ByWillAtkinson.com

This Semester’s Top 10 Winthrop Stories | The Buzz

I’ve picked what I consider to be the top 10 Winthrop stories on my Herald blog. Comment!

I wrote a paper on Philip Meyer’s excellent book “The Vanishing Newspaper.” Meyer employs quantitative methods to approach the multitude of problems facing papers. He attempts to prove, and comes very close, that good journalism means good business.

In fact, Meyer comes so close at proving the worth of good journalism, his book can be taken as a call for other industry analysts to finish where Meyer started and prove good journalism can mean profits. Anyone with a passing interest in the present plight of print media should read Meyer’s book.

Report: “The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age”

In “The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age,” journalism professor Philip Meyer attempts to prove quality journalism is good business. With a background in computer-assisted reporting and statistical prowess, Meyer makes a convincing case.

Meyer acknowledges the difficulty of his task: “it is very difficult to show that quality journalism is the cause of business success rather than its by-product” (Meyer 1). The book presents a difficult challenge but one Meyer finds important. With fragmented mass media audiences, “out capacity to understand one another is diminished” (Meyer 5).

Newspaper’s response to other technologies has been inadequate, Meyer contends. Papers are responding to competitive challenge by cutting costs and raising prices (Meyer 9). This “harvesting strategy” has been fueled by investors and money managers who care more about short-term profits than quality journalism (Meyer 9). The book cites an excellent example. In 1986 on the day the Pulitzer Prizes were announced, the value of Knight Ridder’s shares fell. Market analysts reasoned the company wins “too many Pulitzer Prizes” and the money spent on those projects “should be left to fall to the bottom line” (Meyer 6). The harvesting strategy is indicative of a stagnant industry, Meyer writes, and puts a newspaper’s “precious community influence in peril” (Meyer 10). This observation is significant because it shows newspaper companies seem to have accepted that further growth is impossible and decided to increase bottom lines by selling off current portions of the business.

Investor pressure is prompting newspapers to “convert the influence increment into cash” (Meyer 14). This is correlated with the steadily declining confidence in the press since 1972 (Meyer 15) that is also correlated with the decline in daily newspaper readership (Meyer 16). Meyer comes to a startling conclusion with this information: newspapers are going to be “running out of daily readers late in the first quarter of 2043” (Meyer 16). Clearly, something has to be done in order to save newspapers from disappearing altogether.

The fall in credibility, which is associated with the decline in readership, is important. An American Society of Newspaper Editors found 75 percent of all adults “have some problem with the credibility of the media” (Meyer 18). The study found factual, spelling, and grammatical errors as common concerns. Harvesting market position has caused a cutback in quality, which in turn negatively impacts society influence (Meyer 20). Both of these factors will “eventually destabilize circulation and advertising” (Meyer 20). Newspapers need to find the equilibrium point at which the “optimal compromise between demands of profitability and public service” are met (Meyer 31).

Newspapers used to enjoy an information monopoly (Meyer 35). This monopoly led to high profit margins, which has bred an “easy-money culture” of bad habits (Meyer 35). The warning signs were around long before the Internet, Meyer contends. Cheap computer typesetting, low postage rates, and computerized mailing lists all attacked newspapers’ market position long before the Web (Meyer 39). A newspaper’s market position can be protected by a high “perceived quality” (Meyer 46). Accurate, quality coverage boosts a paper’s reputation.

All new technologies merely deal with information but there are other, more important, factors at play, Meyer writes. “How the information is moved – copper wire, cable, fiberglass, microwave, a boy on a bicycle – will not be nearly as important as the reputation of the creators of the content” (Meyer 46). A paper’s influence “is a real or potentially real factor in determining the value of advertising” (Meyer 56). Meyer says researchers need to do two things to link influence and business success. First, “find a way to measure a medium’s influence” (Meyer 64). Second, “establish a clearer relationship between its influence and the value of its advertising” (Meyer 64).

