Last semester, Ferris State students were met with the news that they would have to pay a tuition increase in the form of what the university called a “contingency fee” to cover funds the state of Michigan had not yet given the school.

New students to Ferris State University will face no such charges. Returning and nonreturning students will now receive a refund for those charges from last semester.

Since the beginning of last semester, events have taken place so that there would not be a contingency fee for spring 2008.

The fee was to supplement the school’s funding for the budget because the state government was slow to allocate money promised to universities. The delayed payment, according to Campus News, was received in Nov. 2007.

The decision was made on Dec. 14 by the Ferris State University Board of Trustees to also refund the first contingency fee entirely. A new bill was then sent out. This bill was accompanied by a letter from Dr. David Eisler. Eisler, president of Ferris State University, outlined the reasons for the refund and how it will be handled.

According to the Ferris State website, refunds will be credited to the accounts of returning students. Checks will be sent out for students not returning.

As The Ferris State Torch reported last Aug. 22, the amount of the fee was about $8 a credit hour for the semester. The refund will thus reflect this amount. All total, more than $1 million will be refunded.

If interested, the Ferris State website also contains information on how to donate the refund to the University’s General Scholarship Fund.

Beginning in late November, students in Professor Jennifer Johnson’s GEOG 121 class conducted an emergency weather survey on the Big Rapids campus as part of an end of semester project. The survey ran for two weeks and questioned its 1000 participants on their level of emergency preparedness. Students, faculty and staff members were all asked to participate in the study.

The survey was designed to help assess the level of preparedness in case of a tornado emergency on the Big Rapids campus. Almost every building on campus, with the exception of residence halls, was assessed by the survey. The residence halls already have strict emergency procedures and signs posted on the back of every suite door outlining these protocols.

After the results of the survey have been determined, the emergency response team will review them for potential recommendations for changes or improvements in FSU’s level of emergency preparedness.

The project was headed under the supervision of Johnson and campus Safety Coordinator Michael McKay.

McKay thinks the survey will provide a good snapshot of the understanding of tornado safety procedures on campus.

This survey stands to improve an already solid emergency readiness plan. Each building on campus has designated Building Emergency Coordinator (BEC). It is the BEC’s job to provide emergency procedure training to faculty and staff. The BEC also helps inform the faculty and staff about shelter areas in each specific building.

In residential buildings on campus, the staff trains the residents in each hall about the specific emergency procedures for these areas.

One of the goals of this survey was to get students thinking about emergency preparedness even though Big Rapids is not prone to frequent tornados. “…we’ve only had 5 or so tornados in Big Rapids in the past fifty years, that’s just enough to pose a threat, but not have it be in the forefront of peoples’ minds,” Johnson said. “We are trying to ask ourselves, what are the simple things we can do to prevent a possible tragedy?”

McKay also stressed the importance of personal preparedness for emergency weather situations.

“Being informed is the key to weather emergencies,” McKay said. “Check the weather before going out so you can plan your day accordingly.”

According to McKay, students living in residence halls should actively participate in training and drills conducted by hall staff.

In the spirit of better emergency preparedness, McKay is working to bring Skywarn training to campus this spring. Skywarn is a free training program organized by the National Weather Service that teaches participants to recognize the warning signs of emergency weather in their specific region.

“This is an excellent way to learn about the weather here in our area from the people who keep us safe with their forecasts,” McKay commented.

The search for a full time Director for the Office of Multicultural Student Services (OMSS) began around December 3, 2007 and has now been fulfilled by former Interim Director, Matthew Chaney.

“I enjoyed the process because I had an opportunity to meet openly with the administration, faculty, staff, and most importantly the students.

Leroy Wright, Dean of student life, was in charge of the internal search process. He organized scheduled times and open sessions with the candidates, Chaney and Karen Greenbay.

The idea was to have students, faculty, staff and Registered Student Organizations listen to what each candidate had to offer the office. They were also allowed to ask questions.

