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Hurricanes working through storm with eyes on FSU

The Miami Hurricane
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As Hurricane Katrina ripped through Coral Gables Thursday evening, the Miami Hurricanes finished practice in monsoon conditions. With opening night drawing ever so close, the ‘Canes need as much time on the practice fields they can get.

Considered one of the greatest rivalries in sports, the Hurricanes will meet Florida State on Labor Day in Tallahassee. The Hurricanes have dominated the series recently, taking the last six matchups. Last year’s edition was one of the most exciting games ever between the two teams, as the Hurricanes rallied from a 10-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 16-10 in overtime.

Come kickoff Monday evening, some familiar faces in the rivalry will be missing. One glaring name from that list is former FSU quarterback Chris Rix, who lost to Miami five times in his tenure. Another recently departed Seminole is kicker Xavier Beitia, who UM fans came to know over the last few years for missing critical field goals against the Hurricanes.

UM will have a new face under center, as Kyle Wright earned the nod during spring practice. Wright wasn’t able to get as many snaps as the team would have liked last year because of injuries.

Miami will also have a new starting running back in Tyrone Moss. Moss lost 14 pounds in the off season and has Head Coach Larry Coker very excited about what he may be able to become.

One name that strikes fear in every opposing coach in the country is Devin Hester. Hester will not be a starter on defense but will see a lot of playing time, whether it be on defense, offense or special teams.

Coker said that fans will see a different Hester this season.

“I think you’ll see a new Devin Hester, attitude-wise. Not that Devin’s attitude was bad: just the maturity. Devin’s only played in the secondary for a year,” Coker said. “I think you’ll see that he’s grown up a lot. He has more of an understanding of what it takes.”

This is not one of the stronger Florida State teams that Miami has faced over the years, as FSU is expected to have a down year with inexperienced young talent. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes feel they had a down year last season by losing three games.

The Hurricanes’ defense is stacked with returning players, which may be the reason why the team succeeds in the ACC this season.

Junior defensive lineman Baraka Atkins said the defense is loaded with talent.

“We get [preseason hype] every year, and deservingly so with the amount of talent and athletes that we have on our team,” Atkins said. “We lost a couple of guys on defense, mainly Antrel Rolle, but for the most part everybody is coming back.”

With a rivalry as fierce as Florida State versus Miami, no matter how talented the two teams are in a given year, it is all thrown out the window after kickoff. Coker knows this very well.

“We’re playing an extremely tough team Labor Day evening. It’s a tremendous challenge there,” Coker said.

Kickoff is set for Monday at 8 p.m. at Doak Campbell stadium in Tallahassee.

Douglas Kroll can be contacted at d.kroll@umiami.edu.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Miami Hurricane
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The wrong decision?

We will always remember faux pas from our Alma Mater, but Thursday’s bungled decision by the Crisis Decision Team (CDT) will forever be known to me in my five years at UM as the absolute worst yet.

Let me paint a picture for you: winds blowing at tropical storm force speeds, flash flooding reaching half a foot in the parking lots, tree limbs down all over the roads surrounding campus and more than three inches of rain falling per hour-all before 6:00 p.m., meaning thousands of students were still expected to attend classes. During the early morning hours of Thursday, the entire South Florida area was placed under a hurricane warning; this is not trivial, it means that hurricane force winds are expected within the next 24 hours. But regardless of this fact, the CDT decided that it was still appropriate for students to be traveling on the roads of the greater Miami area, a place being battered by winds and a place where the eye of the storm would pass in no more than three hours. Leaving campus-before the official close time of 6 p.m., mind you-I was battered by squall lines with gusts surpassing hurricane force, surrounded by lightning, wading through ankle-deep water, nd soaked by rain striking nearly horizontally; but of course to the CDT, this is all to be expected, right?

I remember Hurricane Frances last year. This was a storm whose destiny was to confront the University nearly head-on. I remember boarding my windows, sandbagging my doors and officially powering down WVUM and rebroadcasting the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration advisory for all of the concerned community members. As it turns out, these precautions were not needed, as the storm changed course at the last moment and missed us. However, that does not mean that these precautions were taken in vain. When dealing with life and property, any precaution against a system as volatile and dynamic as a hurricane is to be measured and calculated conservatively.

This precautionary philosophy was abandoned by the CDT for Hurricane Katrina. The team saw a hurricane warning and worsening conditions at school, and instead of taking a conservative estimate to protect the well-being of students, it relied too heavily on the unpredictable forecasts from the local weathermen. Well, the National Hurricane Center doesn’t give a cone of unpredictability for nothing! The forecasters are aware, more so than the decision makers at UM, that hurricanes do in fact buck trends and change course from time to time.

It seems as though this would have been a lesson learned from recent hurricanes, such as Frances, which changed course, and Charley, which changed course and even from historic ones such as Andrew, which (need I spell it out?) changed course. Well, this time the CDT decided that it would ignore the hurricane warning issued for Coral Gables and cast the students’ fate to the wind, in a not-so-figurative sense.