Credibility exerts an influence on a newspaper’s influence. Credibility has two main components, Meyer writes. One is the “solid inner core that doesn’t change from day to day” and the other is the “variable outer shell that is subject to the shifting winds of public mood as the news changes” (Meyer 71). Credibility is affected by how newspaper readers perceive their paper to be “accurate, honest, intelligent, experienced, informed,” and whether the paper “represented knowledge and understanding” (Meyer 81). Meyer cites a Northwestern University study that found “credible newspapers get more readers” (Meyer 82). Newspapers need to be able to show investors “credibility is good business” (Meyer 82).

Accuracy affects credibility. A 1980 study found “about half of all straight news stories contain some type of error” (Meyer 85). Readers are noticing the errors and “perception of any kind of error undermines credibility” (Meyer 95). It is crucial to get source information correct, Meyer writes (Meyer 96). Sources are often opinion leaders and spread information (Meyer 96). If sourced information is incorrect, word will spread of the paper’s inaccuracies and leads to credibility problems (Meyer 97). The top source-perceived errors are that the “reporter didn’t fully understand the story,” there was “pressure to get the story done on time,” or not enough research was done (Meyer 100). Meyer compares papers with differing accuracy rates and concludes, “Accuracy improves robustness and population credibility” (Meyer 103). Again, he found good journalism means good business.

Readability is also killing newspapers. Many stories are too hard to read (Meyer 115). Today’s generation reads less and on top of that, “most people like to read below their ability level” (Meyer 114). Meyer compared the readability level of 40 newspapers and their market penetration rate. He found that “papers whose editors are pushing the writing down the grade-level scale” are having more success (Meyer 119). As USA Today has shown, “high circulation should be associated with higher readability” (Meyer 121). Meyer notes that increasing readability increases accessible content to readers and to the wider public (Meyer 123). There are “very few cost-free ways of helping society work better, and so [increasing readability] ought to be done” (Meyer 123).

Meyer finds many other interesting conclusions. Local news can actually harm a paper. “As the proportion of local stories in a newspaper increases, household penetration declines” (Meyer 136). In juxtaposition, editorial vigor is related to higher circulation (Meyer 137). The size of a paper’s news hole also has a relationship with circulation. The “percent news correlates positively with household penetration” (Meyer 139).

There are still other factors that have a relationship with a newspaper’s circulation. Robust papers tend to have larger staffs (Meyer 166). Investors are a negative influence in terms of staff strength. Independent and privately owned newspapers have the best staffing (Meyer 166). This is significant because it strengthens Meyer’s view that investors and money managers have negatively affected the journalism trade.

Newspapers need a better relationship with Wall Street, Meyers believes (Meyer 200). The journalism industry needs to change its habits. Accurate reporting, readability, staffing, quality indicators, and trust need to be improved (Meyer 201-202).

Meyer provides a crude business plan for newspapers to follow in the new information age. First, “it is necessary to earn at least as much as you spend” (Meyer 207). This would seem common knowledge but in the dot-com craze of the late 1990s, it did not appear as if anything was common knowledge in the business world. Second, “the return on investment will be at least as much as whatever the bank on the corner pays for certificates of deposit” (Meyer 207). This is the core economic idea of opportunity cost. Third, an investment in a newspaper should grow (Meyer 207). He suggests newspapers can grow by “making the product better and charging more for it, finding new customers, and locating undervalued properties and making them more productive” (Meyer 207).

Throughout the book, Meyer confirms what many journalists suspect. Good journalism positively affects business success. Even with that established, measuring quality in journalism is difficult. Meyer likens measuring quality journalism to measuring love (Meyer 159).

With the Internet, information is readily available. What will be important is the “filtering, refining, decorating, and packaging” of information (Meyer 230). Unlike 100 years ago when information was a scarcity, “the attention of the public has become the scarce good” (Meyer 231). Successful papers will recognize this and package their information in a professional, readable format appealing to readers.

Meyer still has more suggestions for journalists. He advocates increased professional education of journalists. This will differentiate them from everyone else writing on the Internet (Meyer 234). Competence certification, like computer engineer, and enforceable ethics regulations will not only help a journalists get employed but will increase credibility for the journalism profession in the public’s eye (Meyer 243).

The book reads as a wakeup call for newspapers. In order for this venerable medium to survive, serious changes need to be made before its credibility is lost and the industry is forever lost.

I wrote the following op-ed column for this week’s Johnsonian, which comes out later this evening. You read it here first.

