department than others. 

Looking back over my four years at Carroll, the school should’ve paid me to come here. I have the equivalent of a Ph.D. in helping those that are lacking in “street smarts” double-time their education.

Everyone has a few friends who could use some life lessons (sometimes the hard way) and I think I can help you teach them. After all, isn’t it better that you teach them and everyone gets to share a laugh rather than them doing something truly stupid where they wind up in jail?

The first person who could use a lesson is the overly gullible friend. There was a friend of mine who we convinced that he stabbed someone. 

I’m dead serious. 

The best part of this was it wasn’t planned out. He was playing with a knife, and we started joking around, until we realized that he was seriously buying what we were selling. So we kept selling until the sale was complete. I truly believe that my buddy will never take anything that absurd at face value again, which I think is a good thing. You’re welcome.

The second lesson is never let down your guard on April Fools’ Day. This I think was one of the most amusing days of my entire life (even though we got the idea from a Plain Dealer article). We put an ad on Craig’s List that said “My girlfriend will dump me if I don’t get rid of my Nintendo Wii, so I’m giving it away for free to the first person to call this number,” and then put his phone number. Thirty calls in eight minutes. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of April Fools’ Day.

One person who can always use a good dose of reality is a friend who possibly has gotten too big for their britches. While I had very little to do with this particular prank, it was hilarious and worthy of column inches. Pick one embarrassing event out of that person’s life, and write a cover song to a popular song about them. Then record it and play that song at a party. Trust me, it’s worth the effort.

Those are a few prime examples of how I believe practical jokes make the world better both by acting as a valuable learning exercise and making people laugh. I hope you can try one of these, or think of something better. And if you do, be sure to drop me an e-mail and let me know about it.

The Rev. Niehoff, in an e-mail sent to the JCU community, said that he has “gratefully accepted this honor and challenge.” The Rev. Niehoff also said that he was proud of his many achievements over the last five years, including a long-term plan for the University and acknowledged that these are tough times and sacrifices have been made.

When it comes time for the BOD to determine whether or not they will offer the current president another term, the first step is bringing in an outside consulting firm for higher education, according to Jonathan Smith, vice president and executive assistant to the president.

Lisa Debick, administrative assistant to the president, said that Zedie Bowen and Timothy Sullivan from the nationally recognized consulting firm Association of Governing Boards were brought in to conduct an extensive evaluation of the president’s performance. The consultant Zedie Bowen has no relation to JCU’s Associate Academic Vice President for Academic Programs and Faculty Diversity, Lauren Bowen.

Members of the BOD, faculty and students who sat on BOD committees were on a list of potential interviewees given to the firm and they made the decision on who to interview from that list. However, it was not made clear to the Rev. Niehoff who was interviewed by AGB, so he could not provide that information. 

      Smith said, “Those with a long-term view of the University [were interviewed] so they could put it [Rev. Niehoff’s job performance] in context.”

Once this comprehensive evaluation is completed, it is turned over to the BOD for their decision. There are 44 members of the BOD, many of whom are successful JCU alumni or clergy members, and it takes a simple majority to retain a president. However, “Father got overwhelming support [from the Board],” said Laurie Frantz, assistant to the president and secretary to the board of directors.

Smith offered an explanation for the Rev. Niehoff’s strong support. “In this case it was a fairly easy decision [for the BOD] to make,” Smith said. “Father has managed the University through difficult times and is very much a strategic thinker. The Board can appreciate that.”

He added, the Rev. Niehoff “has an emphasis on strategy and planning which takes a lot of the guess work out of where the University is going.” 

While Smith did acknowledge that there may be instances in which a BOD might consider keeping on a president simply to avoid the stressful transition on a University, he made it very clear that that played no role in this decision.

“The president has a very good working relationship with the board,” he said.

“Board members are crucial partners in setting Carroll’s future strategic directions,” said the Rev. Niehoff. “Their concern for the quality of learning and campus community at Carroll is inspiring to me.”

