Miami Hurricane, February 27, 1990

              Volume 67, Number 36
University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.
Tuesday, February 27,1990
The president speaks
Foote: Education costs growing more than inflation
By EILEEN FAXAS
Staff Wfitef
A wave of protest from the University of Miami student body has come with the latest
tuition increase announcement. President Edward T. Foote II is one person whose views have not been widely publicized.
Student reactions have been evident in several ways. Some students have worn blackbands. Rallies have been organized. Editorials have been written. All across campus 8,000 people seem to share one common view: the 9.8 percent tuition increase is not a welcome addition to the $11,000-plus some students and their families already struggle to pay.
UM administrators and officials have also
voiced their views. Dr. William Butler, vice president for Student Affairs, has been the most notable, making an effort to explain the reasoning behind the new increase.
Yet, for the most part, Foote has remained silent thus far. At the protest staged Feb. 15 in front of the Ashe Building, Foote attended for a while. He quietly viewed the crowd of about 150, not saying a word.
However, Foote has a great deal to say about the tuition issue and the changing face, and rising cost, of an education in America today.
“I agonize over the tuition decision every year and can understand (students’] concern,” he said.
"The problem with tuition, and it is a problem, is that it reflects the changes in the
cost of education, which have been increasing more rapidly than the general inflation,” Foote said.
This language might frighten people into thinking the average family won't be able to afford to send their children to college as education's costs outpace the inflation rate in the future.
“Our best projections are, in general terms, that tuition will decline in the coming year,” Foote said. "But it would be inaccurate to try to predict that decrease in the detail of percentages.” Foote also pointed out that there has been increased financial aid from the University in the form of student scholarships.
The process by which the University implements tuition changes and juggles the
numbers is complex, Foote said.
Every year, the president presents the UM Board of Trustees with a new tuition figure. For two days, they debate the proposal and eventually accept or reject the final outcome.
The president’s proposal before the board this year was about 9 percent, according to Foote.
Before any proposals are ever made, the administration must dive into the realm of educated guessing because the increases are dependent on factors that can only be predicted.
"We don’t know what’s going to happen to
Please see page 3/FOOTE
Foote: We predict tuition will decline in the coming year.
Pell loss
concerns
students
UM to compensate
By RACHELL FRAZIAN
Staff Writer
University of Miami students might have a new reason to worry about financial assistance, even if their forms are turned in by the March 1 deadline.
President George Bush is proposing a budget for the 1991 fiscal year that would freeze funding of Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and kill the State Student Incentive Grant.
If this budget passes, 1.3 million students nationwide will lose $200 Pell Grants. Students may also have their grants reduced by $50. Pell Grants are federally funded, state-allocated and based solely on financial need.
Bush had proposed increasing Pell Grant funding by $473 for each student who receives the grant; however, that amount is less than the 4.5 percent needed to keep up with inflation.
Richard Ritzman of UM’s Office of Financial Assistance said the U.S. Senate wants to appropriate the funds at an ideal amount but that amount will most likely decrease.
"This happens virtually every year, definitely for the last four or five years,” Ritzman said.
The University is going to help with the financial burden by reviewing each student's case and dealing with the appropriation of funds on an individual basis.
"Say a student files an FAF [Financial Aid Form] and has the same need as the previous year, then the University funds will go up,” Ritzman explained. “This is on a general basis, it will be a student-by-student process and may vary as the needs vary.”
Tuition for 1990-91 is increasing 9.8 percent and the University is planning to compensate by raising financial aid by 18 percent.
Ritzman said UM's financial assistance budget for the academic year 1990-91 will be $23.5 million, compared to the current year’s $19 million budget.
However, some students remain concerned about being able to afford the cost of returning to UM
Pell Grant recipient Charlene Blaisure has been receiving the grant her past three years at UM. Blaisure said she thinks the Pell Grants are going to be missed.
“A lot of scholarships have been keeping up with inflation but most aren’t," Blaisure said. "If the University doesn't take up slack, my parents can’t.”
Although Pell Grants can be a small supplement to financing a college education, Blaisure said every little bit helps.
“Even if it’s just $400, it pays for books that year," Blaisure explained. “If the University doesn’t compensate, and they take away the Pell Grant, I won’t be coming back next year.”
Raisin’ Cane
DAVE BERGMAN/ Assistant Photo Editor
The Miami Maniac dances as the Hurricanes baseball team wins two of three games over the weekend. For story, see Sports, page 8.
Water shortage alters UM campus
irrigation
Policies change to conserve water supply
By CARRIE HART-STRATTON
Staff Writer
The University of Miami landscaping department has begun to institute measures to conserve more water than is demanded by the Phase 1 water restrictions of the South Florida Water Management District.
