@northernermediathenortherner.comThe Northerner Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 Edition 48, Issue 5

New act drains student pockets

Campus on alert after break-ins

‘Revelation Trail’ carries forward

See NEWS, p.7 See NEWS, p.8 See A&E, p.15

For more than a year, two professors have filed com-plaints and appeals regarding changes to Northern Ken-tucky University’s new GenEd program. On Sept. 16, the U.S. Education Department agreed with the concerns of the two professors: The new GenEd program did not meet academic requirements and was not thoroughly re-viewed by the accrediting agency before it went into ef-fect.

Provost Gail Wells said that NKU had not been contact-ed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) about the Education Department’s report by the time of publication, but “they have told us that we are in full compliance with the rigorous standards.”

She said she does not expect to make any changes to the current GenEd program.

Wells said the GenEd complaints dealt with students being able to graduate without taking a humanities course. Instead, they would be able to take two foreign language courses to satisfy the requirements.

Wells said the only change she could potentially see happening is revising the “Culture and Creativity” sec-tion so that students would be required to take a humani-ties course instead of two foreign languages.

She stressed that students would not be affected if any changes are made to the program.

“I don’t believe students would be impacted by this lat-est decision, but we will need to wait and see,” Wells said. “Regardless, we would grandfather students.”

Wells said the changes in GenEd came during the uni-versity’s re-accreditation process when SACS advised NKU that the previous general education program need-ed to define student learning outcomes and have a way to assess whether or not students were meeting those goals.

As the faculty worked to define learning outcomes,

Cassie StoneEditor-in-chief

See GenEd, p.6Photo illustration by Aly Durrett

GenEd program does not meet standards

After investigations and appeals, U.S. Education Department finds

curriculum changes not compliant

OpEd September 21, 20112

Just for laughs

Austin BraunSenior, CIT & account-

ing double major

"Not really because I commute."

Christie CrosbyFirst-year grad student,

CIT major

"They currently don’t because I don’t have a car. I went here a long

time ago and I thought it was safe."

Stephanie BrossartJunior, biology major

"A little bit, but I keep most of my belongings in my trunk or glove

compartment."

rnpCompiled by

Brandon Barb and Stephen Wilder

Do the recent car thefts worry you?

norse poll responses

For more Norse poll responses and video, visit www.thenortherner.com

Allison RobertsonGrad student, masters in

social work

"No, I park in the garage and don’t leave anything

in my car."

In keeping with last week’s theme of educational infra-structure, I want to cover some recent paradigms in the world of pedagogy, particularly the “Edupunk” movement.

So what is ‘Edupunk’? Ste-phen Downes, a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada, offers ”… something like a definition ..."edupunk is student-centered, resource-ful, teacher- or community-created rather than corporate-sourced, and underwritten by a progressive political stance …."

It appears to me that the term ‘Edupunk’ is in fact a retrofitted, albeit colorful and descriptive, heading for the employment of technology in constructing and dissemi-nating creative new teaching paradigms, largely in line with the anarchic spirit of the open-source movements..

The philosophy is simple and powerful: teaching is a complex and ever evolving engineering problem that re-quires flexibility and adapt-ability, and our institutional bureaucracies are too inflex-ible and too constrained both socially and politically to make full use of the ever growing in-flux of new educational tools and ideas, and education suf-fers for it.

In addition to this, there is an undercurrent of motiva-tions lurking near the surface of our educational infrastruc-ture; a major goal is to train citizens to suitably fill the roles we are expected (by the corpo-rate world) to fill, and many students latch on to the cor-porate mindset (much to the chagrin of passionate educa-tors everywhere): they want a

better job, and an education is simply a side effect. The chal-lenge, then, is really multifac-eted. We want the education process to be effective and ef-ficient, but also a bit fun and easy; to simultaneously chal-lenge the interested students and still allow the rest to work at their own pace.

To my mind, the most prom-ising effort in this direction comes from an unlikely per-son; Salman Khan. An MIT graduate and ex-Wall Street analyst who created a non-profit web based service called the ‘Khan Academy’ .

Khan Academy fits comfort-ably under the heading of ‘Edu-punk’, and appears to be the most powerful instantiation of this new wave of decentralized pedagogical experiments. It was started by Khan initially as a way to help out his cousins with their school work, but his breadth of knowledge, crystal clear explications and pen-chant for using multicolored diagrams on a virtual black-board have brought him to the cutting edge of pedagogy.

All you have to do is go to the page, Khanacademy.org, and start watching videos. There are literally hundreds, span-ning such diverse areas as chemistry, calculus, finance, history and the Paulson fiscal plan. Every video is short, di-rect and most importantly, the exposition is clear and engag-ing. You can learn from each video at your own pace; pause, go back, jump ahead, what have you. On top of this, Khan has implemented a (still in-complete, including only prob-lems for mathematics from pre-algebra to pre-calculus) game architecture for doing practice problems; when you solve 10 problems in a row, you get points and you get to move on to the ‘next level’, eventu-ally progressing through all of

the pre-college mathematics curricula.

Even more impactful than the educational access Khan gives the motivated individual, are the potential innovations that the Khan Academy can bring to classrooms around the world. Already Khan Academy is working with teachers in the Los Altos school district in California to devise new meth-ods and software for working with students. Students first watch the lectures at home, at their own pace. The next day at school the students work on problems under the supervi-sion of the teachers, and more interestingly, the more ad-vanced students.

In this way, the classroom is inverted, and in the words of Khan “humanized”. The students have already been exposed to the lecture; the lecture was their homework. Now the teacher can be pres-ent while they’re trying to ap-ply their knowledge to solve problems. If a student appre-hends the subject rapidly, they go back and help their class-mate. Khan notes that what is remarkable about this process is that it seems to erase the lines between the ‘gifted’ and ‘slow’ students; a student who gets stuck on one topic might receive help and then jump ahead of the others!

