University stays in second tier in annual rankings
Academic reputation, freshmen retention rate increases

By Matt Jones
staff reporter

TCU maintained its four-year spot in the second tier of national universities this year in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings.

TCU earned an academic reputation score of 2.8, up from last year’s 2.7. Baylor University’s score remained at 3.3 and Southern Methodist University fell from 3.2 to 3.1.

Among the 64 schools in the second tier, TCU ranked third-highest in alumni giving rate and had the sixth-lowest percentage rate for classes with more than 50 students.

News rankings are based on several measures. The greatest weight, 25 percent, is given to the academic reputation score, which is compiled from a survey of university presidents, provosts and deans of admissions. Each school is asked to rate peer schools and assign a score of 1 to 5, with 1 indicating a marginal school, and 5 indicating a distinguished school.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said the report comes as no surprise.

“This growth and increased recognition are evidence of the continual progress of the university,” Ferrari said. “It is very encouraging to see our efforts are paying off.”

Ferrari said increased visibility and four national dean searches have fueled higher recognition for the university.

“We find ourselves steadily moving forward,” Ferrari said. “Our academic reputation will continue to grow with the strength of our faculty and increased quality of education.”

The news magazine ranks national universities and liberal arts colleges and places them into the “Top 50” category and second, third or fourth tiers in increments of 50. A place in the second tier indicates that TCU ranked between the top 51 and 100 national universities.

The top five national universities in the overall rankings were Princeton (N.J.) University, Harvard (Mass.) University, Yale (Conn.) University, the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

U.S. News uses seven categories to determine its overall ranking: academic reputation, freshmen retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving and graduation rates.

In program specific rankings, the e-commerce program in the M. J. Neeley School of Business ranked eighth in the nation and the Neeley School ranked 41st in the nation for general management.

• Using rankings from fall 1999, TCU showed several changes from the previous year:
• Freshmen retention rate increased from 80 percent to 81 percent.
• The percentage of classes with less than 20 students increased from 43 percent to 47 percent.
• The 25th through 75th percentile SAT scores of incoming freshmen increased from 1030-1250 to 1040-1260.
• The acceptance rate dropped from 77 percent to 75 percent.

Matt Jones
matthewsjones@hotmail.com

UT Austin prepares for staff sickout
Similar event at TCU unlikely, staff says

By Matt Jones
staff reporter

On the same day the TCU Staff Assembly met for the first time this year to discuss staff concerns, as many as 4,800 University of Texas at Austin employees were reportedly threatening to stage a three-day “sickout” if the Board of Regents and the UT administration fail to meet a list of their demands.

Chairwoman of the TCU Staff Assembly Jean Andrus said the assembly’s ability to work with the administration to handle issues like staff wages, benefits and work conditions will probably prevent an incident like the one at UT.

“At TCU, we’re sitting around talking about (issues), and the Chancellor is a part of it,” Andrus said.
Kyle Cavanaugh, associate vice president for human resources at UT, said unlike TCU, UT has no official staff advisory council or assembly to hear staff complaints.

“There hasn’t been a good, systematic process for voicing staff concerns,” Cavanaugh said.

Cavanaugh said the level of participation in today’s sickout is unknown, but the university would operate as normal.

“We anticipate that we will be able to meet all of the functional needs of the university,” Cavanaugh said.
The University Staff Association, an advocacy group representing staff issues for all non-teaching employees, leads the protest against issues, including low salaries and the treatment of custodial staff.
The list of demands includes requests for detailed insurance information, the reinstatement of dental insurance, the placement of two non-management staff members on the UT Systems Benefit Committee and the implementation of a University Staff Association grievance proposal.

University Staff Association president and dean of the school of social work Peg Kramer said the sickout was a last-resort effort to persuade the administration to listen to staff concerns.

“This thing is at a total boiling point,” Kramer said. “We’re sick and tired of the way we are being treated.”
Kramer said today’s sickout comes after three years of diplomatic action on the part of the staff association.
“We have done every legal thing we can,” Kramer said. “This is our last attempt at getting the attention of university officials.”

The staff association has held 22 public events, five rallies and four demonstrations over the past three years, Kramer said.

She said a formal list of 17 demands was provoked by the announcement of the elimination of paid dental insurance and an increase of over 30 percent in dependent health insurance premiums for faculty and staff, which took effect Sept. 1.

According to Chapter 617 of the Texas Government Code, it is illegal for public employees to strike or engage in organized work stoppages against the state.

In an open letter to university employees, President Larry Faulkner outlined disciplinary actions, up to and including termination, for use of sick leave for reasons other than those allowed by state law or those in violation of university rules and laws. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Kramer said the letter is another threat and will not stop her from speaking out.

“The university has forced us to this point by ignoring staff and staff-related work issues,” Kramer said. “We are stepping up our efforts to demand real change.”

The president of student government at UT, Daron Roberts, said a resolution in support of University Staff Association’s sickout was the focus of Tuesday night’s first meeting.

“We realize that the staff needs our support,” Roberts said. “There is a need for an official grievance policy.”

Roberts said the SGA will show support at an on-campus rally at 11:30 a.m. today.

“No one can really gauge the impact that the ‘sickout’ could have,” Roberts said.

In addition to urging administrators not to punish participating staff members, Kramer said many professors are planning to support the sickout by either teaching outside of the classroom or discussing the sickout as part of their curriculum.

Adrian Parra, a July 2000 UT graduate who works as the office assistant for the custodial services office, said the university is faced with a shortage of custodial workers.

“For awhile, we’ve been trying to hire a lot of custodians because the entire department is understaffed,” he said. “We’re having a hard time getting people to work here.”

Parra said some of the workers complain about the workload.

“They make the claim that they are taking on more responsibility and not getting paid for it,” Parra said.
The University of Texas at Austin is the largest institution of higher education in the nation with over 50,000 students and is part of the second wealthiest university system in the country.

Senior reporter Sylvia Carrizales and staff reporter Angie Chang contributed to this story.

Matt Jones
Matthewsjones@hotmail.com

Fort Worth area suffers drought
Voluntary water restrictions could be put into effect soon

By Melissa DeLoach
staff reporter

With temperatures continuing to top the record books in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and drought causing havoc across Texas, TCU groundskeepers are doing everything they can to preserve the campus’ landscape.
“Because the campus is running 24 hours a day, we have to schedule everything we do around all the functions — athletic practices and meetings of the students,” said Robert Sulak, director of landscaping and grounds. “It is impossible for us to run the system just at night because the supply lines would not allow for the vast amount of water to be pumped out all at once.”

TCU pumps out 450 gallons of water a minute and 1.2 million gallons a day, Sulak said. The drought has caused TCU to pump out an estimated 10-20 percent more this summer than average, he said.

Although the city of Fort Worth has not placed mandatory water restrictions on the city, Mary Gugliuzza, spokesperson for the Fort Worth Water Department, is encouraging conservation. According to figures released by the Tarrant Regional Water District, 320 million gallons of water was used across the county Monday. Additionally, the month of August set an all-time monthly record, pumping 922 billion gallons of water from area reservoirs.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory until today.

“This is the warmest weather recorded in 20 years,” said Ron Jackson, meteorologist for KDFW FOX 4 News.

Tuesday marked Texas’ 44th day with temperatures of 100 degrees or higher. It also marked the 67th day without measurable rain at DFW International Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

“I think that TCU uses way too much water,” said Tiffany Fluet, a junior business major. “I think that TCU could conserve water more if they watered in the morning or in the evening rather than in the middle of the day because it is just a waste when all the water is being evaporated. I understand that TCU wants the campus to look good, but when we have a drought like this the water should be conserved more.”

And Tarrant County will not see relief from the sweltering weather any time soon, Jackson said. Computer maps show only a slight decrease in temperature by the middle or end of the week. But that will only be about 10 degrees lower from our current triple-digit readings, which are still 10 degrees above the normal high of 90 for September, he said.

Ken Morgan, chair of the Geology department, said although the Dallas/Fort Worth area has not seen rain in over 65 days, residents of Dallas and Fort Worth should not fear the possibility of running out of water.
“Since all the water feeding into faucets is supplied by surface reservoirs, the record-setting drought conditions have not caused severe shortages,” he said.

These reservoirs, originally built to control the flow of floods, are so large that they will enable Dallas/Fort Worth area residents to survive the dry spell with no immediate danger, he said.

But Gugliuzza said if the current weather conditions continue, voluntary restrictions will come as early as November and mandatory restrictions by February.

Jackson said it is hard to predict what the next few weeks and winter will bring, but by the end of September and beginning of October a transition in weather patterns should occur.

Fort Worth’s water supply comes from six lakes that are currently at 84 percent capacity combined. The West Fork system of lakes — Lake Bridgeport, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth are at only 56 percent of capacity. The East Texas lakes — Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers reservoirs are 93 percent full. Benbrook Lake is at 74 percent capacity.

Jackson said the drought is being linked to the La Niña weather pattern appearing in the Pacific Ocean. The effects of this pattern deal with the abnormal warming of the ocean currents in the Pacific.

Melissa DeLoach
m.d.deloach@student.tcu.edu

House elections to be held today
Terms begin Saturday; first House meeting Sept. 12

By Kristina Iodice
staff reporter

While most of the campus is settling into new classes, some students are gearing up for House of Student Representatives elections today.

The main governing body of the Student Government Association, the House of Student Representatives comprises representatives from each residence hall and the commuter student population. Responsible for many of the permanent improvements on campus, House also decides who receives funding.

Chelsea Hudson, a sophomore political science major and Colby Hall resident assistant, was Colby’s representative last year and is running again for the position.

“You have to have dedication to do this,” Hudson said. “A lot of the changes that the House and the student government make take time.”

Ashley Hungerford, a junior radio-TV-film major, said there is a lot of frustration between House and the rest of the students because the changes initiated by House tend to take a long time before there are visible results.

“The money is the power,” she said. “It’s not the SGA’s fault they can’t get things done — the power only works when the money wants it to.”

Hudson said it can be hard to get things done, but said things do get accomplished through House.

“Last year I campaigned for ID cards to be used in the washers and dryers, and they will be put in Colby later this year,” Hudson said. The swipe machines are also being installed in all other residence halls.

Sara Donaldson, vice president of House, said representatives will be doing a lot more this semester than in the past.

Representatives will wear buttons that label them as representatives. They will be easy to find across campus, between classes and while hanging out in The Main, Donaldson said.

“For the first time, we’ve decided to make representatives literally flagged so the students really feel the representatives are there for them,” she said. “In the past you didn’t know who was representing you.”

Each committee will be required to accomplish one thing this semester and must work on a long-term goal, Donaldson said.

Most of these goals will be established during the House retreat this weekend. They will also discuss visitation hours and holding open forums to discuss parking issues.

“There are a lot of excited people,” Donaldson said. “I think it’s going to be a really good semester because we’ll have a good mentality for pushing forward and accomplishing what we set out to do in our objectives.”

The House representatives election didn’t receive much publicity, but Brian Becker, SGA Elections and Regulations Chair, said there was more interest in SGA this semester than in previous semesters.
“Overall, a lot more students are willing to participate and get involved, and they want to make big changes,” Becker said.

Although the first House meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 12, the representatives will begin their term on Saturday at a day-long retreat.

The day will be spent training the representatives and giving them a chance to get to know each other, Donaldson said.

“If representatives aren’t comfortable with (other) representatives, they’re not going to feel like reaching out,” she said. “So we need to first internalize, and hopefully, by next Tuesday, they’ll be very comfortable with everything.”

Last semester SGA spent a lot of time working on reorganizing House so it would be more effective, Donaldson said.

“This semester we will have vision. We will have direction. We will run,” Donaldson said
Ballots for hall representatives will be accepted all day today in each of the residence hall offices.

Kristina Iodice
k.k.iodice@student.tcu.edu

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