Miami Hurricane, November 21, 1997

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W24B97
*"    IBRARV"
CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA
SINCE 1927
VOLUME 75, NUMBER 23
in this issue
WWW.HURRICANE.MIAMI.EDU
MEN AT WORK
■ The basketball season for
the University of Miami men's
team will face off against
North Carolina Charlotte.
SPORTS, page 4
MAKING MOVIES
■ Sophomores Billy Corben
and Alfred Spellman are
already working on a feature
film
ACCENT, page 6
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
■ What is the answer to the
world's environmental problems? One student shares his
viewpoint.
OPINION, page 8
news briefs
STUDENT FARES AVAILABLE
FOR THANKSGIVING TICKETS
Western Pacific Airlines is
now offering students a way to
get home for the holidays, for
less money.
The company will be offering a student fare program
which provides low-fare travel
over the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays.
Fares start as low as $79 one
way off peak or $99 peak and
are available for purchase
through May 21, 1998.
Students must be attending
an accredited college or university, enrolled on a part-time
or full-time basis and be
between the ages of 17 and 28.
All fares are one way and no
minimum stay is required.
There is no advance purchase
requirement on these fares but
they must be purchased within
one day of the booking.
Once ticketed, these fares
are non-refundable. However,
changes may be made for a
$50 change fee per person, per
change, plus any increase in
new fare.
Passenger Facility Charges of
$3 to $12 are not included in
these fares and some additional restrictions apply.
Passengers must present
proof of age and student status,
such as a valid college ID, at
time of ticketing and ch#2ck-in.
Acceptable forms of proof of
age include a birth certificate,
driver's license or U.S. passport.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21J997
UM Theater faculty denied tenure
■ Lantaff becomes
associate chair
without tenure
By ABBY TEGNELIA
Hurricane Staff Writer
Kent Lantaff. associate chairman
of the theater arts department, carried the Ring Theater's latest production, Hair, to two weeks of sold-
out shows, but he's not technically
in charge, or even supposed to he
there.
"Basically, he's not allowed to be
chair because, under the
University's guidelines, the chairman needs tenure," said Bruce
Miller, head of performance in the
theater arts department.
The administration denied Lantaff
tenure last semester after he served
on the theater arts faculty for six
years. Faculty who are denied tenure
usually are  forced to  leave  the
University.
"When faculty is denied tenure,
most of the time they are forced to
part ways," Lantaff said. "It's fairly
mandatory that their contracts are
not renewed. Through alternative
arrangements, I'm able to stay on
board."
According to Ihe American
Association of University
Professors, an organization that promotes assurance of academic freedom and tenure, Lantaff's stay at
UM "is not consistent with generally accepted practice."
"In a normal situation, if a faculty
member does not meet the given
tenure criteria, they Finish the end of
the year of service and then leave the
institution," said Robert Kreiser. an
associate secretary of the organization.
The UM faculty handbook states,
"If Ihe Board denies tenure to a fac
ulty member..the faculty member
shall receive at least 12 months
notice prior to the expiration of the
appointment."
Daniel Palz currently serves as
chairman of the theater arts department, but Lantaff. who is also the
general manager of the Ring
Theater, performs most of
the duties of
chair.
"Kent
Lantaff is the
putative head
of the department," Miller
said.
The AAUP
sent UM a letter criticizing the
University's actions in the case.
Thomas Salzman, a theater arts professor also denied tenure, said, "The
school responded saying the cases
had been settled and were no longer
LANTAFF
an issue."
Salzman also remains al UM
under unusual circumstances.
"I have something that .-Mows me
to stay here." he said. "It's their part
ofthe deal, but I can't disclose it for
legal reasons."
Tenure ensures professors both
job security and artistic freedom.
Both Lantaff and Salzman now
work al UM as non-tenure-track faculty, meaning they will not come up
for tenure again.