With these innovations, it appears that the educational infrastructure must adapt or perish under the weight of its own obsolescence. These ac-complishments are poised to reshape our society if they are accepted and fostered rather than stifled or ignored. How-ever; the path to such a hope-ful future is not without its pit-falls, and surely there are those who stand to profit by staying with the current, outmoded paradigm.

ViewsEdition 48, Issue 5 3

AD MANAGERWilliam Fisher[fisherw1@nku.edu]

COPY EDITOR Elizabeth Parsons[parsonse3@nku.edu]

VISUAL DESIGNER Emily Lindeau[lindeaue1@nku.edu]

The NorthernerFounders Hall Rm 314Highland Heights, KY 41099Editor in Chief: (859) 572-5812Newsroom: (859) 572- 6677 or 5620Advertising: (859) 572-5232Fax: (859) 572-5772E-mail: northerner@nku.eduWeb site: www.thenortherner.com

contactinformation

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFCassie Stone[stonec2@nku.edu]

MANAGING EDITORKarli Wood[woodk3@nku.edu]

ADVISERJacque Day[dayj6@nku.edu]

northernerstaff

STAFF WRITERSNick Jones[jonesn5@nku.edu]

COPY DESK CHIEFEmily Christman[christmane1@nku.edu]

NEWS EDITORClaire Higgins[higginsc1@nku.edu]

FEATURES EDITORBrandon Barb[barbb1@nku.edu]

SPORTS NEWS EDITORJohn Minor[minorj1@nku.edu]

A&E EDITOR Roxanna Blevins[blevinsr1@mymail.nku.edu]

PRESENTATION EDITORAlysha Durrett[durretta1@nku.edu]

CARTOONISTBrittany Granville[granvilleb1@nku.edu]

furtherdetailsEntire content is copyright of The Northerner and may not be reprinted without prior con-sent. Views expressed do not represent those of the administration, faculty or student body.The Northerner is considered a designated public forum. Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censor-ship or advance approval. The Northerner staff respects the right to a free and open dialogue as allowed under the First Amendment.

PHOTOGRAPHERKevin Jo[jok1@nku.edu]

SPORTS FEATURES EDITORStephen Wilder[wilders3@nku.edu]

The Rise of Edupunk Christopher McGee &Aaron SprinklesStaff writers

Corrections In a caption on page 14 of Issue 4, The Northerner incorrectly at-tributed the photo to the NKU Center for Applied Technology. The photo was supplied by the NKU Center for Applied Informatics.

Also in Issue 4, in the story “Search committee joins faculty, stu-dent, community members” and the editorial “Search committee lacking in variety,” The Northerner incorrectly called a fraternity “Sigma Epsilon.” The correct name of the fraternity is “Sigma Phi Epsilon”

Northern Kentucky University students have been murmuring about a slight increase in tuition that has caused many of them to work longer hours to pay off their bills.

NKU junior Justin Barlow said he believes that the new Griffin Hall caused the increase. “It was hard enough to pay tuition last year,” said Barlow. “The higher tuition had me working extra hours in the summer to make sure I could pay the extra tuition costs, for a building that I have no classes in.”

Barlow’s conclusion had some reason as NKU stu-dents have seen a visible increase in tuition costs during the 2010-2011 semesters, while building the new hall.

Compared to 2010-2011 tuition rates, per-semes-ter costs increased by $180 for Kentucky residents, $288 for the metro-rate students, $222 for Indiana students and $540 for non-residents.

The reality is, according to NKU’s 2011-2012 bud-get, tuition from previous years and a donation of $7 million from Robert Griffin paid for Griffin Hall and its high-tech appliances. Griffin is CEO of Griffin In-dustries and the namesake of the building.

Ken Ramey, vice president for Administration and Finance, said that the true culprit of the rise in tu-ition rates isn’t from Griffin Hall, but instead from a general rise of fixed costs, such as utilities and the Kentucky Retirement system.

“The primary reason for the increases every year are fixed costs,” said Ramey. “Our utilities increase every year and the amount the university has to give to the Kentucky Retirement system has increased.”

According to Ramey, the university has to match professors’ contributions to the retirement system. The bursar official said if a professor donates 5 per-cent of her salary to the retirement system, the uni-versity has to match it.

Ken Kline, senior director of the budget office, said that increases in tuition also stem from faculty salary increases, which were given out for the first time in three years. Kline said that the largest share of student tuition goes to professor salaries, which amount to nearly 35 percent of the budget.

NKU’s budget summary also shows that student tuition increases come from other flat costs like some Student Government Association initiatives.

One SGA initiative, listed on the university web-site, called for a $4-per-credit-hour tuition increase to build and improve upon the existing recreation

center. The mandate means a full-time student pays $96 to $120 more for the school year.

Students may feel the rise in costs every year, but NKU students are lucky to go to school here, said Kline.

“The university operates with the lowest funding per student of all four-year institutions in the state, yet continues to deliver a high level of performance.”

News September 21, 20114

Matt SchlagheckContributing writer

Griffin not guilty for tuition hikes

Photo by Karli Wood

NewsEdition 48, Issue 5 5

There are nearly as many smart phones on campus as there are stu-dents; and in order to keep up with evolving technology, many Northern Kentucky University students are creating apps for intelligent devices.

Students, in collaboration with the Center for Applied Informatics (CAI), have worked with companies from Ohio to California to create Fire Department 2.0. Created by the CAI and the San Ramon Valley Fire Pro-tection District near San Francisco, the app has won numerous awards and aided in saving lives.

This app allows people to listen to live emergency radio traffic, volun-teer to assist with CPR and view in-cidents.

Fire Department 2.0 has been fea-tured in many publications such as websites TechCrunch and Engadget and has been mentioned on NBC, CBS and ABC.