According to Smith, the BOD did not consider any other candidates for president.

Despite the fact that the Rev. Niehoff received such strong support from the BOD, there are still areas where he believes he can improve. The areas in need of improvement include communicating more effectively JCU’s uniqueness to the outside world.

“After 123 years of student, faculty, staff and alumni educational excellence, John Carroll should be better known for what it is—a premier institution offering a Catholic Jesuit, liberal arts based, university education to talented and successful high school students who want to achieve more,” the Rev. Niehoff said. “The intellectual rigor of a John Carroll education and the quality of our dedicated faculty are things we can all celebrate.”

The Rev. Niehoff, inaugurated in Oct. 2005, is JCU’s twenty-fourth president.

The thing that bothers me the most, and may actually shape the way that I obtain my news for the rest of my life, is cable news.

From what I’ve seen this summer I have come to hold such contempt for every commentator I’ve ever heard—they aren’t playing a serious role in this very serious debate, and I think it’s tragic.

While I admit I favor reform, and my ideological views fall more with MSNBC than with FOX, I cannot watch any of it anymore—except Glenn Beck, he’s hilariously insane.

The problem is that these “pundits” are not doing their jobs: a pundit is supposed to provide insight. We turn to these people on cable news because of their experience and knowledge, which should be how they get their particular gig, but they are behaving more like actors than analyzers. 

For example, this particular column was written on Monday night as we go to print on Tuesday night, but I can already tell you what the commentators will say after President Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.

Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow will say he is bringing about the aggressive change that he promised and the American people mandated and Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity will say that he has a hopelessly liberal agenda which will, in the end, bring ruin to this country. Add hyperbole as you will to both of those statements.

Now I’m 22-years-old, and have very limited political experience, and yet I can rattle off the talking points for both sides—and in case any show is interested in signing a new commentator, I think I can do just as well for less than half the money the cable companies are currently paying their pundits.

The Pew Research Center for the People and Press have suggested that in our demographic, adults aging from 18-25, 13 percent of us watch “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” for news, while 10 percent watch “The Big Three” news sources—ABC, CBS or NBC—and after seeing what I’ve seen this summer, it’s not hard to imagine why. 

Stewart, while at times ridiculous, always calls it like he sees it, no matter what party the politician is from, and understands that there is a real debate that should happen. 

It’s problematic that while Congress and the President attempt to reform 18 percent of the United States’ economy the right questions and valued analysis isn’t being put forth, but instead stories about people screaming in town hall meetings or standing outside with guns, are what’s making headlines.

Pundits have a great responsibility to a functional democracy. If no meaningful reform occurs, whatever that may mean, I’m looking to them more than anyone else as the people who truly failed this country.

The people in charge of Relay, and the Relay participants, do a fantastic job; it’s a great event that raises a great deal of money for cancer research.  I say we should Relay wherever we want for a night.

What’s the worst thing that could happen? I highly doubt the University gets cited for a noise violation during Relay.  If we do, send the ticket to me – I won’t pay it. I hope they cuff me – a picture of me in the silver bracelets will play really well for the city in The Plain Dealer.

It has always seemed a little ridiculous to me that the city tries to push around the University the way they do. I understand that residents of the city want a peaceful neighborhood where they aren’t woken up by loud students coming home from a party, however, I don’t have a terrible amount of sympathy for them.

Here’s some insight, University Heights: You moved next to a college. You’re surprised that college students party or that its football team wants to have games under the lights? If that’s the case, I’m guessing you either went to Grove City College or you were the RA who treated your job like you’re in the military. Everyone really likes that RA.

In an effort to keep tensions low, the University tries to be a good neighbor and concedes a great deal of authority to the city, but we shouldn’t for Relay. If neighbors of the University can’t sleep one night out of the year because most of the students have decided to take time out of their incredibly busy schedules to raise money for cancer research, I say “good.” Come join Relay, maybe we can make more money.