Call for West Center accountability
By Will Atkinson

In early 2005, DeVere Construction placed a winning bid to build Winthrop’s new state-of-the-art athletic facility. The press release at the time said the $18.5 million bid was 10 percent higher than the supposed costs. Student fees, and yes that means your tuition, are shouldering most of the project’s cost. The highest bid Winthrop received was $21.4 million.

Jump forward two years: the West Center has been marred by mismanagement, inclement weather and now, tragedy. The project’s price tag has been raised to $25 million and if you think the center will open this fall (as the Winthrop Web site claims), I’ve got a nice bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

If you were a freshman in 2005, you would have been excited about using pristine athletic facilities for the latter half of your undergraduate career. That is, if you took Winthrop officials at face value.

“We have to take the lowest bid as long as it is responsive and responsible,” Walter Hardin, facilities management associate vice president, said in a 2005 Johnsonian interview.

The keywords here are “responsive” and “responsible.” It’s up to the Occupational Health and Safety Commission to decide whether the recent death was due to irresponsibility. Whatever Hardin meant by “responsive” - Princeton’s Wordnet says it means, “reacting to suggestions, influences, appeals or effort” – it’d be hard to make the case that any of those adjectives can ascribe the project, given present circumstances.

After DeVere’s initial bid, the obligatory postcards were sent to thousands of prospective students hyping the new construction. There were press releases, news stories and general fanfare.

Construction began at an anemic rate. The hours of Peabody, the old gym, were cut and there has been nary an exercise equipment upgrade in four years. Peabody’s pool, while funded in part by student fees, offers approximately four hours to students each day. And that’s if you want to swim between 7 and 9 a.m. or on your lunch break. It’s closed on Saturday if you’re wondering.

Let’s contemplate our sports editor’s thoughts: “The administration needs to stop fantasizing about the glorious Lois Rhame West Center and actually solve the problems that students are facing today.”

These were our former sports editor’s words, 33 months ago. If you’re wondering what buildings could possibly be built in slightly over two years, consider the Empire State Building and the Pentagon.

Unfortunately, it takes an appalling accident such as last week’s to point a critical spotlight on this project once again. It’s time for some accountability, hustle and maintenance of current facilities.

The following e-mail was sent by the Winthrop police across the Winthrop campus today:

To:

From: Chief Frank Zebedis

Nature of Crime: Attempted Strong Armed Robbery
Date: 09-14-2006
Place: In Front of Sims Building
Time: 12:30am

Please be advised a female student was standing in front of the Sims building when she observed an older model gold colored Chevy Caprice Classic drive past. The vehicle then drove past a second time. Shortly after the second pass, the student was approached by a black male and black female. The male subject was described as 18-23 years of age, 5′ 09″ 150lbs. wearing a dark colored shirt and pants. The suspect also had something on his head. The female subject was described as 17-22 years of age, 5′ 05″ 120lbs. wearing a black zipper jacket, blue jeans, and her hair was in a pony tail.

Suspects engaged in conversation with victim. During the conversation, the male subject grabbed victim’s purse and attempted to pull it off of her arm. Victim began to scream and the suspects fled on foot towards Founders Lane.

Immediately following the incident, a witness observed a gold Chevy Caprice Classic leaving the area with its headlights off.

Campus Police is investigating this incident. If anyone has information on this case or the suspects, please contact Campus Police at Ext. 3333.

Please be vigilant at all times, aware of your surroundings, especially at night, and know where the closest emergency call box on campus is located. Please call Campus Police immediately (X3333) if you observe any suspicious person or activity.

This was a piece I did on the Winthrop men’s basketball team. I caught them hanging out in our student gym and thought it would make an interesting feature. You be the judge:

Gone are the 20,000 screaming basketball fans. Gone are the ESPN pundits and cameras. The upset predictions proved wrong for the sixth time in eight years.

Winthrop Head Coach Gregg Marshall is no longer sobbing into a towel. Bruce Pearl, Tennessee’s head coach, is home in Knoxville after losing to Wichita State. His solar-powered orange blazer, suspenders and tie are going to get some closet time this summer.

It was the one that got away, the Hail Mary shot that somehow slipped past Torrell Martin’s fingers into the meshed netting waiting below, the over-rated team with the over-heated coach, etc., etc.