“The open student session is the part I enjoyed the most. It gave me a unique opportunity to venture into the minds and the hearts of the students and really gain an understanding as to what they want to see from a department such as ours. Also, they gave me some great ideas that I may be able to implement from a resource and programmatic perspective,” Chaney said.

According to the Ferris website, the philosophy of the office is that all students need support in one way or another, be it social, financial or psychological, and that any institution which is associated with student life has to prepare itself to meet these needs as shown by faculty, staff and students.

“Ferris State University is doing some great things. I believe it’s a great time for Ferris right now, we’re embarking on a lot of positive things here at the institution overall and as it relates to diversity.

The office sponsors many programs and hosts many campus events with various RSO’s throughout the year. Programs include Hispanic Heritage Month Activities, Ice Cream Socials, the Black Greek Council Step Show, OMSS Pig-nic, Ferris' Finest Talent Showcase, the Image Awards, a Martin Luther King Celebration and many more.

Chaney's goals include increasing the services that are offered to the general student population. He would also like to increase the traffic flow of all students to the office.

“That way we can tap into the minds of the students to get ideas of programs that they may want to see the office sponsor,” Chaney said.

He continued on with saying “I would like to also build healthy bridges and alliances with our alumni. We are here for the students. I want to plan with the students and not just for the students.”

Earlier in Chaney career he served as Assistant Director of Student Support Services, Assistant Director of Minority Affairs, and Coordinator of the K/C/P College Day Program.

“I’m excited about our direction and our students and their seemingly renewed energy circulating throughout campus. I would like the OMSS to fit comfortably within this movement,” Chaney said.

Students gave a lot of support during the interview process.

“This was evident in my open student session. It was comforting and humbling to see the students come out, and even more, share their personal questions and testimonies of support,” Chaney commented.

The primary clients served by the resources and services offered through OMSS include African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American students. In addition, alumni, faculty, and staff are served through the programmatic efforts of this department according to Ferris website.

Chaney thanks his colleagues and student workers for teaching him significant lessons in helping to shape his administrative career in positive ways.

“I sometimes don’t think that we say thank you enough to people that ultimately impact and shape our lives,” Chaney said.

Chandra Levy’s unsolved murder will now be investigated by criminal justice students at a small Georgia college, reviving a mystery that once captivated a nation and still torments a Modesto family.

The students at Atlanta’s Bauder College will spend 2008 digging into Levy’s 2001 disappearance. As part of the college’s Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, they will weigh evidence, interview experts and, they hope, find some connections missed by police detectives and FBI agents.

“They just go full bore because they know how important it is. They know they may be the ones to see something no one else has seen,” institute director Sheryl McCollum said. “Civilians solve cases all the time.”

Raised in Modesto, Levy was a graduate student and a former Bureau of Prisons intern when she disappeared in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 2001. Her disappearance became fodder for widespread media coverage following reports - ultimately undisputed - that she had been romantically involved with married congressman Gary Condit.

Levy’s remains were found in May 2002 in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. Police have never identified a suspect in her murder. Most of the leading investigators in her case have long since moved on to other jobs. Condit himself lost his 2002 re-election bid.

“It’s always good to have a fresh look,” said her mother, Susan Levy, adding that “a lot of things still don’t make sense.”

Founded in 1964, Bauder College is now part of the for-profit Kaplan Higher Education Corp. The college started its cold case institute in 2005.

Starting Jan. 31, McCollum said, some 50 students will pore over articles and books about Levy’s case. They will cover a wall with butcher paper, taping up articles, timelines and sticky notes with questions about case elements that don’t make sense. Students hope to visit Washington in June, seeing Levy’s apartment and visiting the wooded park where her skeleton was found.