Due to a law passed last year, I paid $4 to the state of Ohio and $18 to the city of University Heights in income tax. That seems a little backwards to me and is simply another example, in a long list of examples, showing that University Heights is “out to get” John Carroll.

The city refuses to admit the positives that the University brings to this community. We do a significant amount of community service both in the Cleveland and world communities; we pay way too much in income tax; and we pay a significant amount of sales tax on all the beer we buy. I don’t think the city would be able to go on without the financial support we bring.

Next year, let’s just say, “screw it – arrest me” to the city. We can be as good, or as bad, as the city wants us to be, but I don’t think we should budge one inch on where we hold our Relay For Life. It is far too good of a cause, and we already do far too much to make this city happy.

Needless to say, when I was working on a paper a few days ago in Microsoft Word and it recommended that I change “you’re” to “you is,” I came about as close as I ever have to throwing my computer out the window.

Facebook is a perfect example of how content some people are with presenting their thoughts so poorly. I signed on the other day and saw a status from someone I knew in high school that seriously read: “yesterday was the worst day of my life and it has continued into today cuz i hafta wrtie a important paper in a matter of hours from scratch… o yea almost forgot [explative] rome.”

Not only do I not have a clue what that means, I count upwards of 10 errors in that run-on. I’m guessing once you clean it up, there are errors that we can’t see yet.

It doesn’t make sense to me when people think that is an okay way to present their thoughts or feelings. After reading that particular passage, I found myself hoping his day and all of his days after that got progressively worse until he figured out how to articulate himself in a way that would suggest he passed third grade.

The abbreviations that people use seem odd to me, as well. Is it really too much work to type out “be right back?” I don’t think so.

The constant use of “omg” is another problem. First of all, how does God feel about being referred to as simply “g”? I bet He doesn’t like it. Also, does using “g” instead of the actual word mean you haven’t taken the lord’s name in vain? I’m not sure, but anyone who says “omg,” stay away from me on the quad; if the big guy’s coming for you, I want no part of that.

Fone is not the same as phone; it’s not even a word and makes you sound phony. Their does not equal there, which does not equal they’re, the same way that to, too and two are not interchangeable. “Sry” is not substantially shorter than sorry, and might be taken as less sincere. If you really made a fool of yourself last weekend, you may be better off just using the full word when trying to explain to your significant other why you weren’t wearing pants.

I do not accept when you use except incorrectly, and there is a difference between who and whom. You didn’t play good; you played well, and a comma is not the same thing as a semi-colon – the extra dot tells you so.

There is truly nothing more frustrating than when you see these problems over and over; at some point, you’re in college – act like it.

Facebook is a great tool to stay in touch with long-lost friends who you otherwise probably would never have talked to after you graduated high school, not an opportunity for you to prove to old friends (and potential employers) that u r not write good.

From English to Accounting, every major has the people who make you truly resent a class you would ordinarily enjoy – the over-participator.

My limited understanding of pedagogy tells me that any form of upper-level course educates by challenging beliefs. One person thinks one thing, another person thinks another thing, and both of those opinions need an opportunity to be brought to fruition.

This doesn’t work so well with the over-participator.

You know what kind of person I’m talking about; the person who talks way too much, even by my standards. The student in class who thinks the 19 other people in the room will greatly benefit from hearing what they think about every single comment and issue.

This person usually comes to class prepared in an unconventional way. They haven’t done the assigned reading, per se, but they have been watching CNBC or listening to NPR.

That is how they will introduce their first comment of the class: “Well last night, while I was watching CNN…” Once that first comment is out there, it’s free reign on the rest of the class period.

The worst part about this person is the way they speak in absolutes and will openly mock any other opinion that is raised. They will then begin to build popular support around what they think.

You’ll say something, then hear a comment come from the corner.  The over-participator has rebutted whatever ignorant and unsupported thing you have said and has moved on to nudging the people around them, usually following that with a “check out this guy.”