Tennessee’s Chris Lofton launched a twisting, fading, turning prayer from 19 feet.

With 0.4 seconds on the clock, it was over. There would be no overtime, no win and no surprise.

The Eagles are picking up the pieces.

“I got net, I got net,” senior forward Otis Daniels said.

He’s talking trash after sinking the winning shot in a pickup basketball game. Daniels and other Eagles are spending a cold, stormy Monday night sparring other Winthrop students in Peabody gym.

“Nothing can prepare you for what happened,” Daniels said. “I’ve got a plan for the future. I’m trying to play ball with these knees until they run out.”

Daniels will graduate in August after completing an internship. He’s in the same class as former teammate Billy Houston, who quit earlier in the semester so he could graduate in May.

The senior sport management senior said he has sport agents interested in representing in Australia, New Zealand or Europe.

Michael Jenkins, the 6-foot-3-inch sophomore guard, is draining shots. He’s put the Tennessee game behind him.

“It’s all over now. We gotta build for next year,” Jenkins said. “We played our hearts out.”

The sophomore sport management sophomore will stay in Rock Hill this summer to keep in shape and work.

Several Eagle wannabes and hopefuls idly dribble courtside. They hoot and holler at sophomore point guard Christ Gaynor. Gaynor gives his trademark smile and sinks a three-pointer with ease.

Gaynor, the 5-foot-10-inch mass communication major, can’t believe Lofton’s shot sunk.

“It was a miracle shot. We feel like we should still be playing,” Gaynor said. “To lose on a crazy shot like that after preparing all year is hard. Some say [Lofton] traveled.”

Gaynor plans on working out and working a mall job this summer. He says he is undefeated in Peabody gym.

Kyle Neeley, a 19-year-old math major, tried his best against the Eagles.

How’d he compete?

“Not so good but it’s fun and it raises the level of competition [at Peabody],” Neeley said.

He watched the Tennessee heartbreaker.

“We played well enough to win,” Neeley said. “It was fun to see a small school like Winthrop hang in with a big school like Tennessee.”

On Selection Sunday before the big game, Marshall said, “Time to pull a Rocky.”

It didn’t go down like the movie. It came close but Apollo Creed, Mr. T and the Russians continue to have the last laugh.

I wrote a story on the professor grading Web site RateMyProfessors.com. It was published in the Johnsonian:

At the end of the semester, many Winthrop students anxiously click on the WingSpan Web site to access their grades. For most, the results are acceptable. The average undergraduate GPA for a semester is just over 2.9.

These days, however, students aren’t the only ones getting grades. Over the last five years, several wildly popular Web sites have emerged that allow students to praise or exact revenge on their teachers in a public forum. Many opt for the latter.

Some highlights:

“Instant amnesia walking into this class. I swear he breathes sleeping gas.”

“If I was tested on her family, I would have gotten an A.”

Web sites such as RateMyProfessors.com, PickAProf.com and Rateaprof.com let students rate professors on criteria such as easiness, clarity, helpfulness and even physical attractiveness which is denoted by a small chili pepper icon. RateMyProfessors rates more than 4 million teachers at 5,000 schools across the country.

Some professors believe these ratings Web sites encourage students to pick easier professors who will not challenge them intellectually.

One annoyed professor who goes by a “tenured humanities professor from a college in the South” struck back with an online retort: Rateyourstudents.blogspot.com. His Web site lambastes students for carelessness, laziness and plain stupidity. The unnamed professor said he began the Web site after a fellow teacher received a caustic rating on RateMyProfessors.

At Winthrop, 475 professors are slain or spared in gladiatorial function.

Clarence Coleman, an accounting professor, encourages his student to explore RateMyProfessors.

“To me, a student has to decide for himself what they want our of a college education,” Coleman said. “I am for free speech.”

Coleman’s ratings on RateMyProfessors were less than encouraging:

“Quite simply the worst teacher I’ve ever had.”

“You will have to teach yourself if you take this guy.”

Coleman isn’t worried though.

“I try to prepare my students for life. It’s a tough class and it could be a situation where some students may not have the background to do well in the class,” Coleman said. “An employer might give you an exam before you get the job and you might not be able to cut it.”