In pretest to this. College of the
Arts and Sciences faculty resolved
at Iheir Sept. 2.3 meeting that, "The
transfer of persons from regular
(tenure-track) positions to lecturer
and other non-tenure-track positions
with precisely the same duties and
qualifications subverts Ihe tenure
system."
Kreiser said the administration
might have denied Lantaff and
Salzman because of their line of
work, meaning they never had any
intention of granting them tenure.
"If administration denied these
faculty members tenure because
they believed the positions held are
not eligible for tenure, then this
manner is inconsistent of standards
in the academic community,"
Kreiser said.
The prefessors mentioned olher
possibilities.
"Once you get tenure you have a
job for life." Salzman said. "That's
why the University doesn't want to
give it."
"Poss t ' ey wanted to avoid
tenure r gt eral," Miller agreed. "I
think the administration would like
to use people up for live or six years
then send them on their way It's
probably cheaper."
To be tenured, a faculty member
must show evidence of research, ser-
See TENURE • Page 2
CELEBRATING PUERTO RICAN HISTORY
Singleton speaks
on greek system
DANCING DAY: lunior Harold Abrago, sophomore Sonia Munoz and freshman lason Canales
danced during the celebration of Puerto Rico's discovery and history.
On Nov. 19, 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico while on his second trip to the
Americas. Puerto Rico became part of the Spanish
Empire until the the Spanish-American war  in
|.|. GAMA-LOBO / Photo Editor
1898.
In 1917, the Puerto Rican people became U.S. citizens and in 1952, the Puerto Rican Constitution
was ratified, making Puerto Rico a commonwealth,
or "Estado Libre Asociado."
The students shared this history with the University
community on Wednesday with dancing and other
events.
■ Dean of students
addresses Senate
concerns
By CHRIS SOBEL
Hurricane Staff Writer
Amid continuing controversy
over the state of the Greek system
and less than two weeks utter the
brotlvers of Sigma Chi filed a lawsuit against the University of
Miami. Associate DMM Oaf SluilWIH
Greg Singleton spoke belore student government leaders al this
week's Senate meeting.
"I lend to be a catalyst for
change," said Singleton, who came
lo the position this year from
Purdue University. "It just so happens that this semester we've had a
lol of change in Ihe Greek system,
not only at this University but
nationwide."
In addition to the situation at UM
surrounding Sigma Chi. Singleton
pointed to alcohol-related deaths
involving fraternities at Louisiana
State University and Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Singleton responded to Sigma
Chi's accusations that the administration treated the fraternity unfair-
ly.
"We want to be fair and equitable
across the board but we also want
to guide students down the right
road in order to make the right
decisions." Singleton said.
Since 1990, the total amount of
men in greek organizations al UM
has dropped 47 percent, reflecting
a national decline in fraternity
membership. v
Although on the rise nationally,
sorority membership al UrVt has
remained steady
When asked by senators to comment on the where Ihe Greek system at UM is headed, Singleton
suit! by the fall I99K semester
"we're going to see a lot of changes
on this campus in terms of recruiting."
Senator Read Sawczyn said he is
concerned the focus has been
placed on negative aspects and
taken away from positive accomplishments of the greek system,
such as "Greeks and Goblins," an
annual event when fraternities open
SeeSC
r
Page 2
IFC elects new
president, board
■ Hart wants to
put problems
behind greek
system
By SARAH GUARNACCIA
News Editor
Come January of 1998,
University of Miami junior Dan
Hart will be serving as the president of the Interfraternity Council
Hart is currently the public relations coordinator for IFC, under
current president Neil Schiller. He
said  he has worked to
make     communication
between the University
and the IFC better.
"I've always wanted to
try and facilitate better
communication between
the administration and
different fraternities,"
Han said
As a member of Sigma
Alpha Mu, Hart said he
has seen evidence of low
morale among the greeks.
However, with his new position,
he said he hopes to bring the pride
back to the greek system at the
University.