From that point on the over-participator will continue to rebut anything else that is said by others – even, at times, the professor. When they are done gracing the class with their brilliant insight and ground-breaking thoughts the class will be over and it is time to leave.

News flash, over-participator: you don’t have a Ph.D.; you don’t have a master’s degree; nor do you have a bachelor’s degree – you are a student, just like everyone else.

I say it’s time to take a stand against the over-participator. Once the consensus of the class is that a certain person has become an over-participator, start interrupting them. Then fight fire with fire; build your own support against that person. It’s not inappropriate to call them out in front of the whole class, nor is it inappropriate to directly ask them a question that they would have no way of knowing the answer.

Kindly reminding an over-participator that they are not the supreme being of knowledge, is not always such a bad thing. A certain lesson in humility can come from these actions.

The true crime is when others don’t get a chance to speak. People who choose to participate in class usually do so at a time when they feel that they have a particularly well thought-through insight to offer the class, and suppressing that is the real crime.

Also it sets the bar much higher to get an A in participation if you allow the over-participator to dominate the class discussion–something no one wants to deal with.

1. Date someone whose parents are loaded.
   In order for this to be effective, you need to write home to their house at least twice a week requesting money so that you can “treat their child right.”
2. Don’t discriminate based on gender.
   If the woman pays, it doesn’t mean chivalry is dead; it means equality is alive.
3. Box of wine.
   It’s cheaper and you don’t need a corkscrew. Also, don’t be a fool, SUPB cups work.
4. Make your own presents.
   Elbow macaroni and construction paper aren’t just for kindergarteners; they’re also for serious daters. For the card, go to the store and copy a Hallmark slogan, then draw some pictures on the front and end it with an “XOXO (insert name here).”
5. Don’t be a hero; you have a meal plan.
   Guest swipes aren’t off limits as far as paying for your date goes (never actually pay cash for JCU dining).
6. Always be prompt.
   Another idea is to take standard date ideas and put a money-saving twist on them. Have your date meet you for coffee, but make sure you get there about 15 minutes early. That way you can pick out a table and order yourself a drink before your date arrives, so that he or she will have to pay for his/her own drink. Moral? Perhaps not. Financially wise? You better believe it. Also, you’ll save money because you won’t have to worry about paying for a second date.
7. Fast food has dollar menus for a reason.
   If your date is unhappy about you sticking him or her with his/her own coffee bill, you can always head to Taco Bell and buy a meal for under a dollar. Not only does this keep the amount of money you spend on your date under a dollar, but it also puts you back in his or her good graces with triple layer nachos or a cheesy double beef burrito.
   McDonald’s, Wendy’s and KFC all have cheap ways to feed your date. Use them.
8. Gift cards are not out of line.
   You need to use those Christmas gifts at some point, might as well be on your date.
9. Use movies for inspiration.
   If you’re looking to recreate a movie-like romance, you and your date can take a pottery class together. Odds are the two of you will be able to make something more useful and practical than Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore did in “Ghost.”
10. Pheromones.
    Sticking with the movie theme, you can always watch a movie that you already own. Just be sure to put on clean clothes and Febreze the couch before your date arrives. There is nothing worse than having your date wonder whether it’s you or your couch that smells.
11. Carroll Cash
    You need to be resourceful, so use what you have. The money is already on the card, and there’s no point in saving it. Plus your date might think you’re swiping your gold card. Who says the Inn Between can’t be romantic? You’ll be blessed with good karma at the checkout when told, “Have a good night!”

There are infinite possibilities. It is all just a matter of finding something cool that does not break the bank. Whatever you do, just do not pay with your credit card because if the date does not go well, the last thing you will want is a bill in the mail a month later.

During an interview for a previous story in The Carroll News on this topic, resident Regina Sweeney had said the Condo Association would be dropping their lawsuit due to financial constraints, but according to JCU’s general counsel, Maria Alfaro-Lopez, they didn’t. 

Once they opted to continue with the suit, the court ruled in favor of JCU. 