Modern languages professor Sheila Carter-Hill thinks ratings Web sites are a good idea in theory.

“This is a free country. I know that students tend to be negative but people can say whatever it is they wish to say,” Carter-Hill said. “I’ve taught for 43 years and my methodology is above reproach. If I didn’t know what I was doing, I should be shot in the head.”

According to Carter-Hill, if students can rant about professors, it should work both ways.

“Professors should have the opportunity to rant about students,” Carter-Hill said.

Education professor Lisa Johnson received a special chili pepper beside her name. According to RateMyProfessors, Johnson is “hot.”

“Well isn’t that sweet,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t have anything to do with the course though. It’s just one of those things that provide students an outlet for their thoughts.”

Johnson said she would not let opinion on a Web site change her courses.

English professor Max Childers sees no evil.

“Whatever [the students] say is silly and harmless like so many other things,” Childers said. “They’re being good Americans – expressing outrage because their sense of entitlement has been violated. Keep at it.”

On Childers, one American literature student said, “He rambles a lot and it’s very hard to stay awake.”

Childers isn’t concerned.

“Maybe he should be injected with something to stay awake although I don’t advocate drug use. Still, medical science has its limits and they may have narcolepsy,” Childers said.

He said it could have more to do with the student than the professor.

“We’re supposed to make everyone feel good. It’s the Oprah Winfrey-ization of American culture and university,” Childers said. “[Teachers] are supposed to praise mediocrity. Everyone’s a winner.”

There was no chili pepper beside geology professor Roy Jameson. Instead, there was a lot of negative feedback regarding Jameson’s teaching methods.

One geology student wrote, “He’s horrendous. The lecture’s are horrible and not worth your time.”

Another said, “You better S/U this class or you will want to shoot yourself.”

When asked to respond, Jameson said, “I have no interest in discussing that.”

Use of RateMyProfessors among Winthrop students is widespread.

“It gives you ratings on different professors so that you can see which ones are hard and which ones are easy,” said freshman chemistry major Ginger Devinney. “Students want to take the easy professors. That’s why they use RateMyProfessors.”

Others think it’s more than just getting an easy professor.

“I think students usually just want to know whether the teachers give interesting lectures or if they are nice,” said sophomore interior design major Katy Osmelowski. “I use RateMyProfessors to make sure I don’t get a teacher that has a bad attitude or a reputation for giving bad grades.”

Some students use the course schedule book hand-in-hand with RateMyProfessors.

“I use it when registering,” said senior graphic design major Drew Heffron. “I use it so I can focus on my major.”

Others are more apathetic.

“I’ve never been on it,” said sophomore special education major Bailey Williams. “My friends look at it but I don’t know if they take it seriously.”

With open season being declared by the American education system, one species is having trouble surviving: the full-time, tenure-track professor.

Over the past two decades, universities and colleges have diluted the role of full-time faculty. Due to state and federal budget cuts, many schools rely on bargain-priced part-timers.

It saves money to hire part-timers. Part-time faculty make considerably less than their full-time peers. A recent study by the American Association of Community Colleges found a course load that would cost $40,000 for a full-time professor would cost a mere $15,000 if a part-timer did the work.

Nationally, the use of part-time teachers has increased from 22 percent in 1970 to 46 percent of all higher educational professors, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

At Winthrop

Like its national peers, Winthrop has been using more part-timers.

Winthrop has been hiring more and more part-timers.

Since 2000, Winthrop has increased by 52 percent its number of part-timers to 230 faculty members. The number of full-time professors during that same period increased by only 1 percent to 299 faculty members, including 13 library employees. Part-timers account for 43 percent of Winthrop’s entire faculty headcount.

Since 2000, Winthrop has increased by 52 percent its number of part-timers to 230 faculty members. The number of full-time professors during that same period increased by only 1 percent to 299 faculty members, including 13 library employees.

However, the 230 part-time employees only teach the course load of 104 equivalent full-time professors.

Some have taken note of the trend.

“Winthrop hires a lot of part-time faculty,” said history professor Michael Aradas. “[Part-timers] can keep tuition going up but faculty costs down but the quality of education is going to suffer.”