An app that may be more practi-cal for the average NKU student is MyTank. The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) and the CAI developed a mobile app that ben-efits those in Northern Kentucky who ride TANK buses. It informs riders of nearby bus stops and it is useful for

planning trips. The app also gives riders an estimated time of when the next bus is scheduled to arrive.

In order to appeal to the generation of the communication age, NKU’s Department of Information Technol-ogy (IT) has created several useful apps as well, all of which are free.

All of the IT apps were created to increase the ease of access to services and information for students and prospective students of NKU. All of these apps are available for use on Apple iOS devices and one is avail-able for Android devices.

iNKU was created for current stu-dents, but some features are also popular with NKU faculty and staff.

iNKU offers students myNKU in-tegration, which allows them to see their class schedules, grades, GPA, academic holds, information about their advisers and their registration windows for priority registration. This app also includes easy access to student media and WNKU as well as the Find-It! campus directory for searching student, faculty and staff contact information.

Another app for existing NKU stu-dents, NKU Flashcard, lets profes-sors create flashcards that students can use to study. Users can “hide” the cards that they feel they have mastered. NKU Flashcard is the only

IT-created app that has Android compatibility.

n@NKU is intended for prospec-tive students and newly admitted students. It includes an event cal-endar that features opportunities to visit the campus and learn more about the university. The app also has update-able enrollment check-list, where students can use to check

off what they have done and remem-ber what they still need to do in order to prepare.

IT has also created an app for graduate students, ELOC (Execu-tive Leadership and Organizational Change), and is currently working on one for prospective and current stu-dents of Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Aubrey AbbottStaff writer

After the second reading of a resolution to en-dorse Northern Kentucky University’s transition to Division I athletics, the Student Government Association voted unanimously to pass it.

President Dustin Robinson also announced that four new senate appointments will take place at next week’s meeting on Sept. 26.

Now passed at the SGA senate level, the D-I en-dorsement resolution will move onto the faculty senate for approval.

The resolution, presented by Senator Joseph Fons, states that SGA will support the move be-cause it will “bring increased brand awareness to NKU on the local, regional and national levels, and will align NKU with peer institutions that fit the academic and athletic profiles of the university.”

In addition to the D-I support, Robinson an-nounced that the executive board received eight

applications to fill the remaining four senate spots. According to Robinson, the remaining SGA

members will decide on senators via email in the next week.

The applications were due on Sept. 16, and the new senators will be appointed in the next meet-ing.

To increase SGA involvement, Student Well-ness Manager Maggie Gough gave an update on the Wellness Center’s initiatives for the upcoming year.

Gough also presented the findings of Ping My Health survey that took place in the 2011 spring semester.

The Ping My Health survey received 715 re-sponses from students, faculty and staff on ques-tions about various subjects such as smoking, drugs and alcohol, nutrition, mental health and sexual activity.

Gough also presented the Wellness Center’s new Student Wellness Advisory Committee.

The committee will be made up of students from various on-campus organizations that represent the student body, according to Gough.

Apps assist students, community

Claire HigginsNews editor

Senators vote unanimously to support athletic transition

Photo courtesy of Chris Rider

News September 21, 20116

When Northern Kentucky University revised their Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy last spring, students were left with questions about how their financial aid packages would be affected.

According to CollegeBoard.org, 1,609 of the 2,001 incoming freshman applied for financial aid last year. Even though only 213 of these students had their full financial need met, 1,617 of those students were of-fered financial assistance of some sort.

With these numbers, it is no secret that any chang-es in policy would affect the student body at NKU.

Over the summer, students like Ashley McDaniel received a letter saying they were not meeting SAP guidelines, only to have their financial aid reinstated a month later.

There is also a Facebook group, “Those affected by the new financial aid policies at NKU,” that aims to help students resolve the issues they encountered with the SAP policy. The group, which was formed by McDaniel, urges students to contact Early Alert if their financial aid is retracted.

“I felt extremely misguided and, in a sense, be-trayed by NKU when I found out that the new policy would be affecting me based on a school year I com-pleted before the new policy was set to take effect,” McDaniel said.

The policy, which was updated and put into place May 10, evaluated student progress from the previ-ous year.

“My advisers tried their best to explain the new policy to me, but no one quite knew why it was af-fecting students,” McDaniel said.

Though many students were unaware of the SAP changes, NKU expects students to stay updated on the academic standards held by the university. The current policy was changed due to updated gradua-tion requirements.

Because of this, the SAP policy had to be changed. According to Director of the Office of Financial Assis-

tance Leah Stewart, the federal government requires that all colleges and universities have a SAP policy that measures qualitative and quantitative progress.

The current SAP policy outlines requirements stu-dents must meet for federal financial assistance eli-gibility. NKU’s SAP includes a minimum GPA of 2.0 for undergraduate students and a 1.66 GPA for fresh-men. This minimum GPA is required by the federal government and is the lowest GPA allowed for stu-dents receiving financial aid.

Students must also complete their degrees within 192 credit hours.

NKU also requires students to complete 67 percent of their attempted credit hours per academic year. This means that a student who attempted a total of 24 credits a year would have to complete a total of 16 hours, according to Stewart.

According to FASFA the federal government gives schools the option to process appeals. NKU’s appeals are processed locally by the Student Financial Aid Appeals Committee.

Grounds for an appeal include the death of a family member, serious illness or injury, or special circum-stances determined by the institute.

Students are also given a conditional period dur-ing the summer to raise their GPA. These courses are often paid for out-of-pocket.

McDaniel’s case was resolved; however, she does not believe the SAP policy is fair.

Policy changes blindside studentsAnna KathmanContributing writer

Photo from MCT Campus

they decided to cut the program’s re-quirement to 48 hours from 52 and de-crease the number of available cours-es. In June, Wells said the decision to cut hours and change the course se-lection was to help students graduate within four years and minimize confu-sion when choosing courses.