"I'm ready to bring back the
energy that was here a few years
ago," he said.
As president of the IFC, Hart
will be responsible for representing
the greeks to the administration
Hart said he will serve as a mediator between the greeks and administration
Ultimately, Hart said his main
goal is to be the voice for the
greeks.
When Hart takes over in January,
he said he will continue in the
direction that Schiller has been
headed
Schiller's tenure as president of
IFC saw the investigation of Sigma
Chi and the penalties thai followed,
and the penalties the administration
ruled against Lambda Chi Alpha
Hart said he hopes to put
these issues behind him
and the IFC.
"I'm ready to put an
end to it," Hart said
"I'm not nervous. I'm
excited."
Hart said he is especially looking forward
to   working   with   his
HART *»«»■
The following Irater
nity  members  serving
with Hart are:
First Vice-President - junior
Eddie Gomez. Alpha Sigma Phi
Second Vice-President - junior
Bnan Seits, Lambda Chi Alpha
Treasurer - Mike Feldman, Zeta
Beta Tau
Secretary - Joe Cuomo, Lambda
Chi Alpha.
Patey to leave University
■ Orientation
director spent eight
years at University
By PADMINI UPPU
Hurricane Staff Writer
As Director of Orientation,
Commuter Students Affairs and
leadership Programs, Cynthia
Nolan Patey has had some form of
contact with almost every student.
Next year, however, she will leave
the University because her husband,
an engineer, has accepted a position
in Richmond. Virginia.
Patey has worked at UM for the
past eight years, starting as
Residence
('....iiiiii.mn in
Mahoney
Residential
College. Since
1994, she has
worked in her
present position.
Her job
involves planning the entire
orientation
pmgram for new students and the
associated events. Patey said she
could not accomplish such colossal
PATEY
task without the help of students.
"This is essentially a student-run
program, and lhe students are
exceptional—competent and committed to orientation," she said
Patey. as direclor of Commuter
Student Affairs plans the newsletters
and the faculty lunches and. in collaboration with the Association ot
Commuter Studenls. organizes the
events for Commuter Awareness
Week.
For the Leadership Institute.
Patey conducts the Leadership
Summit, a one-day conference open
to   all   students,   and   runs   the
See PATEY • Page 2
Students voice parking concerns
■ Administration
to add more spaces
By CHRIS SOBEL
Hurricane Staff Writer
Students who attended Monday's
town hall meeting at the Rathskeller
had the opportunity to get a better
idea of how the University is handling the parking situation, and to
offer a few suggestions of their own.
Student Government sponsored
the meeting in which Public Safely
Direclor Major Henry Chnslensen
and Parking and Transportation
Director Sandra Redway talked
directly to students about their concerns.
"Since August we've been working aggressively to address the linn
tations of the parking situation on
campus," Redway told an audience
of students, faculty members, and
SG leaders
Redway sent a memorandum lo
all University parking clientele this
week that outlined several major
projects designed to alleviate the
problem.
Over winter break. Lot 1(11
behind the Ungar Building and Cox
Science Cenler will he reconfigured
in order to enhance parking comli
tions at the lot and bring it into compliance with code regulations
The acquisition of additional
perimeter parking is being negt.ti.u
ed with Metro-Dade Transit. By the
slart of the spring semester, Redway
said the University should have control of lots on Ponce De Leon
Boulevard near the Metmrail station
and across from the Canterbury
Child Care Center.
According to Redway, the key to
perimeter parking is "changing
behavioral patterns" of sludents who
fill up the interior lots Redwuy suggested they park instead in perimeter lols and lake the shuttle.
"If we're going to have penmeler
parking, we need to take a Disneylike approach in moving people
from the perimeter onto the campus." said Alan Fish, assistant vie.
president of Bus Services
"There are no crazy ideas," Fish
added. "We need some creative
thinking to find some alternatives"
After Redway and Christensen
See PARK • Page 2