Others disagree with this viewpoint.

“Part-time faculty are hired because we think they can do the job we ask them to do,” said Debra Boyd, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “If the person’s not qualified, then we take steps to make sure they’re not teaching anymore.”

Accreditation issue
The highly touted U.S. News and World Report college rankings treat part-time faculty members as a disadvantage. Schools that hire full-time, well-paid faculty are ranked higher than those that hire a lot of part-time professors. The logic is full-time, well-paid professors will have a better resume and be able to devote more time to class preparation and teaching.

Karen Jones, academic affairs assistant vice president, disagrees with U.S. News’ methodology.

“I don’t see how you can make that assumption,” Jones said. “People usually teach because they love doing it. They don’t accept the assignment unless they can devote the time.”

Full-time, tenure-track professors have research and scholarship responsibilities while part-timers don’t, Jones said.

Others point to Winthrop’s evaluations as positive indicators.

“Those who’ve evaluated us have said we’re a best value, better than any other institution in South Carolina,” said Tom Moore, vice president for academic affairs. “We must be using our part-time faculty efficiently.”

A constriction of state funds has been a catalyst in the part-time faculty issue.
“Our governor’s pretty down on higher education,” Moore said. “As state support decreases and tuition increases, the use of part-time faculty has been a way to keep costs down and quality up. Based on independent reports, we’re doing a good job.”

Viewpoints
Some point to part-time faculty as a factor in an allegedly stagnant American higher education system.

Reed College in Portland, Ore., does not cooperate with the U.S. News ratings system. Reed’s administration noted that it no longer felt pressure to hire part-time faculty in order to lower average class-size.

The president of Reed College, Colin Diver, called hiring part-timers an “inexpensive but educationally dubious technique for even further increasing the percentage of small classes” in a 2005 Atlantic Monthly article.

Others think Winthrop should do more to attract full-time professors.

“There needs to be more incentives to get quality, full-time teachers,” said Rob Sturgis, a part-time history teacher at Winthrop for over 20 years. “I know some part-time teachers that are better than full-time teachers. I also know some part-timers that shouldn’t be teaching.”

Alarmed at the growing rate of part-time professors, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has dubbed the first week of November “Campus Equity Week.” The AAUP believes part-time positions threaten higher educational quality by offering low wages, no benefits and no academic freedom.

Don Rogers, dean of Winthrop’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, would disagree.

“Most of our experiences [with part-time faculty] are positive,” Rogers said. “What’s happening here is happening everywhere. It’d be hard to be successful at Winthrop if we didn’t use part-time professors.”

Part-timers have given students opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have, Rogers said. Some music students have been taught by Charlotte Symphony Orchestra players who have helped the students get playing gigs.

Others agree.

“Adjuncts often offer expertise that is not available on the faculty, so they are a way to enrich the students’ educational opportunities,” said Jeannie Woods, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “Many part-time faculty choose to teach part-time and do not want to teach full-time.”

Benefits
Last summer, part-time faculty at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, collectively bargained to receive pay raises and a health care plan. Winthrop’s faculty, however, is not unionized.

Currently, Winthrop part-timers cannot receive a health care plan through the university.

“The part-timers do not have access to health and dental insurance but they have the option to participate in a retirement program,” said Gail O’Steen, assistant director of human resources. “If you don’t occupy a full-time employment spot, you don’t have benefits.”

Others point to the state government.

“We don’t do benefits. The state does not do that,” said J.P. McKee, vice president for Winthrop’s finance and business. “I don’t know how you could have proportional benefits.”

Some Winthrop administrators would like to see policy changes.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Debra Boyd would like Winthrop to provide prorated benefits for part-time faculty.

“I’d like to see Winthrop at the forefront of providing proportional benefits to part-time faculty,” Boyd said. “Providing benefits is expensive but I can’t think of anyone who would not want our part-time faculty to have benefits.”

Others don’t have quite as rosy a picture.

“No full-timers are going to surrender anything for part-timers,” said history professor Michael Aradas. “There’s only so much pie to go around. It’s going to have to come from somewhere.”

Aradas was a part-time professor at five schools before coming to Winthrop.

