Miami Hurricane, September 12, 2000

              The wait is over
DAN COLCHER / Hurricane Staff
AND...THEY'RE OFF: Pledges take off their outter shirts to reveal the Greek letters of the sororities they will be a part of during last week's Bid Day.
srcu runm
Canes come up short in
page 5
Concert brings mixed reviews
ACCENT
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IBRARY

Coral Gables, Florida
Since 1927
Volume 78, Number 5	_____ WWW.HURRICANE.MIAMI.EDU_____________Tuesday, September 12,2000
UM makes the grade
School ranked with highest in the nation
By Becky Clero
Hurricane Staff Writer
When it comes to on-campus activities, the University of Miami recently ranked 5th among the nation’s top 331 colleges and universities, 16th when it came to campus diversity and 20th when it came to the accessibility of its professors.
So said The Princeton Review in its The Best 331 Colleges guide, released this week, in which several thousand college and university students were surveyed.
The Princeton study was based solely on questionnaires filled out by students on campus in the past several years (1998-2000).
The Review surveyed 59,000 students at 331 colleges around the nation, with the approval of the administrations of the colleges.
About 175 students per-campus answered a survey of 70 questions about campus life on their college. Each college was given a score for students’ answers to each question, allowing The Review to compare students’ answers from college to college.
DM students in the survey said they felt professors here are "extremely helpful,” “well prepared” and some of the top professors in their field.
However, many students felt that the “nationally renowned marine-sciences department takes the
cake."
Socially, many students said that they felt UM was made up of a “receptive and diverse group" and they described themselves as “high-energy,” “friendly” and “outgoing.”
The survey also said that many students felt UM ranked high in having a beautiful campus, great athletic facilities, easy access to campus, great computer facilities and a high level of ethnic diversity.
However, UM did rank low in
other areas. Many students said they felt that some of their classmates were cliquish, that student publications are ignored and that students aren’t religious.
In addition, UM ranked 18th in the nation for its low acceptance of the gay community on campus.
Patricia Whitely, vice president for Student Affairs, was pleased to hear that UM was ranked 5th overall in terms of student activities.
“We have 167 student organizations on campus, a Wellness Center, greek life, commuter life and the Rathskeller,” Whitely said. “All student associations and residential halls work hard to provide activities for students to meet each other.
“UM has a spectrum of different activities, and some of these activities include volunteer groups, religious houses and honors association to make sure that UM students have a chance to get involved."
Some students interviewed by The Hurricane said the The Review's rankings were correct. Almost all students interviewed agreed that UM professors are highly accessibility.
“I’m a recent transfer student,” said Stacey Strusson, a junior broadcast journalism major. “So far my professors have been available ”
“My experience has been that (professors) do meet with me but it’s often the student’s responsibility to initiate contact. It’s up to us to talk to them,” said Evelyn Pereiro, a junior broadcast journalism major.
She said she’s “never had a problem, and e-mail is a good way to talk to professors, too."
Some students interviewed said they strongly disagreed with the book’s low rating of the acceptance of the gay community on campus.
“I think they are accepted on campus, maybe not as much as they’d like,but they are,” said Winnie Eliasant, a junior and an accounting major, of UM’s gay community.
“People have been more open about homosexuality on campus.” said Becky Barreth, freshman biology major. “If it wasn’t accepted at this school, then the gay community couldn’t be so open about it.”
Show goes on for Band of the Hour
A new director and $ 1 million saves the program
By Brian Petit
Hurricane Staff Writer
Only seven months ago, many observers and participants had all but put the final nail in the coffin for the Band of the Hour. Now, the future is looking bright for the University of Miami’s marching band, due to a new director, a recent endowment and updated membership policies.
The past few months have been something of a roller coaster ride for the Band of the Hour. In a February 8 Hurricane Opinion piece, Band member Catherine Manfra seemed to pen the first few lines of the Band's eulogy.
“The Band of the Hour could soon be extinct,” she wrote, referring to a threatening lack of funds for the Band.
One week before, Manfra and other Band members had also learned that the Band's director of nine years, Michael Mann, would soon resign.
Then, administrative and budgetary oversight of the Band of the Hour was transferred from the Athletic Department to the School of Music. This'meant further problems for the Band because it could no longer use musicians not enrolled in the University, like the musicians from other area colleges and universities that had previously filled many positions in the Band.
The Band of the Hour’s luck began to change, however, on June 1 when Michael Dressman took over
~See BAND • Page 2
See GREEK • Page 2
Work on Ryder to begin this fall
Construction set to start in December
By Chris Perret
Hurricane Start Writer The cranes and bulldozers are coming to campus very soon to begin construction of the Ryder Center, the future sight of the Miami Hurricanes Basketball program, said sources the Sports Information Department, Friday.
With last year’s success, the Hurricanes basketball team looks to expand their success this year, hopefully returning to the NCAA tourna-
ment in March. The team had an excellent year with a 23-11 record, going 11-5 at home in the Miami Arena.
The Hurricanes will play one more year at the Arena and then move to their new home in the Ryder Center. The center will be located on Dickinson Drive, across the street from the Metro station and right next to the on-campus apartments.
Since the project was announced last year construction has been on hold, but is due to start up at the beginning of December. It is expected to last 18 months, coming to an end in 2002.
In order to make room for the
Ryder center the University had to demolish some on-campus apartments. These apartments housed many students and the move has lead to some of the overcrowding in the dormitories this year
While the Arena—once home to the Miami Heat—seats 19,600, it rarely sells out for the Hurricanes games. With the New Ryder Center, capacity crowds are expected and the added noise factor in a smaller arena is expected to increase excitement for both spectators and players,as well.
The Ryder Center w^l hold 9,200 spectators, with 7,000 permanent
See RYDER • Page 2
D.H. GARCIA/ Hurricane Staff WAITING: A bulldozer lies dormant at the Ryder site.
Fraternity
unites
Hispanics
Latin brothers now part of UM greek life
By Gariot Louisna
Editor in Chief
Fernando Ruales wanted to go greek, but he didn’t fit in.
“I went through rush, but none of the of the other fraternities caught me” said Ruales, co-founder and treasurer of the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity. "I didn’t feel right with any of them.”
Edwin Laboy felt the same way.
The established organizations didn’t feel to him like a brotherhood that he could easily blend into, he said.
“The greek system here is basically social,” Laboy said. “There is nothing cultural about it.”
It was not until Ruales and Laboy attended an informational session held by the regional directors of Phi Iota Alpha that they said they felt they belonged.
The only problem was the organization didn’t exist on campus. And the infrastructure for the establishment of a local chapter of a fraternity for Hispanic men did not exist either.
After a year of cutting through red tape, Laboy, Ruales and two other Latino students have created, for the first time in the history of the University, a local chapter of a historically Latino Greek -letter association and a Latino Greek Council to oversee the activities of Phi Iota Alpha and any other historically Latino Greek letter associations that establish themselves here.
Phi Iota Alpha follows closely in the tradition of the historically black greek letter organizations, its members said.
The group held a party at the Rathskcllar Saturday to officially introduce themselves to the University community.
Phi Iota Alpha is a cultural fraternity built upon the idea of Pan Americanism—the idea that Latino Americans, though separated by such things as race and nationality, have cultural and ethnic bonds that unite them, Laboy said.
“We can’t physically unite Latin America,” Laboiy said. “But if you learn about the people, you find that the culture and the customs are similar. We can be brought together idealiyi’
A secret organization called la Union Hispano Americana was founded in 1898 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. This was the first association of Latin American students tounded ever in the United States. In 1921, that organization merged with two others to form Phi lota Lambda.
By 1968, the only active undergraduate chapter of the fraternity existed at Rensselaer Polytechnic. That chapter became inactive in 1973. In 1984, a