“We try to follow the guidelines and don't water the areas that don’t need it,” said Alan Weber, director of grounds for UM's landscaping department.
According to Julio Fanjul, senior issue management specialist of the South Florida Water Management District, UM is an existing institution with more than five acres of green area.
With that status, UM is allowed to water from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m., three days a week, depending on the street address of the location. Under Phase I of water restrictions, odd street addresses may be watered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Even addresses are allowed to water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. No irrigation is allowed on Friday.
"Obviously, we won’t use water when we don’t have to. But we want the grounds to look good,” Weber said.
Weber stated that the ground crew has cut back on watering times in specific areas. The land across from Metrorail’s University Station, for example, recieves 40 minutes of water instead of the usual 60 minutes. Smaller areas may be watered only one or two days of the alloted three.
UM is also beginning to practice Xeriscaping, a term used to describe water-efficient landscaping. Weber explained fewer high water-demanding plants were being used and high-efficiency
plan
Here’s how you can help
By CARRIE HART-STRATTON
Stall Writer
The South Florida Water Management District is worried. This concern has placed water restrictions on the University of Miami and Dade County and even stronger restrictions on Broward County. Their worry has caused them to ask the public to voluntarily cut down on indoor usage. The impetus behind all the worry Please see page 3/WATE R
spinkler heads have been installed across campus.
A three-man irrigation team runs daily checks on the sprinkler system to identify damage and make repairs before the system is turned on in the evening. A broken sprinkler head can waste an enormous amount of water in a short period of time. Weber said most of the damage to heads is caused by students kicking or stepping on them.
Another water-saving method used by UM is the spraying of antidesiccants on foliage, which provides another cuticle, or layer, to leaves and slows water evaporation.
"It’s had no ill effects on the water or fish," said Weber, adding that the anti-desiccant is approved by the Enviromental Protection Agency.
UM immediately shut down the Palm Court fountain after the water restrictions were issued. Unlike its Osceola counterpart, the fountain draws from a fresh-water supply. Since Lake Osceola is a brackish-water lake and its fountain recycles that water, it is not limited by the restrictions.
By ROBIN GLAYSHER
Staff Writer
Recruiting will be a main focus this semester for Angel Flight, a nationwide university service organization that promotes interest in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, according to the commander of the University of Miami chapter, Jacqui Pennington.
Now with 12 active members, Angel Flight will lose three-fourths of the group this spring due to graduations. Pennington, who has been the commander since last spring, will be one of the
three remaining members.
"We are a very young group,” the sophomore commander said, noting the organization's return to campus in 1986.
Angel Flight and its male counterpart Silver Wings are open to interested students from other South Florida college campuses, according to Pennington.
An auxiliary to Arnold Air Society, an Air Force ROTC fraternity, Angel Flight is a service, honorary and social organization. It is open to any student, and does not require affiliation with the military or obligate military service.
Stressing community service
Pennington
activities, Angel Flight visits children’s hospitals, and also bowls with handicapped children on a weekly basis. Members take part in joint regional and national activities with other chapters from the Southeast division and the Arnold Air Society to support the war against drugs.
UM group stresses community service
Angel Flight’s priority is recruitment'
Coral Gables Mayor: Student involvement in politics needed
By MONICA ORBEGOSO
Stall Writer
The City of Coral Gables began as the vision of George Merrick. Now, it is the site of the largest private university in the Southeast, the University of Miami. UM alumnus and Coral Gables Mayor George Corrigan was part of the city when it was composed of only 25 people.
Corrigan spoke on campus on how to get involved in local politics Thursday in Stanford Residential College, sponsored by Alpha Kappa Psi, the professional business fraternity.
Corrigan joined the fraternity while a business student at UM in 1947. His other activities included athletics and brotherhood in the social fraternity Sigma Chi.
In those days, he said, “Your major was anything you could work 24 hours with.”
The mayor also said good management marketing skills are necessary for a head start in a political career. He said it is difficult to get started in local politics, demonstrating that a campaign to be elected for county comissioner costs approximately half a million dollars where you “have to pick friends" to gain campaign support.
Accounting Professor Karin Fortin expressed her sentiments about zoning in Coral Gables, complaining that she found zones were terribly rundown where a ‘‘$25 job would be required to do a $200job and a lot of this causes needless waste for homeowners.”
Alpha Kappa Psi President Santiago Freire mentioned that if he were mayor he would eliminate some rules such as needing permits for repairs because "some people cannot afford to spend the time or money in obtaining a permit. This deters many people from doing important repairs.”
“The mayor seemed very relaxed and his communication was excellent," said parliamentarian of the chapter Irving Padron. "He seemed to tackle each question head on,”
Corrigan