“In one semester, I taught 12 courses,” Aradas said. “I definitely would’ve loved to have benefits.”

Only through insurance has Aradas been able to finance recent dental operations: two extractions, nine fillings, preparation for a bridge and three crowns.

“I didn’t have dental care for so long,” Aradas said. “There’s no way I could’ve afforded it without insurance.”

Part-time English professor Jeannine Jordan enjoys teaching at Winthrop but would like to see benefits provided.

“I have known many college instructors to teach at three different schools and maintain a 10-plus course load just to make ends meet, without the benefit of medical insurance,” Jordan said. “Though part-time benefits would be helpful, this requires funding that the state just doesn’t have.”

Casey Doherty, a 21-year-old graphic design junior, said he enjoyed being taught by a part-time professor.

Student view
Students are divided on their opinion of part-time teachers. Some enjoyed their experience.

“One of my favorite teachers was a part-time professor,” said 21-year-old graphic design junior Casey Doherty. “It was cool to get someone who was working in the real world to teach aspiring graphic designers.”

Others agree.

“[My part-time professor] was tough but very good,” said 20-year-old biology and Spanish junior Elia Arenas. “She was funny and she knew how to teach.”

Some prefer full-time professors.

“I would rather have a full-time professor because if you like them, you can take more classes with the same professor,” said 21-year-old history and psychology senior Jessica Force. “Full-timers also have more office hours.”

Some students point to part-time professor’s availability as an issue.

“I think it’s more convenient to have a full-time teacher because you can get in touch with them easier and catch them on campus if you ever have questions,” said 21-year-old art senior Kelly Gukanovich.

The road ahead
With NCAA appearances, academic accolades and successful alumni, Winthrop continues to gain national recognition and scrutiny. Massive renovation projects that will forever alter Winthrop’s campus are currently underway. The approaching years could define Winthrop.

Winthrop President Anthony DiGiorgio has a plan: the Quality Enhancement Plan, specifically.
Rebecca Masters, assistant to the president for public affairs, said the plan will focus on many things, including retaining and recruiting quality faculty, contemporary technology and contemporary facilities.

“The notion is to protect quality and value and find the right balance,” Masters said. “When we need to make an investment, we cannot shy away.

Some see the trend as part of the natural ebb and flow of academia.

“Winthrop has its ups and downs like any other institution,” said part-time history professor Rob Sturgis. “Obviously, in an ideal situation, you’d go out and hire full-time, quality faculty.”

A 24-year-old Winthrop psychology junior was killed in a two-car accident Wednesday, Jan. 11.
Steven Ferrell died at the scene after his 1998 Honda Civic crossed the median, crashing into an oncoming 2006 Chevrolet Silverado. The driver of the Silverado, 48-year-old Nedim Lihic, did not receive life-threatening injuries.

Ferrell was traveling to his job at Eckerd Pharmacy in Charlotte. He had been a certified pharmaceutical technician for 7 years.

Graduating from Rock Hill High School in 1999 with honors, Ferrell studied to become a pharmacist at York Technical College for two years. Last fall, Ferrell decided to change directions, studying psychology with the intent of going to law school.

He was a history buff with a particular interest in the Civil War.

“He’d make you laugh,” said friend Matt Fowler. “He was a jokester.”

Fowler and Ferrell both attended Rock Hill High School. They played basketball and sports together. Fowler considered Ferrell his best friend.

“My dad was going to use him as a tax write-off because he was at my house so much,” said Fowler. “Anytime you had a problem, you could go to Steve.”

Hordes of undergraduates grind rhythmically to the latest radio smash. Students pack the dance floor to dance, chill and spill beer. Sounds like Scandal’s on a Thursday night? After spring break, the scene could happen at the new Dawg Pound restaurant and tavern.

In mid-March, the Winthrop neighborhood will change with the addition of the Dawg Pound. Located on Cherry Road, the Dawg Pound will be across from the Thompson residence hall. The building was formerly occupied by the Time Out sports bar but has been vacant for over four years.

Thorough renovations are being made to the interior and exterior of the Dawg Pound on Cherry Road, across from Winthrop University.

Time Out, which formerly had two locations, is now located on Herlong Avenue near the Piedmont Medical Center.