“The work is involved, but it’s worth it,” said Danielle Zayas, a 25-year-old Bauder student from Mountain View, Calif. “You’re not going to get an automatic outcome. You’re never going to find the truth about something right away,”

The students don’t get college credit or grades for their cold-case work. At the end of the year, though, McCollum said they turn their conclusions over to prosecutors or police. McCollum also runs the Cold Case Crime Analysis Squad for the Pine Lake Police Department in Georgia.

McCollum’s students have previously examined such cases as the 1996 shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur and the arrest of Wayne Williams, who police identified as the key suspect in more than 20 child murders in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981.

Students this year also will probe the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an American student from Alabama who vanished during a high school graduation trip in Aruba.

There is a tradition of college students finding new justice in old cases. At Northwestern University Law School in Illinois, for instance, a Center on Wrongful Convictions has exonerated former death row inmates.

Chandra’s parents, through Washington-based attorney Billy Martin, formerly had their own private investigators looking into the murder. The private investigators kicked up a bit of a fuss, including the discovery of some bones that had been missed by police, but they along with Martin have long since left the case.

“They promised to contact me,” Susan Levy added, “but they never have.”

Former FBI special agent Brad Garrett, the chief federal investigator in the matter, has retired and started his own Northern Virginia investigations firm.

“If I had the money to, I would hire him,” Levy said. “I just can’t afford it.”

Former Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey has since become police chief in Philadelphia, while his former deputy, Terrance Gainer, is now the U.S. Senate sergeantat- arms.

Susan Levy made a point of flying to Washington about a year ago to meet with Ramsey’s replacement, Cathy L. Lanier. There have been more than 1,000 homicides in Washington since Chandra Levy died, and Levy wanted to make sure her daughter wasn’t forgotten.

“As a woman, I immediately felt a connection to her,” Levy said of Lanier. “She seemed very, very warm.”

Susan said Lanier assured her as much as was possible. The department has topnotch investigators. Cold cases are reopened. Last year, Washington police “cleared” - that is to say, solved - 70 percent of all homicides.

This is progress. In 2003, Washington police only cleared 60 percent of homicides. Still, it means at least one in four Washington murders remains unsolved. The police department has its own cold case experts, for whom the Bauder College students will now serve as voluntary reinforcements.

“We’ve had detectives say, `I wish we had done it differently,’ or quicker,” McCollum said.

Last Friday faculty members got an introduction to SafeAssignment, the new plagiarism software to be used on campus. The workshop was held in room 131 of the Interdisciplinary Resource Center (IRC) and was organized by Bill Knapp. Knapp is the Blackboard (FerrisConnect) Administrator and an Instructional Technologist who provides computer and technology support for faculty members.

Ferris switched to the SafeAssignment program after the license contract with Turnitin. com expired in December. Questions about the legality of services similar to Turnitin.com have arisen recently and FSU is not the only university that has opted to use a different service. The potential violation of both copyright laws and privacy laws, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), has caused problems for all the services that keep a database of submitted works.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property ownership on any original authorship. Copyright is automatic upon the completion of any work in a tangible medium. Student works are protected under these laws which give the author sole rights to manuscript including all aspects of reproduction, distribution, sales, public display, and public performance of the piece.

Older plagiarism services may violate copyright laws because they catalogue a student’s submitted work in their database to compare to future submissions.

Furthermore, FERPA guidelines stipulate that a student has the right to consent to the distribution of his/her educational records. Educational records are defined by the FSU Governmental and general council as, “…records, files, documents, and other materials containing information directly related to a student and maintained by the University or a party acting for the University.” Student compositions are included and are protected under FERPA.

Some methods of plagiarism detect work by comparing the sentence structure and word choice of the submitted writing to those of a massive archive of certified original works.

The potential violation to FERPA comes into play during submission in that a student must consent to the release of the document to the service.

The legality of these types of services has not yet been determined, but many universities are avoiding potential problems by preemptively switching services.

SafeAssignment complies with FERPA by creating university- specific databases called MyDropBox. According to the SafeAssignment webpage, “…all papers located on MyDropBox servers remain the sole property of their owners and/or the institution that submitted them.