Fortunately, at the time of the writing of this letter, no students, faculty or staff were reported injured. But I hope that this storm serves as a reminder to the CDT that when dealing with the cherished lives of students and faculty, it is always better to err on the side of caution, especially in the face of a hurricane warning, no matter the predictions of the local forecasters. Remember: nobody suffers from a false hurricane day, but the same can not necessarily be said for the opposite.

Chris Bennett

Program Director

WVUM 90.5 FM

The war in Iraq: a sad look back

The Miami Hurricane
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I have spent my summers in Cape May Point, New Jersey, for the last 19 years. For the past three summers, two little hands periodically knocked on my door. It was the neighbor’s boys, two brothers, one aged seven and one aged five. They came to my father and me looking for help with fixing their bikes. This year I took the boys to the beach where we tossed nets into the ocean hoping to catch some crabs. Their eyes lit up with every crab we trapped.

Their father, Michael Kelly, was the Washington Post Writer’s Group syndicated columnist and past editor for The Atlantic Monthly. He also wrote Martyrs’ Day: Chronicle of a Small War and Things Worth Fighting For. The last summer I saw Mike, I helped him shovel sand into his backyard so his boys had a safe play area. Like mine, this was the Kelly family’s summer home.

When this war in Iraq began, he was one of the first journalists to go; he had covered Desert Storm. At the beginning of the war in Iraq, when the news networks reported a humvee accident that killed a journalist, the conflict in Iraq hit me hard and everyone else connected through Mike.

I cannot leave my home without seeing those two little bikes parked next to the yellow house on the dunes. Walking out of my house is a constant reminder of the effect the war in Iraq has had on the Kellys and many other families affected by this war.

As the war progresses and the death toll rises, the more we at home are hit by these unfortunate losses. There is no telling the length of our stay in Iraq or its outcome, but as in any war, the damages are irreparable. Tremendous suffering occurs on all sides.

The impact of death is far worse than death itself. To shield the public, the media rarely reports on life after suicide bombings, insurgent surprise attacks or stealth precision bombing. As life speeds ahead, creating news by the minute, we bury the stories that came beforehand. All it takes is a picture, a newspaper clipping, the recitation of a dead soldier’s name or two little boys with bike problems, and all those events of yesterday become reality again.

Life is filled with tragedies. No person should ever have to go through a senseless tragedy, but for those who do, life is forever altered in a way that they and their loved ones will only know.

We struggle through the rise of gas prices, the president’s decisions, our occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, political scandals and life. With the impermanence of life comes the permanence of death, and the emptiness that death leaves may grow smaller but it never completely closes.

Twenty-five years from now, when we have seen what became of the war in Iraq, the combat will be another piece of U.S. history; a time of suffering in this country cemented in the history books.

For some mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters and friends, it will be a time when a loved one went away and never came back. In any conflict, foreign or domestic, we sacrifice something for the cause. As generations of people across the globe have seen, a war is fought not only on the battlefield but on our front doorsteps.

Mike Kelly will be remembered by his fellow journalists, his family and his friends. Through his examples, Mike taught me to always try to live one’s life with concern for the truth, as well as standing up for the little guy when the big guy grows too powerful. For all those who have died and suffered in this Iraq war, it does not make it easier when the reasons for going to war now appear tainted.

Sam Rega can be contacted at s.rega@umiami.edu.

EDITORIAL

The Miami Hurricane
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Unlike the hurricane scares of last year, the University and its population seemed to hardly give Katrina a second thought. While buildings were secured and some shutters put up around campus, students were expected to fight their way through rain and wind to attend classes until 6 p.m.

Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Katrina manifested itself into a hurricane much faster than forecast. She then decided to take an unexpected turn south, barreling down on students and staff who had just hours earlier been rolling their eyes at overanxious first-timers.

Perhaps it was due to their experiences during Charley and Frances, with students locked down for days with clear skies outside, or it was the excitement of the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards, but no matter what caused the complacency, the results were the same-people were severely lacking the general supplies for a hurricane, including food, water, batteries, flashlights and charged cell phones.

Although the closing of the campus Thursday night brought with it some confusion, such as whether or not 5 p.m. classes were cancelled, the University did manage to provide snack packs to students in the residential colleges and RAs worked hard to entertain residents, including an impromptu dance party hosted by DJ Rico in Mahoney and Pearson. When the power went out, generators soon restored electricity to the dorms, although students living in the apartment area and Holiday Inn were still left in the dark with no air conditioning.

While Katrina brought some damage to the University including leaks, a debris-strewn campus and the saddening downing of the banyan tree by the UC Rock, affectionately known as “the Big Tree,” “the Iron Arrow Tree,” or “the one with the smelly seeds,” we can only hope that she also taught us some lessons. While the strength of Katrina was impressive, it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Next time we should all revert to last year’s method of over preparing.