“It’s a very good location but my lease ran out and I only wanted one location,” Susan Zeider, Time Out owner said. “I hope whoever goes in there does something for the students because most students are not of legal drinking age.”

The restaurant will offer students low cost food, entertainment and a place to relax said Stefanie Johns, the 21-year-old owner of the Dawg Pound. Amenities will include a dance floor, pool tables, plasma-screen TVs and saltwater aquariums with “pug-nosed dogfish.”

“Winthrop needs this badly,” said Johns, a junior integrated marketing communication major at Winthrop. “We’re hoping for a mid-March opening.”

Johns received the restaurant as a gift from her father for Christmas. She is 85 percent corporate owner, leaving the remaining 15 percent to her mother.

The Dawg Pound’s specialty will be hot dogs and wings.

“You can get any kind of hot dog and a longneck Natural Light beer for $2,” said B.J. Johns, Stefanie’s father. “It will be open six days as a restaurant and at 9 p.m., it will become a tavern with games and a dance floor.”

Another Dawg Pound specialty: parking.

“As of Feb. 15, we’re going to start selling parking spots,” Johns said. “The Winthrop commuter lots are so far away for students.”

The Dawg Pound parking spaces will cost $30 per month, which includes four meals, or $20 per month without meals. Winthrop commuter parking passes are $75 for one academic year but students must park in the commuter parking lots behind the Dinkins Student Center, the Legion Lot West on Cherry Road or along Myrtle Drive.

Some students like the idea of another entertainment venue.

“It’s good for college students and will provide something new besides Scandal’s,” Nick Michael, a (what year) integrated marketing communication major said. “I think renting out parking is a good idea for public relations with students.”

“I like that it’s across the street from campus,” said (what year) biology and Spanish double major Elia Arenas. “They’re going to make a lot of money.”

Outrageous textbook prices and abysmal buyback prices are frequent student complaints, as ancient as the lousy cafeteria food. Now however students have empirical evidence to back them up.

College textbook prices have risen at twice the rate of national inflation over the last two decades according to a summer 2005 Government Office of Accountability report. Textbook prices have risen by an annual average of 6 percent since 1987, compared with a 3 percent average annual rise in national prices.

Winthrop students have been feeling the pull on their pocketbooks.

“Textbooks are too expensive,” said 19-year-old English major Rhine Gourrier. “It hurts psychologically and financially to pay $100 for a textbook and only get $20 back.”

“They’re way too expensive and if they’re not sold as used quickly, they’re obsolete and useless,” said 35-year-old special education major Julie Jones.

“They’re way too expensive and if they’re not sold as used quickly, they’re obsolete and useless.”

Some Winthrop officials believe the problem is out of their hands.

“As far as I am concerned the real problem is with the book publishing industry and the cost of paper production,” said Winthrop Vice President of Student Life Frank Ardaiolo. “The bookstores across the country are often the ones blamed for economic forces beyond their control.”

Winthrop students are able to buy books from several locations. Many opt for the Bookworm, some for the Books That Matter tent and others shop online.

Don Douglass, who co-owns Books That Matter with his wife Angie, says his business offers a higher percentage of used books than a traditional bookstore.

“We do less volume so we have more used books which saves students money,” Douglass said. “Students want used books.”

Douglass is frustrated with his promotional options on Winthrop’s campus.

“You can’t advertise on campus if you’re in direct competition with meals, housing or books,” Douglass said. “The school feels we’re taking away scholarship money.”

Winthrop receives approximately 10 percent of all sales at the Bookworm up to $5 million and 12 percent thereafter. The Bookworm revenue is given to a scholarship fund. Douglass believes there are negative aspects to the program.

“Students are providing their own money for scholarships for other students,” Douglass said. “We try to give all students a break on their books.”

Douglass said textbook buyback prices have increased since Books That Matter was established seven years ago.

Some students prefer Books That Matter to the Bookworm.

“I was told Books That Matter was cheaper and it was,” said 17-year-old political science major Matthew Bratton.

Others shop at the Bookworm.

“The Bookworm has a better buyback program,” said 18-year-old environmental studies major Kelley Phifer. “Sometimes the books are less expensive and it’s conveniently beside Woody’s Music Store.”