“We have gotten national recogni-tion for being a state-of-the-art pro-gram that is supportive of students,” Wells said.

She, like SACS officials, said that a new GenEd program was not created, but Education Department investiga-tors disagree with that statement.

In the Education Department’s Sept. 16 report, it read: “The department maintains that the changes to the gen-eral education program at NKU were significant, and that changes to an in-stitution’s general education program ought to be reviewed as a foundational component of the degree programs of-fered by an institution.”

A letter President James Votruba wrote to SACS Vice President Rudy Jackson supports the Education De-partment’s findings that the GenEd curriculum was entirely new; and, thus, should have had further review. The letter was attached to the Educa-tion Department’s report.

In the letter, Votruba writes, “I’d like to state at the outset that I am very proud of both the process our faculty followed in creating the new general education program and the outcome that resulted from their work.”

The GenEd program is non-com-pliant because it does not require students to take humanities/fine arts class, which are defined as “courses [that] do not narrowly focus on those skills, techniques, and procedures spe-cific to a particular occupation or pro-fession.”

Chair of the Department of Anthro-pology, Sociology and Philosophy Ter-ry Pence and professor and Coordina-

tor of the Philosophy Program Robert Trundle began raising concerns about the changes as early as May 2010, when faculty members were still creat-ing the new program.

Pence and Trundle brought their concerns to various faculty and ad-ministrators, but were told their issues with GenEd were not valid.

Votruba acknowledged the profes-sors’ fight in his letter to Jackson when he said, “I regret that you have had to spend time on this issue raised by two individuals who were unable to gain support for their position from their colleagues.”

Pence and Trundle continued ques-tioning the GenEd changes.

On Nov. 3, they filed a formal com-plaint with SACS, saying the GenEd program does not meet academic re-quirements and needed further re-view. SACS Chairman John Hilpert found the GenEd program in compli-ance and responded to the professors

Nov. 12. After the Education Department

questioned how SACS handled this issue, the accreditor revised how it re-views complaints and now delegates them to a committee instead of giving the chairman the option of reviewing them himself.

In December, the professors took their complaint to the Education Department. The federal agency re-viewed their complaint and issued a letter to SACS on June 7, asking it to further explain how the new GenEd meets academic requirements, how the agency reviews complaints and why the GenEd program was not given a more thorough review before it went into effect.

In its Sept. 16 report, the Education Department gave SACS until Jan. 9 to bring itself into compliance. If SACS cannot meet the department’s stan-dards, it risks losing its ability to func-tion as an accreditor.

GEN ED, continued from page one

NewsEdition 48, Issue 5 7

On Aug. 2, President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011, which will result in cuts to federal programming.

There will be changes to the fed-eral student loan programs. Loans will ultimately be more expensive to students. The new law does not af-fect the amount of funding available, just the cost. In the end, loans will cost more.

Congress proposed the dissolution of the subsidy for all Stafford Loans. A Stafford Loan is a special type of borrowing program for eligible stu-dents at accredited and participating colleges in the U.S.

When a student is approved for a subsidized Stafford Loan, he or she receives money up front and does not have to repay it until graduation.

While the college student is at-tending school, interest does not ac-cumulate on the loan. In a way, the loan account freezes and then reacti-vates upon graduation, requiring the borrower to make regular payments at that time.

Usually when someone takes out a loan, he or she can defer payment, or opt out of payment until the person graduates.

With the new law in effect for next school year, higher interest rates will immediately accrue at the time of disbursement.

The student has the option to make payments towards the interest while attending school or allow the interest accumulate until graduation.

These student loan changes will directly affect over half of Northern Kentucky University’s students, who rely on financial assistance to help pay for college.

“For the 2010-2011 academic year, 61 percent of NKU students received financial assistance in some form of student loans,” said Dyane K. Foltz,

assistant director to the Office of Stu-dent Financial Assistance. Student loans include subsidized, unsubsi-dized, Perkins, alternative/private, institutional, PLUS, or Graduate PLUS.

Currently, there is a 1 percent orig-ination fee on direct Stafford Loans. There is 0.5 percent assessed at dis-bursement and another 0.5 percent if the borrower fails to pay the first 12 months on time.

Therefore, as long as one paid his loan on time within the first year, the borrower would only be charged 0.5 percent. Under the new law, borrow-ers will be charged the full 1 percent, regardless of payment timeliness.

For example, with the current sub-sidized Stafford Loan, when student A takes out a loan for $4,000 for the current semester, he or she will be charged zero interest until they graduate. After they graduate, when it is time for repayment, the loan will

accrue 0.5 percent per month, which is equivalent to $20 per month, as-suming they make their payments on time.

Beginning in 2012, when student A takes out a loan from the same com-pany, he will be charged 1 percent interest at time of disbursement, equivalent to $40 per month for the entire span of the loan. When it is time for repayment, after the student graduates, the accrued interest will be $1,920.

Instead of graduating with a $4,000 debt, the student will be re-sponsible for repaying $5,920. The interest continues to be applied each month when making payments.

Currently for Grad PLUS loans, a direct loan program for graduate and professional students, the total inter-est fee is 4 percent after graduation. It is 2.5 percent assessed at disburse-ment or 1.5 percent if the borrower fails to pay on time within the first

year. Under the new law, borrowers will be charged the full 4 percent at the time of disbursement, regardless of timely payments.

The new law states that if a stu-dent takes out a loan from the same company for $4,000, he or she will be charged 4 percent at the time of disbursement, which is equivalent to $160 per month.

After the student graduates, the interest will have accrued $7,680 af-ter four years. Instead of graduating with only $4,000 of debt, one will be responsible for repaying $11,680 af-ter graduation.

The interest continues to be ap-plied each month when making pay-ments.