SafeAssignment keeps each institution’s documents in a separated database and plays a role of a hosting provider to all client databases, while the databases remain sole property of the corresponding institutions.”

SafeAssignment is a service offered by Blackboard, and is paid for by FSU.

“The SafeAssignment tool in integrated with the FerrisConnect course management system and this makes it very easy to set up. There is no need to create special accounts or to log into another application in order to submit assignments,” Knapp said about the service.

Both students and faculty will be able to submit work to SafeAssignment. The service then compares submissions to Internet documents, ProQuest’s ABI/Inform databases, and other works previously submitted by other FSU students.

Over the holiday break, Southeast Michigan Black Alumni Association, (SEMBAA) held a mix and mingle in Detroit to collect non-perishable food items to be donated to a needy student/family during the holiday season.

Upon consent of the Office of Multi Cultural Student Services, the baskets were donated to Julia Wright, Owner of Santa Elf’s Mecosta County. A family was then identified and presented with the basket.

SEMBAA has been around since February of 2004. It was developed by Raymond Gant, former Director of Minority Student Affairs, as a launching platform for the development of an organizational structure that would best meet the needs of alumnus of Ferris State University (ferrisalumni.org).

If you would like to know more about SEMBAA, please contact Tamiko Logan at Secretary T.logan@sbcglobal. net. Feel free to visit the site created for alumni, students, emeriti, faculty and staff of Ferris State University at ferrisalumni.org/authenticate. htm.

Faced with escalating textbook prices, college students are applying a lesson from Econ 101 to the book-buying experience: competition.

This is the time of year when students finish final exams and schlep their used books over to the campus bookstore, only to discover that the shiny, nearnew Calculus text that cost $120 only four months ago is now worth $24.95.

But increasing numbers of students are opting to rent, not buy, through a new Santa Clara, Calif.-based, Netflixstyle textbook rental company.

Others are organizing online book swaps. And online price comparison sites are growing in popularity.

Some students are opting out of textbooks altogether. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District encourages faculty to post course materials online, as a substitute for commercial textbooks.

“The more options that are out there, the better for students,” said Danny Katz of California Public Interest Research Group.

Book publishers say they welcome the competition - but caution that it could have the unforeseen consequence of pushing up textbook pricing still further.

As rented and other used books grow in popularity, fewer new books are sold. To recoup their investment, publishers say, they must boost the price of each new book.

“The single biggest factor behind the increased price of new books is used books,” said Bruce Hildebrand of the Association of American Publishers.

“Everybody’s looking for a bargain,” Hildebrand said. “But the used book market is so efficient that the ability to sell new books goes down. So the student saves money up front, but in the process, raises the price of all books.”

Critics dismiss that argument, saying that free enterprise could transform the entire industry. Until recently, they charge, the textbook market was about as open and freewheeling as the bread business in Cuba.

Books set back the average American college student about $900 a year, according to the federal Government Accountability Office. Prices have risen an average of 6 percent annually for the past two decades - twice the rate of inflation.

The reason is that the buyers - that is, students - don’t choose the titles. Professors do. So publishers don’t compete for price but for the attention of professors.

Furthermore, most professors assemble their reading lists without regard to price. Publishers aren’t required to release wholesale price lists to faculty members - and some even offer faculty incentives for selecting certain texts.

“Colleges serve as the uncompensated marketing arm of the commercial textbook publishers,” Hal Plotkin, vice president of Foothill-De Anza’s board of trustees, complained to a state Assembly subcommittee last year.

Comparison shopping is tough, because book lists are rarely posted by faculty until school starts.

And to make matters worse, used books are devalued because publishers often update books each year - offering a new edition of Worldly Philosophers, for example, even though the critiques of Immanuel Kant haven’t changed since the 1780s.