In their ruling, the court granted JCU’s summary judgment motion, which means that the court accepts the facts of the case that JCU is not responsible for the deteriorating wall. 

Therefore, they are not required to finance a new one, a project that could have cost up to $60,000. 

“We feel of course vindicated, by the court’s ruling in our favor,” Lopez said. 

The court also granted summary judgment in JCU’s favor on their counterclaim which the University filed to cover the costs the it incurred on outside legal counsel.

JCU will continue to pursue recovering its full costs. 

“The resources we were forced to expend in defending this lawsuit could have instead gone to support the University’s educational responsibilities to our students and our community,” Lopez said. 

“We will continue to pursue reimbursement of any and all costs we have expended due to the condo association’s wrongful actions and suit.” 

A date has yet to be set for a hearing to determine the amount of damages.

Vice President of Business Affairs Mike Dietz cast the tie breaking vote in favor of the bill. Normally, the tie-breaking vote goes to the Executive Vice President, Molly Delaney, but she was not in attendance.

Previously, a potential candidate for the SU Executive Board or Senate did not need approval from the dean of students to run. However, the dean did reserve the right, if sanctions called for it, to prohibit a student from holding office.

“As an Executive Board, we presented this bill and when we did, we evaluated several scenarios. The dean of students has the power to stop a person from being in office, so why can we not just have a clause preventing them from running in the first place?” said Dietz.

Class of 2009 Senator Alex Lendrum disagreed with Dietz. “I think that giving final say to the dean of students has inherent problems. What would constitute severe enough disciplinary standing is not outlined in the bill itself. It largely leaves the decision up to the judgment of one administrator,” he said.

Lendrum also raised the point that the passing of this bill gives the administration too much power. “I cannot see any reason why we should give the sole responsibility of having final say in the composition of membership of these student representative organizations to a non-student administrator,” he said.

Current 2009 Class President Pat McDermott said, “The dean is the only person who can review a student’s records.” This would mean that the dean of students is the only person with the capacity to evaluate a potential candidate.

McDermott does admit, “There is some grey area. Obviously you don’t want to hand a great deal of power to the administration.”

If a sitting senator or executive board member is cited under the University’s disciplinary code while sitting in office their case will not be heard by the Dean of Students but rather by the Judicial Hearing Board.

The Hearing Board has the ability to review a single instance which violates the disciplinary code but the dean of students remains the only person to have the ability to access student records.

This bill will take affect for next year’s elections, but sitting Senators and Executive Board members next semester will be subject to Judicial Board review.

Through the Eyes of a Child is an annual event in which children are able to participate in crafts, listen to a story, decorate cookies, watch a play, take a picture with Santa Claus and enjoy a Christmas lunch.

These children are paired up with a JCU student for the afternoon, and the students give them a present from the child’s Christmas wish list at the end of the day.

Through the Eyes of a Child is sponsored through Circle K, a service-oriented student organization. This is the 13th year that JCU has put on the program.

Over 150 JCU students donated their time and efforts to create a special Christmas experience for the second and third grade students of Buhrer Elementary in Cleveland.

“I feel that this is an important event for JCU students because it’s a chance for us to give back to our local community,” said junior Doug Walton, president of Circle K.

“Many of these children might not have the opportunity to have a nice Christmas celebration, so we try to provide that for them,” he said.

Through the Eyes of a Child received a positive response from the JCU community, as more students show interest in the event each year.

JCU students are given the opportunity to reach out as a role model and friend to a young inner-city child.
“I made the decision to participate because I thought of my five-year-old sister, and how much she would love something like Through the Eyes of a Child,” said junior Erin Borger.

Borger was one of Santa’s elves during the four hour event.

“The idea of making a child’s day by buying them a small gift and hanging out with them for a few hours was enough motivation for me,” she said.

Several student organizations also participated in Through the Eyes of a Child, including Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Kappa Psi.

Junior Ryan Schoonmaker ran one of the activities with fellow members of Christian Life Communities.
“I helped the children create a reindeer out of clothes pins, googly-eyes, pipe cleaners and ribbons,” said Schoonmaker.

“I really enjoyed being able to be with all of the children and just talk to them about their day, Christmas and sing Christmas songs with them,” he added.

Through the Eyes of a Child is one of the many events on campus that allows students to embody the full meaning of the Christmas spirit.

“Christmas time brings about a sense of compassion and giving, something very evident here at John Carroll through events like Through the Eyes of a Child,” said Borger.

She added, “My advice to all is to keep your Christmas heart open all year round.”

The two leaders signed a reconciliation pact that covered a wide range of issues. Not the least of which is the fact that they are finally going to try to replace the cease-fire that stopped the fighting of the Korean War in 1953. Offically, the war never ended, according to The Associated Press.

This pact came the day after North Korea made its firmest commitment to nuclear disarmament yet. This would have the country’s nuclear program completely dismantled by the end of the year, if everything goes according to plan.

According to The AP, this pact states that “the South and North shared the view that they should end the current armistice regime and establish a permanent peace regime.” The two countries also “agreed to cooperate to push for the issue of declaring the end” of the Korean War.

This pact is very beneficial for Asia, especially South Korea, who invested a significant amount of money in North Korea’s economy and has a vested interest in it’s future.

“South Korea does not want either North Korean troops nor do they want North Korean refugees,” said Pamela Mason, professor of political science at John Carroll University.

China also has a great deal of interest in the outcome of North Korea. They are the only country with any leverage left, because they are one of the only nation’s that has a non-aggressive relationship with North Korea.

They also supply them with oil and some food. One part of the pact that is unclear is what will happen to the weapons-grade enriched plutonium that will be left with North Korea. An editorial in the Oct. 8 The New York Times suggested that China take physical possession of the 50 Kilo’s of plutonium. “China is better than leaving it with Korea,” Mason said.

The other option is the International Atomic Energy Agency, but North Korea does not trust them, according to The AP.

There is some concern that if left in Korea, their leader Kim Jong Il would try to sell the plutonium. North Korea also does not trust the United States. “We [The U.S.] have in some ways boxed ourselves in a corner with a policy of advocating regime change, not only in Korea, but in other countries too,” said Mason.

“North Korea is blackmailing the world and that’s something that needs to be understood,” said Roger Purdy, associate professor of history. “The United States doesn’t like to be blackmailed and the current administration isn’t willing to be blackmailed.”

This is being done to improve both the efficiency of the process and the number of students who will actually vote. Last year there were around 1,000 students who cast votes.

“It’s [changing to an online voting structure] very tricky,” said Andy Costigan, Student Union President. “We’ll be able to work it out though, I’m not worried.”

Currently the tentative structure of the online voting would be to use Blackboard, the Web site that John Carroll University uses as a means of communication between faculty and students.

“I’m really excited, bringing voting online is with the times and any attempt to make it easier to vote shows that we want you [the student body] to vote,” Costigan said.

His expression of wanting students to vote is conducive with increasing the total number of votes, although he admits “I’m not sure of a fair amount to estimate will vote; we haven’t really talked about it yet.”

To increase accessibility to the voting process there will be two options in order to vote.

An all-student e-mail will be sent with a link to the voting Web site and voting computers both in the Atrium and outside of Einstein Bros.’ Bagels in the Administration Building will be available.

There will be a way to monitor that everyone can only vote once.

Senior Ruth Tynen, this year’s election chair, said, “There may be some confusion during the Senate elections if people have taken more or less credits than the class that they belong to. For instance, if a junior came in with credits and is listed as a senior. But, we’re working all these kinks out hopefully.”

Tynen also expressed that currently everything is on schedule to have the online elections up and running by this November’s election time.

She also said, “The idea of electronic voting isn’t new. There are quite a few universities that have online elections, especially bigger campuses. Using paper ballots can be time consuming for the people who have to count them, and often people won’t go out of their way to vote.”

Junior David Brahler and JCU director of Instructional Technology Services Jay Tarby are working on the technical aspects of the online voting.

Brahler refused to comment on progress at this time because the first batch of troubleshooting is not yet underway.

Each song throughout the album has a different feel and tells a different message. This is typical of Kanye, and if you like that about his work, this album is sure to not disappoint.

There are a few times when he uses rather intense words and phrases, but if you’re a fan of West that is something that you would expect before you picked up this album.

Most of the songs have an introduction that does not seem to go with the song at first but they seem to flow once the beat picks up.

In his radio hit “Stronger,” Kanye jokes about how great he is. He uses a lot of phrasing that suggests what you would like or do in a situation, then says how whatever he is looking for is better. Apparently doing anything for a klondike [bar] isn’t in style anymore.

The album has several songs that have hit potential on it, including “Stronger.” The others are “I Wonder” and “Good Life.”

Although “Stronger” is the current radio hit, the song “Good Life” is arguably a better song and the best song on this album. Kanye talks about living life to the fullest no matter what anyone else says or thinks. He uses phrases like “the good life, let’s go on a living’ spree” and “if they hate then let ‘em hate and watch the money pile up” to demonstrate this point.

There are a few rather interesting songs though, like “Drunk and Hot Girls,” which talks about meeting girls in a club and how he would like to take them home with him.

Kanye features several other artists on this album as well like T-Pain, Lil’ Wayne, Dwele and Chris Martin.

A slower and lighter song on the album is “Everything I Am.” It features a light piano along with a softer beat and talks about how “everything I’m not made me everything I am.”

The intro song, “Good Morning,” talks about getting through High School and out into the real world.

He depicts the average high school career as just a struggle of getting by and also talks about the interaction between peers. This song also features a softer beat.

The last song on the album, “Big Brother,” talks about his older brother being his mentor and how his brother is who he always strived to be, “at the Grammys I said I inspired me, but my big brother who I always tried to be.”

This album, as usual with Kanye’s work, has a different message in every song. Whether it be sarcastic or a critique of problems within our society, Kanye covers it all.

Overall this album is fantastic. It has strong beats and very well thought-out “raps.” Kanye’s still got it.

A committee has been put into place to handle purely the academic aspect of an emergency or disaster on campus.

“We wanted, as an institution, to create a comprehensive plan in case the University would need to be shut down,” said Nick Santilli, associate academic vice president for planning and assessment.
The main focus is to figure out how to proceed with classes if either the campus had to be evacuated or quarantined.

One possibility that Santilli suggested was to migrate courses to the Web. There are very realistic problems with this situation though, such as students with internships and students in the natural sciences who have to attend lab courses. These are the dilemmas that the committee faces.

This is not the first time that a plan like this has been put into place. JCU has had different plans as to how to respond academically to an emergency, but from time to time these plans need to be updated, according to Santilli.

“One thing that really needs to be done is we need to think more deeply about the various types of things that challenge institutions,” said Santilli.

The three things that this committee will really be looking at are the recent Virginia Tech Shootings, the outbreak of the Avian Flu, and Hurricane Katrina.

Although these are three significant events, this committee will be planning for much more than simply these three events. Everything from a tornado to an armed intruder to a pandemic breaking on campus will be covered.

“One problem in creating something like this is the line is changed with each new event,” Santilli said.
This committee is still in a very preliminary stage. They have not actually met for the first time quite yet.
There is another committee on campus that has been established for over a year, which would deal with how the campus as a community would respond to an emergency.

One good thing about the academic committee is that the Associate Deans of the Boler, Liberal Arts & Sciences and the Graduate school will all sit on it so that this plan can be tailored to the individual needs of each department.

Santilli specified that although JCU has a variety of unique needs as an institution there are also parts of plans that other universities have implemented that could be used here on campus.

Because the committee has not yet officially met it is difficult to lay out a timetable of when the plan will be finished.

However, Santilli said, “I’m hoping we’ll make some progress this academic year.”