“I can’t afford to pay for college, so either a scholarship or a loan is a must,” junior art major Eva Dames said. “If I could get a Pell Grant, that would be wonderful. Just because someone takes out a loan doesn’t mean they want to. They have to or they can’t go to college.”

Together, the elimination of the graduate and professional in-school interest subsidy and direct loan re-payment incentives yield a savings of $21.6 billion.

In total, $17 billion of that is redi-rected into the Pell Grant Program, with the remaining $4.6 billion go-ing toward deficit reduction.

The new budget cuts are redirect-ing money back to students to help them attend school, but others will have to look for other sources to pay for their education.

There are many options for stu-dents, whether it is a private loan, working hard at the local fast food restaurant or working hard for schol-arships.

“Scholarships are a great source to help students pay less in the end,” Foltz said. “Also, graduate assistant-ships may be available for graduate students to help defray costs.”

Wallets shrink as loan costs growPresident Obama makes changes to Budget Control Act, putting more pressure on students to pay more for loans, regardless of timely payments

Allegra CarpenterContributing writer

Illustration by Brittany Granville

The Budget Control Act, signed into law Aug. 2, made several changes to student loan programs. One of the changes increased interest rates, making federal loans more expensive for students.

w

This graphic depicts the parking lots where items were stolen from cars. The amounts denote the value of stolen items.

w

With over a dozen car thefts on campus within a two-week span, Northern Kentucky University is experiencing an un-usual increase in criminal activity – and a decrease in stu-dent responsibility.

Since Sept. 1, the NKU Department of Public Safety has responded to 15 car thefts in various lots across campus. In every case, the victim’s car was unlocked and the break-in “could have been prevented,” according to Police Chief Ja-son Willis.

There was no force used in any case and an intruder seemed to be traveling from car to car and from lot to lot looking for unlocked cars with valuables inside. According to the daily police log, there were multiple reports made on individual days.multiple reports were made on separate days.

Items such as parking passes, iPods, GPS systems and wallets were swiped from the unlocked vehicles.

Willis said the spike in car thefts is “a little unusual” and the number is higher than in previous years. Because every case was a “crime of opportunity,” he said future occurrenc-es can be easily prevented.

Although there is an increase in the number of car thefts happening in such a short amount of time, many students say they already keep their valuables locked and out of view

in their car or with them in class. “I keep valuables like lap-tops, cell phones and wallets on me at all times. I make sure to lock my car doors and roll up windows. I always park on school lots,” said Tim Krajewski.

The increase also makes some students uneasy about parking on campus, like junior Taylor Romer. “Yes a little, especially when it comes to parking in the parking garage,” she said when asked about her comfort level. “Since it is more secluded, I would think more theft would occur there.”

The thefts occurred in both Kenton and Welcome Center garages, but 11 out of the 14 reports took place in the open lots across campus.

Willis said students should make sure there are no valu-ables in view (hiding them in the trunk is an option), roll windows up and lock the doors before going to class. In these cases, Willis said he is not blaming students, but in-stead striving to educate the community on how to prevent becoming a victim to car theft.

In addition to informing students about what to do to pre-vent the crimes, the Department of Public Safety is increas-ing foot and bike traffic across campus and bringing in new tactics to catch the criminals.

Currently, the department has no facts on who the intrud-er or intruders could be. With any information, contact the Department of Public Safety at 859-572-5500.

Campus on high alertAfter a rash of car break-ins, University Police warn students to hide valuables and keep car doors locked

Caitlin Centner and Claire HigginsContributing writer and news editor

This graphic depicts the parking lots where items were stolen from cars. The amounts denote the value of stolen items.

September 21, 201110 Features

Six years ago, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on southern Louisiana. Over a seven-day span over the summer, two Northern Kentucky University students travelled to New Orleans to film a documentary on the city’s re-covery and how much work remains to revive the city.

Stephanie Mathena, an electronic media and broadcasting senior, and Kelsey Robinson, a criminal justice senior and New Orleans na-tive, volunteered under Operation Nehemiah to help reconstruct a home that was damaged by Katrina.

Mathena and Robinson spent their days handling simple tasks, such as putting up dry-wall, sanding staircases and painting the exte-rior. “Without that small work, they can’t do the rest,” Mathena said.

Between rebuilding the house, Mathena and Robinson shot footage for their documentary. “We focused on New Orleans because the city is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina to this day,” Robinson said.

The documentary, “Hurricane Katrina: Vol-

unteer Yourself,” is an Honors Capstone proj-ect with the intent to convey the importance of volunteering in communities.

Mathena said the generosity of the volun-teers amazed her. “They don’t even live in this country and they care,” said Mathena, speak-ing of volunteers from England.

Mathena interviewed a pastor from the Lower Ninth Ward, one of the poorer sections of New Orleans. “The water stood 13 feet in-side his church,” Mathena said. With the help of volunteers, the church was completely re-stored.

Robinson views her volunteer efforts differ-ently. “I didn’t just travel to a foreign city and help them recover after a hurricane,” Robin-son said. “I traveled to my home and helped New Orleans regain some of the spirit and life it lost after this devastating disaster.”

Mathena and Robinson’s documentary fo-cuses specifically on college students and youth in the community. It will premiere in Griffin Hall’s Digitorium some time in Decem-ber. The proceeds will go to Operation Nehe-miah to support future volunteer efforts.

To see the preview, visit http://www.vimeo.com/27748804.

Restoring more than buildingsTara DeringtonContributing Writer

Photo courtesy of Stephanie MathenaStephanie Mathena (shown) and Kelsey Robinson traveled to New Orleans to help rebuild homes and shoot their documentary about the significance of college students volunteering.

You look down and see a gym shoe, maybe a foot – it’s toe shoes. The new footwear that is becoming popular amongst fitness- and out-door-lovers.

Otherwise known as “FiveFingers,” toe shoes were created by Vibram. When founder Vitale Bramani in-vented the first rubber soles for mountaineering boots in 1935, it was the beginning of a footwear revolution.

