By Danny Horne staff reporter Students such as senior criminal justice major Flor Rodriquez and junior criminal justice major Chris Ray must decide whether they can afford to return to TCU next semester. They must make this decision without knowing the financial aid they may or may not receive. Michael Scott, director of scholarships and student financial aid, said next fall's tuition and fees increase brings a need for more financial aid, but not all students can be covered. "Even if we increase institutional funding, we still need the federal funds to increase, too," Scott said. "That does not always happen, so we cannot expect that everyone will get exactly what they need." Rodriguez and Ray both said they wondered about the use of the university's endowment in terms of funding for financial aid. Currently, TCU uses 5.8 percent of its estimated $800 million endowment for its annual budget, including the disbursement of financial aid. However, the Board of Trustees recently approved a proposal to reduce the amount of endowment spending to 5 percent over the next five years. "I do not understand why they need to raise our costs when it seems that they already have enough money to cover whatever I am paying extra for," Rodriquez said. Scott said administrators cannot take too much out of the endowment despite how simple it may look to everyone. "We know it would be easy to say 'just take more from the endowment,' but it is not that easy," Scott said. "When balancing the budget, we have to not only look at today but also 15 years from now." But some current TCU students said they do not really care about what happens with TCU 15 years down the road, especially when they will be asked to donate more money after they graduate. "I think it is funny that they will increase tuition on me now and then ask me to pay again when I get out," Ray said. Leo Munson, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said he would not know the exact amount of financial aid money available for next fall until March or April. "We expect a similar increase to last year's $1 million (in federal funds) for financial aid, so we can implement more new programs," Munson said. Scott said he expects the Returning Students Scholarship, The Study Abroad Programs and the Community Scholars Program to be used again next fall. "We had some programs that we implemented aside from the regular financial aid last fall, but I cannot decide on those programs for next year entirely until we have an exact amount of available funding," Scott said. Scott said the early notification of increasing tuition and fees, although timely, was mainly geared toward helping the incoming students. Current students were made aware of the probability of tuition increases over their college careers when they originally applied, he added. Ray said most students will not recall being told of the increases.
Danny Horne
By Jaime Walker staff reporter Few college students have the time or energy to get involved in politics after their classes and social lives, said Lisa Richardson, volunteer coordinator for the Tarrant County Democratic Party. "It is amazing how busy college can be," she said. "I just wish students understood that this is the time of year to pay attention to what goes on." With many states holding presidential primary elections in the next two weeks, political news is prominent on the national landscape. Students such as Christa Baker, a junior biology major and president of the TCU College Republicans, said students need to take personal interest in the issues. "A lot of students just have a hard time seeing how things like Medicare and Social Security are relevant, but it is important to vote and know what you are voting for because these issues will have an impact on them," she said.
"When we each cast a vote, we say, 'I feel this candidate will do the best job of representing what I and others like me stand for,'" she said. Although few TCU students said they work on political campaigns, there are two on-campus organizations dedicated to political activism. The TCU College Republicans and the Leftist Student Union are designed to give students the opportunity to share political perspectives, said Andy Fort, an associate professor of religion. "One of the virtues of a residential college is that you have the opportunity to seek out the different perspectives right around you," he said. "Students here don't often take advantage of that opportunity, but they do have the chance." Amber Ross, a senior philosophy major and member of LSU, said the organization allows people to enhance their worldviews. "We take social and political issues and then attempt to show how they are applicable to the real world," she said. "That's what we need around here." Baker said College Republicans offers students a similar forum to discuss what is occurring in the political realm. "It is all about sharing information," she said. "You can't vote without information, and voting is a right we all need to exercise."
"You should have no right to complain about what goes on if you did not personally take a proactive role in government," he said. Richardson said the college-age vote has become increasingly important to political candidates because people between the ages of 18 and 24 can make a difference in an election. "Candidates understand they may not get elected by college students alone but that their policies will impact that age group in the future," she said. All of the major presidential candidates are targeting young voters, especially through the Internet. Democratic candidate Al Gore's Web site states that the youth of America will play a crucial role in helping him obtain his party's nomination. According to voter registration records for Tarrant County, people ages 18 to 24 have a consistently low voter turnout for both parties. Before the Texas presidential primary on March 14, a voter registration drive will take place around the state, particularly on college campuses, including TCU, Richardson said. "I wish students understood what an important role they can play in the political process," she said. "What better time than now to figure out what you believe and take a political stand."