Publishers also “bundle” pricey CDs, workbooks and other bells and whistles with textbooks - a practice akin to Honda adding GPS and aluminum racing pedals to every Civic.

“It doesn’t function like a normal market,” said CalPIRG’s Katz.

Publishers refute that charge, arguing that pricing information is readily available. “PIRG is saying that faculty are too dumb and lazy to find out what a book costs,” said Hildebrand. “In fact, the process is totally transparent.”

They say that the supplemental materials aren’t extra frills but are requested by faculty to help students succeed.

To help solve the problem of high book prices, new textbook rental Web sites such as Chegg.com and Bookrenter. com offer students cheaper alternatives. After the quarter, semester or summer term, students simply mail back a book to the company in a pre-paid package.

Students can use highlighters to mark up rental books - in moderation. And if they love a book, they can keep it, for a price.

Chegg, founded by Santa Clara-based Osman Rashid and Aayush Phumbhra, has more than 250,000 titles stored in a Chicago-area warehouse, ready to be quickly shipped. What it doesn’t have, it can quickly get, Rashid said.

Students from 420 universities, including Stanford, Santa Clara University and San Jose State University, use their services, the company says.

“It’s pretty helpful if I know I’ll just get rid of the book,” said Celeste Tom, 22, of Oakland, who is studying biology at Mills College.

She rented “Fundamentals of Conservation Biology” from Chegg for $35 - half the cost of the $70 price tag if new, and much cheaper than the normal $55 if used.

Parents, whose credit cards often bear the brunt of education, represent a large share of book rental customers, according to Chegg’s Rashid.

Karen Silva of Redwood City priced out books for her daughter Rayan, a freshman at Canada College. “Psychology was $110; math was $110. Holy Mackerel!”

Renting, she said, “has saved me a bundle - and I don’t have to stress out and try to sell them.”

The demand by students shows that there is a need for more competitive pricing, Rashid said.

“I understand students’ pain, because I went through it myself,” said Rashid, who studied electrical engineering and business at the University of Minnesota before moving to Silicon Valley. “I remember holding my head when I discovered it would cost me $450 for only three books.”

And where are those books now? “They’re sitting in a box in my garage,” he said.

The next president of the United States will be elected on Nov. 4 2008 by the American people. Now that the holidays are over, candidates for the various parties are stepping up campaigns as the season for primaries comes in full swing.

The CNN/YouTube debates have taken place. Primaries have started. Voters have been given the chance to learn about and choose their favorite candidate.

The democrats currently have six candidates running for that party’s nomination. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Mike Gravel, and Dennis Kucinich were all still running after the Iowa caucus.

The republicans have Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Ron Paul, and Duncan Hunter to make up seven candidates to choose from.

Outside of the two major parties, there are presidential candidates from the Green Party, Libertarian Party, Prohibition Party, Socialist Party USA, and Independents to choose from. Additionally, candidates from the newly formed Unity08 Party may also be seeking the highest public office of the land according to Wikipedia.

The Iowa caucus yielded who YAHOO! News called two surprise winners for the major parties. For the democrats, Obama won. Huckabee was the big winner for the republicans.

Obama owes his win in part to a new pattern of younger voters playing a bigger part than usual. “He benefited from a strong turnout by young voters,” said Associated Press Reporter Alan Fram. “Twentytwo percent of Iowa Democrats at the caucuses were less than age 30, compared to the 17 percent of that age who voted in Iowa’s 2004 Democratic race.” Fiftyseven percent of those “young voters” chose Obama.

The same polls that attribute young voters as the primary cause of Obama’s win place Huckabee’s strong evangelical affiliation to his.

On Tuesday, Jan. 15, Michigan voters will also able to participate in a primary vote to help nominate the Parties’ candidates.

Ferris State University has, according to its website, three political Registered Student Organizations (RSOs). These three organizations are Democratic Students for Social Justice, College Republicans, and Coalition for Liberty. Information about these organizations is available on the Ferris State website.