75 years later, Vibram manufactures more than 34 million soles annually for more than 1,000 premium footwear brands worldwide.

In 2001, Vibram opened its first commercial headquar-ters in the U.S. in Concord, Mass. Since 2005, Vibram USA has been responsible for

the North Ameri-can distribution of FiveFingers.

FiveFingers is de-signed to give a more natural experience while running, hiking, and fitness activities, such as water sports.

Ben Baxter, a gradu-ate student at North-ern Kentucky Uni-versity, has done research on FiveFin-gers and thought that it was a differ-ent and interest-ing product.

“I grew up down by the river in New Richmond, so in researching toe shoes, I found that they would come in handy for me when I go fishing and boating,” he said.

Baxter said that he would

use water shoes when fishing and

boating, but that they always ended up

giving him blisters.Baxter said that at

first he was reluctant to buy the shoes; but when he put them on for the first time, he was in disbelief of their quality. “These shoes are awesome,” he said.

Made with weath-er-resistant mate-

rial, the sole of FiveFingers is de-veloped from a compound that is ideal for high per-formance and en-

hances grip on both wet and dry surfaces.

The shoe’s elasticity

stretches to follow the shape of your foot and secures it in place.

Tom Sweeney, who sells FiveFingers at Benchmark Outfitters in Blue Ash, Ky., said people buy them mainly for their health benefits.

“FiveFingers has no arch support, so it gets the foot back to normal,” he said. “It also strengthens the core of your body.” He also added that, although FiveFingers is developed for outdoor use, some people buy them just for their novelty.

Sweeney said that it’s unbe-lievable how high in-demand FiveFingers are and that the product’s popularity contin-ues to increase.

FiveFingers has become the latest fitness craze, espe-cially in the outdoor world –but the shoe is slowly gaining interest on campus.

FeaturesEdition 48, Issue 5 11

New shoes are toe-tally natural

“I think it looks bad, because they’re not really using it,” Northern Kentucky University junior, Ashley Fritz said when asked about how there are no events being aimed at students at the Bank of Kentucky Center.

The venue currently has two scheduled events this semester. This includes The Casting Crowns, and The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller by Chip Davis. Both of which according to Matt Merchant, the marketing director at the Bank of Kentucky Center, are drawing out older crowds.

“Who are the Casting Crowns and why are there no concerts?” asked recent NKU grad Kristin Stamper. That’s what some students are won-dering.

Kyle Biggs, a junior at NKU has never attended an event at the ven-ue, but said, “If they could pull in

more concerts, I would go.”Funds from NKU”s general op-

erating budget help operate the BOKC, so it’s understandable why students would want a reason why there are no concerts. Senior Direc-tor of the Budget Office, Ken Kline, said that tuition does factor into the general maintenance fund, but that the BOKC received state funding.

“But that’s all mixed together, what’s the difference where it comes from when funds are needed for ei-ther the university itself or Bank of Kentucky Center,” Kline said.

Kline also explained that the ven-ue is meant to be regional, and the reason it is on NKU’s campus is be-cause the location is convenient to residents in the tri-state area.

According to Merchant, “There are three or four events in the works that have not yet been announced, but they will definitely be something the students will be interested in.”

Past concerts have included — Carrie Underwood, Jay-Z, Jason

Aldean, Bob Dylan and Martina Mc-Bride.

“The reason we had such big names before is because we were in a ‘honeymoon year,’ where we’re sold as the new arena that everyone wants to try out,” Merchant said.

The BOKC Facebook page has posts about country artist Blake Shelton coming to the venue on De-

cember 3, but the event has since been rescheduled for early 2012.

Students can be on the lookout for event announcements on the ven-ue’s official website, and can also follow The Bank of Kentucky Center on Twitter and Facebook.

The Bank of Kentucky Cen-ter official website: http://www.bankofkentuckycenter.com/

Students seek better entertainment options at Bank of Kentucky Center

Kevin EveslageContributing writer

Crystal HarrisContributing writer

Photo courtesy of MCT Campus

Photo by Brandon BarbAfter hosting artists such as Bob Dylan, Jay-Z and Carrie Underwood the Bank of Kentucky Center is occupied by lackluster events aimed at an older crowd.

Features September 21, 201112

Michael Decker is always reach-able. The 42-year-old creative direc-tor from Dallas sleeps with his phone nearby on his nightstand. From when he wakes up and checks it until he sets it down before bed, his phone is constantly with him.

“It’s an intrusion into your own pri-vate life,” he says. “It leads to burnout if you can never turn it off.”

Decker, who owns an iPhone , a lap-top and an iPad, uses his gadgets for work and for play. Though he makes a point not to look at his phone at din-ner, he says his friends still chide him. Put that thing down, they say.

For most of the population, tech-nology is a tool to enhance our lives. Our phone beeps, and we feel com-pelled to check whatever new text, email or tweet has come our way. Decker’s behavior is not uncommon, nor is it particularly unsettling.

Recently, indications of some-thing more malicious have started to rumble. The Counseling Center at the University of Texas-Dallas has a page on its website dedicated to com-puter addiction. A quick search of

Yahoo Groups returns more than 100 groups related to gaming addictions, with names like WOW — widow and EverQuest-Widows.

Search further, and extreme texting and gaming become more than an annoying character trait in a child or girlfriend. Excessive use can lead to addictive behavior, says therapist Co-sette Rae, who launched a technology rehabilitation center in the Seattle area. She says her clients, far from be-ing isolated cases, are part of a newly recognized problem: Technology has the potential to cause addictive be-havior, experts say.

The evidence is in the existence of Rae’s clinic, the ReSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program, which she says is the first program of its kind in the United States.

Therapists and counselors are pe-titioning the American Psychological Association to list technology addic-tion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — the primary system used to classify and diagnose mental disorders.