Jaime Walker
By Victor Drabicky staff reporter When Tom Sullivan walked into his office for the first time Thursday, he was overwhelmed with memories. "Being a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and having my stepmom go to TCU, I spent a lot of time up here," Sullivan said. "Whether it was asking a girl to be my girlfriend, or going to a church dance or prayer meeting, the memories came rushing back." But Sullivan said the Disciples of Christ affiliation was only part of the reason he accepted TCU's director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs position. "When I started looking for a job back in January, I knew exactly what I wanted," Sullivan said. "I wanted to be a (fraternity/sorority) director at a small, preferably private, school in a metro area in Texas. When I heard TCU had an opening, I knew it was where I wanted to be." Sullivan, a graduate student at Texas A&M University, will make the three-hour commute every Wednesday night to perform his job at TCU. Director of Special Projects and Student Affairs Rick Barnes said he was impressed with Sullivan when he first met him at an Association of Greek Advisers convention in Colorado. However, Sullivan said it took numerous phone calls and a phone interview to land him the job at TCU. "I called (Barnes) as soon as I got home from the convention," Sullivan said. "After talking with him, I set up a phone interview with (Interfraternity Council President) Walker Moody and (Panhellenic President) Elizabeth Gipson three days before Christmas." Sullivan said he was even more confident following his phone interviews. "I was sold," he said. "(Moody) and (Gipson) were great, everything I had hoped for. With that being my first real interaction with students, I was more than impressed." Sullivan said following the interview, he was invited to help coordinate a retreat for Greek leaders in mid-January. "I tend to know good students from bad students," Sullivan said. "When I went on the retreat, I saw a group of great students that had great potential." Barnes said he was impressed with Sullivan's past experiences and the qualities he exhibited on the retreat. "I had heard good things about (Sullivan) but hadn't personally been able to work with him," Barnes said. "After seeing him in the Greek retreat, I was really impressed with his ability to make things work." Bill Kibler, associate vice president of student affairs at A&M and Sullivan's associate for the past two years, said TCU is lucky to end up with Sullivan. "Tom is great to work with," Kibler said. "Tom is very professional but is very humorous at the same time. He knows when to work and when to play. It's obviously a loss for us, but we are happy to see him go to a quality school where he will be surrounded by real professionals." Sullivan said he isn't worried that the three-hour trek from A&M to TCU will burn him out. "I've worked two and three jobs at a time before," Sullivan said. "I leave A&M just so that I can walk into my office. I am home."
Victor Drabicky
By Reagan Duplisea staff reporter The Undergraduate Experience task force is giving current students a voice in how the university can better provide for future students, task force members said. "I think this is the task force (more than any other) where students have a say in the direction the university is taking," said Ben Alexander, a task force member and former Student Government Association president. The Undergraduate Experience task force is one of 17 groups in the Commission on the Future of TCU, which was established by Chancellor Michael Ferrari to determine how the university can "move to the next level of academic distinction." Alexander said the task force has been getting student input and conducting research to see what kinds of experiences undergraduates are having and what TCU can do to make those experiences better. Mike Sacken, task force member and a professor of education, said the group heard input regarding what improvements undergraduates would like from three panels of five students each. Each panel focused on a different issue of undergraduate life including academic, co-curricular and overall TCU community experiences. Kelly Connelly, a student panelist and senior ballet and modern dance major, said task force members asked the students about living on campus and organizational involvement. Connelly said she was the only female of the five students on the panel, but there were a variety of organizations represented. "That's not accurate population-wise," Connelly said. "But I think they got a pretty good grasp of activities on campus." Sacken said the task force is trying to get a variety of student opinion from panel members and from the student members of the task force. Don Mills, task force facilitator and vice chancellor for student affairs, said the group considered taking a student survey, but results would not have been ready in time for the task force to complete its final report by June. Mills said the task force might work with the MBA program to take a survey from a sampling of students to get more input. The group has discussed freshmen programs, classroom and out-of-classroom experiences and campus and community experiences, Mills said. Other issues the group plans to address include faculty as mentors, University Curriculum Requirements and enhancing diversity, Mills said. Task force members have been researching programs at other universities to see what may and may not work at TCU, Mills said. Recently, they studied the learning community system at Rice University, where students and, occasionally, professors, live in residence halls according to their majors. "It's great for establishing a residence hall community, but it's more difficult to get a campus-wide community," Mills said. David Grant, a task force member and an associate professor of religion, said he would like to see the group address whether TCU is an "intellectual community." "The heart of the college experience should be about developing the mind," Grant said. "I don't have any specific recommendations, but I'm going to push that issue because it's important to the whole undergraduate experience." Alexander said he was impressed by the open-mindedness of the task force's members. "I've been impressed that we haven't reached any conclusions," Alexander said. "That may sound weird, but I think it's good that everyone on this task force is open to things, to making the university better. When I first came in, I thought the faculty, staff and administration would want to keep things status quo."
Reagan Duplisea |
The right to vote is a cornerstone of democracy, said Joanne
Green, professor of political science. Each vote represents a voice, she
said.
Chris Ohan, a professor of history, said
the right to vote is something that no one should take lightly.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |