Photo by:
Chancellor Dan Ritchie’s quarterly Chancellor’s Roundtable lasted only 50 minutes of the allotted two hours last Wednesday as the chancellor addressed the grievances and proposals of 12 students.
The roundtable, which has consistently taken place once a quarter since Ritchie took his position as chancellor, has seen dwindling numbers of participanting students. Ritchie said that he didn’t know why fewer students are attending and asked those gathered for possible explanations.
“Maybe there are less issues than there used to be,” said Ritchie, smiling at the suggestion that the university is now a “well-oiled machine” and students no longer face problems on the scale they used to.
On a more serious note, however, Ritchie said that he wishes more students would take advantage of the roundtables because they provide an effective forum for voicing opinion.
“I enjoy it [the roundtables],” said Ritchie. “I would encourage more students to come.”
Four issues were addressed by students and one by Ritchie.
Chris Sturgess, Jamie Grim and Kay Fillingham proposed the possibility of partially converting the school’s power source to wind. Sturgess said that the project could begin with Sturm Hall because of the size of the building and because all undergraduate students, at one time or another, will have a class in Sturm. In addition, DU is one of the last schools in Colorado to consider the conversion, he said. The University of Colorado at Boulder has been partially wind powered for a year and Metro State approved the conversion the previous week.
Xcel’s WindSource, according to the students, is a possible provider. The drawback is the initial high cost, which would decrease significantly in the future. However, that cost will contribute to development of wind power in Colorado. Another alternative, outlined by the group, is the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The cost of BEF’s power is less and the foundation is nonprofit, however, the money does not support Colorado wind power development.
The group suggested a combination of both power sources and Ritchie said they should continue their research.
A second group of 3/2 environmental science and engineering students said that they are struggling to figure out how to pay for their fifth year. They said that they are “in limbo” because they are recognized as neither graduate nor undergraduate students and therefore, cannot apply for financial aid and are not qualified for grants. The students brought with them a letter signed by a number of 3/2 students who were facing the same problem.
Ritchie said that this is an immediate problem and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
This problem segued into another issue with the financial aid office. Jennifer Sorenson said that she has been having problems with her account and that the office refuses to return her calls or e-mails. Other students agreed and Ritchie requested an outline of specific instances that these problems occurred so that he could take action.
The final issue addressed involved the smoking areas on campus. Molly Isaacson proposed that smokers should be prohibited from smoking in certain areas outside. She suggested that the front entrance of Sturm Hall, for example, be smoke-free, but that smokers should be allowed to smoke on the west side of the building.
Ritchie said that he was sympathetic to the problem, but that enforcement would be difficult. He suggested that Isaacson pick a site and that she could try to request that smokers gather in an alternative setting, but that requiring it would not happen any time soon.
After Ritchie was sure that all students had been given an opportunity to speak, he asked about plagiarism He said that he thinks the university should “get more serious” about enforcing consequences for students caught plagerizing. Students attending agreed, suggesting that students caught committing their second offense could be suspended from school.