Clearly, not every tech user is an addict masking some other mental health issue. Texting during the day and watching TV at night doesn’t

mean a person has an addiction, but it is important to evaluate how often and to what extent we use technology, experts say.

Like other substance and behav-ioral addictions, technology use has a spectrum. While patients at Re-START struggle with addiction and dependency, most people engage with technology in a healthy manner. Once that interaction creates nega-tive consequences in multiple parts of a person’s life, though, that rela-tionship becomes abusive, says Jason Northrup, a researcher at Texas A&M University-Central Texas.

Researchers are finding that heightened technology use triggers the same sites in the brain that are ac-tivated through substance abuse and nonchemical addictive activities such as gambling, Northrup says.

For example, a recent study at the University of Maryland asked stu-dents to go a day without electronic technology of any kind — phones, TVs, computers — and record their experiences.

Students used literal terms of ad-diction to describe their dependency, citing feelings of anxiety, isolation, depression and even physical reac-

tions such as increased heart rate.Low-level abuse can manifest it-

self in various areas of a person’s daily life. General wellness suffers as well. Houston counselor John O’Neill points to small, everyday changes such as no longer having to get up and cross a room to answer the home phone.

When evaluating a potential case of technology addiction at ReSTART, Rae looks at all domains of someone’s life, not just how many hours he is spending online.

“We are mental health workers looking at a client’s entire history and how technology fits into that picture,” Rae said. “Often, there’s something in their life leading to this particular es-cape mechanism.”

Even if technology use is not yet dangerous to them, people need to be aware of the potential problems and be open to the idea that they might need to make some changes, experts say.

“I don’t believe everyone gets ad-dicted to technology, or anything like that,” he said. “It’s kind of like fire. Fire can be a very useful thing or a very destructive thing. It depends how you use it.”

Technology proving to be new addiction

Caitlin JohnstonThe Dallas Morning News

Photos courtesy of MCT CampusTechnology is starting to fall in line with other, more traditional addictions, according to re-searchers. What was once harmless texting and emails are now viewed as potentially dangerous.

Sports September 21, 201114

Senior midfielder/defender Tom Barrick (from left) shakes hands with President James Votruba before receiving his national championship ring. Votruba and Athletic Director Scott Eaton presented the rings to members of the 2010 men’s soccer team for winning the national championship.

Photo by John Minor

Soccer team receives its ringsNational Champs

With the addition of women’s track and field, the coaches are trying to find athletes to help strengthen the roster.

“Right now we need to fill in some events,” said Paul Longano, assistant cross country and track and field coach. “It’s a big cam-pus. There’s got to be a few decent ones.”

In attempt to increase the number of athletes on the roster, there will be an in-formational session regarding tryouts for the 2012 season Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. in the Founders Room at the NKU Soccer Stadi-um.

There has been a club team on campus, but this will be the first year for a team funded by the athletic department and that is NCAA sanctioned. The team can meet the minimum requirement of 14 athletes, but the coaches are looking to build a team of about 40 athletes.

“Whenever you are starting from scratch, there will never be an easy time,” Longano said. “It will be tough for 2011, but we will be fine in 2012.”

All currently-enrolled students inter-ested in joining the team must attend this

meeting to be considered for the 2012 sea-son. Students must bring a pen, a copy of their fall class schedules, a proof of a physi-cal conducted within the past six months and proof of health insurance.

Students should print and fill out the try-out forms to bring to the meeting as well. All forms can be found on the NKU Athlet-ics website at http://nkunorse.com/try-outs.

The team is set with long distance run-ners due to the existence of a cross country team. The coaches are looking for athletes to compete in the sprints and in the field events. According to Longano, the team is “starting from square one in those areas.”

According to Longano, students that have a background in track are preferred, as the team not only wants to have fun, but it also strives to be competitive. Experi-enced athletes will help the team as it faces tough competition.

“We will have a fairly competitive sched-ule,” Longano said. “We will compete against D-I universities since that is the di-rection we apparently are headed in.”

For more information, contact Longano at longanot1@nku.edu or by phone at 859-572-7958.

Women’s track team seeks helpJohn MinorSports news editor

Photo by Tim Downer

Junior Kayla Justice finished second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in last year’s College of Mount St. Joseph Invitational. The team participated in the event as a club team whereas this year they a NCAA-sanctioned team.

Edition 48, Issue 5 15A&E

This time last year, Northern Ken-tucky University professor and writ-er/filmmaker John Gibson began preproduction on “Revelation Trail,” a zombie/western film.

Gibson, also a multi-media engi-neer and producer for Norse Media, wrapped principal photography this summer.

However, the problem he now faces is gathering funds to shoot the final scenes.

“Revelation Trail” is a feature-length film that takes place in Ameri-ca during the late 1800s.

The protagonists are a preacher and lawman, who, over the course of the film, discover what it means to survive in a world of chaos in “the Old (undead) West,” according to the official website for “Revelation Trail.”

The film addresses issues concern-ing faith in God, difficult decisions people must make during trying times and the repercussions that fol-low.

Gibson took his production to Ber-ry, Ky., at Mullins Log Cabin; to the Copper Canyon Ranch in Hopkins-ville, Ky.; and to the southern region of Illinois.

Gibson said he chose these loca-tions because of their authenticity and visual similarity to the 19th cen-tury. Plus, the locations’ close prox-imities to the tri-state area has cut down on the crew’s travel expenses.

However, the production hasn’t been without its own trying times.

In April, Gibson’s father, a major financial contributor to the film, died unexpectedly just two days before the summer shoot casting call. At that point, Gibson said he was unsure about what steps to take without the support of his father, who he said has always backed his creative ambitions.

“I am not hesitant to tell people he was my hero, just ahead of Optimus Prime, for the way he had raised his family and the examples he led by,” Gibson said.