These organizations are in place to help students get involved in the political process. Robbie Rankey, president of College Republicans of Ferris State University (CRFSU), says the organization is there to “advocate republican ideas and issues in non-election and election years.” Rankey also said CRFSU hosts events and speakers, and passes out literature. Specific events for the election can be planned better once a candidate is nationally nominated, according to Rankey.

On university campuses, Dr. Ron Paul seems to be making a big impression on students based on campus bulletin boards and the increasing media coverage. Paul, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas, has a very libertarian political viewpoint that seems to appeal to people who want a different kind of leadership.

Andrew Lusk doesn’t think Paul will lead America, or its college students, in the right direction. Lusk is a former Ferris student who was also president of Democratic Students for Social Justice. “(Paul) has stated that he would eliminate the department of education,” said Lusk. “This would affect any college student who presently receives financial aid.” “His pure capitalistic stance would wreak havoc on the economy,” continued Lusk.

Lusk is not the only one who thinks there is a candidate from the “other party” who would be devastating for our country. When asked about what candidate she disliked the most, student Amber Hauk answered “not Hillary Clinton” without hesitation. Amanda VanDeventer also named Hillary Clinton.

Though Hauk and VanDeventer expressed the fact that they are pro-choice, they just do not like the senator from New York.

“She’s not the first woman I would want to run our country,” said VanDeventer.

Rather, VanDeventer would prefer a more open-minded republican to win the nomination such as Romney or McCain.

Neither Hauk or VanDeventer are registered to vote “yet.”

Jill Jepsen reception
Tomorrow, Jan. 17 from 6:60 p.m.-8:00 p.m. will be a reception for Jill Jepsen in the Rankin Center Art Gallery. Contact Carrie Weis at 591- 2536 for more information.

Soccer Tournament
The 8th annual soccer tournament meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 17 from 7:00 p.m-8:30 p.m. in Flite 133. Applications are also due today. For more info contact Ahmed Laftah at fsuiso@yahoo.com

Martin Luther King
On Sunday, Jan. 20, the annual MLK march will begin at Merrill/ Travis and end at Rankin. The event is free. For further information contact the Office of Multicultural Student Services at 231-591-2617 or Karen GreenBay at 231-591-5034.

Tunnel of Oppression
Tunnel of Oppression begins Sunday, Jan. 20 and will run through Friday, Jan. 25 in Rankin Center 153/155. The tunnel is intended to give individuals a sense of oppression through images. All are welcome to attend the free event. For more information contact Karen GreenBay at 591-5034.

Soul Food Dinner
The National Society of Minorities in Hospitality will be preparing the MLK Soul Food Dinner on Sunday, Jan. 20 from 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Café’ Ferris. For more info contact Karen GreenBay at 591-5034.

Student Tribute
The Office of Multicultural Student Services are searching for 40 participants for the annual MLK tribute. The free event takes place Monday, Jan. 21, from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. in Rankin Center. For more info contact Andrea Beck-Jones at 591-2617 or becka@ferris.edu

MLK Basketball Tournament
On Monday, Jan. 21 from noon-6:00 p.m. the MLK Basketball Tournament will take place at the Student Recreation Center. Entries are due Jan. 18 and it’s $15 per team. For more information contact Kyle Thornton at 591-2678.

Food for Thought
Food for Thought activity is free and all are welcome to attend in celebration of MLK week. The event will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 22 from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Rankin 125/127. Contact Karen GreenBay or Michael Wade at 591-5034 for more info.

Day of Segregation
Tuesday, Jan. 22 from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. in Rankin Center the MLK committee will host “A Day of Segregation.” The event is intended to educate the community about racial history. For more information contact Michael Wade at 591-5029.

Open House
FSU competitive speaking team will hold it’s spring open house on Tuesday, Jan. 22 from 6:00 p.m. until 730 p.m. in Johnson 125. For more information contact Sandy Alspach at 591-2779.