More problems began to plague the picture and nearly brought pro-

duction to its knees. In April, record rain-falls raised Ohio River water lev-els and flooded Massac County, Ill.

Two weeks before shooting in Mas-sac County, John received a call from an Illinois official informing him Fort Massac State Park had been shut down due to a collapsed fort wall and water erosion.

“Our plan was to shoot everything this summer in about three weeks,” Gibson said. “Then, that happened and completely threw us for a loop,” Gibson said.

He was left looking for another his-toric fort.

“My historical adviser James Bur-nett said, ‘Give me a piece of land, two months and I’ll build you a fort,’” Gibson said.

This move eventually caused a split in the production schedule, pushing the remaining third of the production until after Christmas.

The cost of a split shoot has put a strain on the budget, and thus af-fected Gibson’s grueling hunt to find more funding for “Revelation Trail.”

He gathered money for the sum-mer shoots largely through family and friends. Before filming began, Gibson managed to obtain $25,000.

Now he will need to raise more than $8,000 to cover the remaining production and other costs includ-ing lodging, wardrobe costs, food and fuel.

For the next month, Gibson will be raising money. To help allay the financial issues, he launched a Kick-starter Internet profile, which is a way to pitch his film to prospective investors.

“Revelation Trail” can be found on Kickstarter.com, the online funding platform for independent creative projects. Pledges can be made for as little as $1.

Despite the hurdles, Gibson re-mains confident and determined and shows no signs of backing down. He has dedicated “Revelation Trail” to his father.

“We will finish this film,” Gibson said. “My mom says if we don’t, my father will haunt us.”

Kyle SebreeContributing Writer

Plagued production goes forward Photo courtesy of John Gibson

“Revelation Trail,” a zomie/western film that deals with difficult life decisions and living with the consequences of those decisions, has been plagued with its own difficulties. Right now, the film’s producer is working to raise the last $8,000 needed to finish production after a series of unfortunate events put the film behind schedule and over budget.

September 21, 201116 A&E

HappeningsiKare to be AwareWhen: 6 p.m.Where: Suites ClassroomWhat: A cervical cancer awareness program. Present-ed by ΚΑΨ Fraternity, Inc. and Black Women’s Orga-nization as part of Women’s Appreciation Week.

Are you a Jezebel?Where: Suites ClassroomWhen: 5 p.m.What: A discussion about black women in media. Part of Women’s Appreciation Week.

Mortal Kombat TournamentWhere: SU Game RoomWhen: 7 - 10 p.m.What: A fun, free tourna-ment with 1st, 2nd, 3rd place prizes for those with a Flaw-less victory.

Bella RuseWhen: 12 p.m.Where: SU 102What: Listen to a live band for free. The Student Union, APB, WNKU, and the Mid-point Music Festival present this year’s September Concert Series.

SexversationsWhen: 7:00 p.m.Where: SU BallroomWhat: A discussion about sex, intimacy, relationships, safety, sexuality, and ques-tions to open your mind and challenge your conscience.

Dodgeball tourna-mentWhen: 4:00 - 9:00 p.m.Where: NKU Rec. CenterWhat: Support the ladies of ΘΦΑ and the men of ΣΦΕ in their efforts to raise money for YouthAIDS and The Wel-come House.

A Woman’s Worth When: 6 p.m.Where: Suites ClassroomWhat: An open mic night dedicated to women. Part of Women’s Appreciation Week.

Taste of the LeveeWhen: 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Where: Newport on the LeveeWhat: Featuring Levee eatery options showcase food along with beer, live music and street performers throughout the day.

September 21

September 24September 24September 23September 22

September 22September 21September 21

Some students exchanged their voices for free movie vouchers Sept. 14.

The students read phrases aloud from a tablet com-puter to help with the Google Word-of-Mouth proj-ect. The project is an attempt to collect voice data of regional dialects, according to a notice in N3. It is in-tended to improve voice recognition technology and make using voice commands on phones and comput-ers easier. In exchange for approximately 10 minutes of reading phrases, students received an $11 voucher for AMC Theaters.

Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing student Brittany Norman, who heard about the project on N3, said it was not exactly what she expected.

“I thought we were going to be in a computer lab with a microphone,” Norman said. “Being one-on-one was a bit anxiety-inducing, but he was nice and would repeat a phrase if needed,” she added, referring to the Google data specialist who was collecting the data.

Some participants heard about the Word-of-Mouth project by, well, word of mouth. Accelerated Bachelor

of Science in Nursing student Marie Ryan was one such participant. Ryan heard about the project from Nor-man and their friend Katie Wright, who is also in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

Some of the phrases participants read from the tab-let included, “Go to DSM,” “Recipes with horchata,” and “Videos of cows.”

“One of the phrases I had to say was, ‘Go Justin Bieber,” said freshman computer technology informa-tion major Brandon Schrenk.

Some of the words and phrases proved more difficult for participants.

“I knew what to expect, sort of” said Wright, who participated in the Word-of-Mouth project after watching Norman do it. “Some of the words threw me off, though.”

According to freshman studio art major Lauren Coby some of the phrases she was asked to say were “tongue twisters,” and she had to repeat them.

“You get nervous at first,” said freshman French ma-jor Caitlin Harrah. “You worry that you’re going to say the wrong thing. But it wasn’t bad.”

The Word-of-Mouth project, which began at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, was scheduled to go until 12:30

p.m., but it lasted until nearly 1 p.m. 20 people lent their voices to the project, and when it ended, two indi-viduals were still in line but did not get to participate.

Participants were had to be at least 18 years old and be native U.S. English speakers.

Roxanna BlevinsA&E editor

Word of mouth spreads quicklyPhoto from MCT Campus

Photo by Roxanna BlevinsStudents lent their voices Sept. 14 to an effort by Google to enhance voice recognition software.