Not missing classes, even during the first week of school, should never be considered more important than ensuring the safety of students and staff. Putting students in the residential colleges on lock-down should be done sooner, rather than later, to avoid confusion in what can and can’t be done during the storm. A few days of having nothing to do but play board games and watch movies is really not a hardship. Coconut Grove and random house parties are not a safe harbor from gale force winds and falling power lines and trees. In addition, opening the campus and declaring it “safe and secure” when people are still mopping up their rain soaked rooms and having to scramble over tree branches may be slightly optimistic.

The University did, however, score points by immediately resuming shuttle buses for Holiday Inn and Eaton residents to get them to the dining facility which was allowing students, even those without a meal plan, to dine in the comfort of the air-conditioned Chartwells. Canceling classes on Monday was another good call-especially since many living off-campus were still unsure of when their power would resume.

The clean up has already started and it’ll be interesting to see just how long it takes to get the campus back to its former grandeur. Commuter students have to be crossing their fingers that the smell coming from the carpet in the first floor of the UC will disappear faster than Katrina’s wrath did. And of course, everyone’s hopes are high that this is the last hurricane we have to see this year, but if not, we cross our fingers that everyone at the University will be more prepared than this time.

UM raise in tuition creating a dent in many students’ pockets

The Miami Hurricane
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If you’ve taken a look at your tuition bill lately, chances are you’ll have noticed a slight boost in the numbers-a 5.9 percent boost to be exact, according to University of Miami Provost Tom LeBlanc.

“This increase is comparable to the increases we’ve had over the past three years,” Dr. LeBlanc said. “Most universities like UM look at what other schools are doing, where our tuition lies in comparison to peer schools, the current rate of inflation in wages and prices and other related factors to determine the amount of any increase in tuition.”

The raise in price has students talking.

“I’m all for increasing wages but when I look around and I see that money is going to things like plasma TVs in the UC and palm trees-that is genuinely unnecessary,” Slava Ostin, junior, said. “The thing is, it’s the look that the administration wants to impose on others. If it looks good to outsiders, they’ll get more money for future projects. It’s pure economics.”

But ‘Canes are in good company. According to Dr. LeBlanc, many private research universities have also increased tuition about five to six percent annually, including the University of Rochester, where Dr. LeBlanc served as vice provost and dean of the faculty before coming to UM.

“Well, it’s not that bad considering budget shortfalls in some states have caused tuitions at state universities to go up by 10 or 15 percent each of the past couple of years,” Josh Frank, senior, said. “And besides, we get free laundry now.”

The school is making an effort to alleviate students’ pain by significantly augmenting the financial aid available to them. For example, the Henry King Stanford Scholarship that the school offers was raised from $13,692 last year to $14,510 this year. Also, department scholarships have increased in number and the University has continued to compile a database of outside scholarships on the school website.

“[The tuition increase] is definitely a greater burden on students and their parents considering how expensive UM is already, but I understand that if I wish my school to continue on its route of improvement, it’s going to take some money to do so,” Edilberto Alvarez, senior, said. “Thankfully, I have scholarships to help me through the transition.”

Christine Dominguez can be contacted at c.dominguez3@umiami.edu.

CaneExchange gives students a free alternative to eBay

The Miami Hurricane
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EBay, prepare to meet the competition: CaneExchange, a user-friendly cyber-marketplace for UM students that has just opened for business, boasting a range of items from portrait-painting services and hiking equipment to off-campus housing. The brainchild of Vance Aloupis, former Student Government President, John Constantinide, Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate and Michael Levine, a former College of Arts and Sciences Senator, CaneExchange aims to make the UM community more efficient and integrated.

“Every Student Government administration likes to brag about something they’ve done, whether it be improving laundry facilities or CaneExchange,” Constantinide said. “The main motive was that it’s something that makes the University more efficient-that’s why auxiliary services gave us money for it.”

CaneExchange works by allowing students, faculty, staff and administrators with a miami.edu or umiami.edu email to register and list products for free. The difference between this site and other exchange sites is that the financial transaction is not completed online. Instead, arrangements are made between parties to meet face to face, an added bonus that gives buyers a chance to actually see the product before purchasing it.

Although CaneExchange has only been in operation since Aug. 1, the idea has been in the works for more than a year and a half, beginning with Constantinide’s research for the project in May 2004.

“The main challenges that faced CaneExchange were creating the contract between SINAPSE Consulting, Inc., the makers of the CaneExchange software, and General Counsel of this University,” Constantinide said. “That was simply time-consuming, but it was a high-priority issue for them.”

The idea for the site, although popular, faced setbacks in its initial stages as permission by various UM departments, such as the bookstore and campus communications, was needed regarding many things from the sales concept to the website design.

“We had some problems convincing administration that this is something we should do because not a lot of schools do anything like this,” current Student Government President Pete Maki said. “Besides that, we’re taking business from the bookstore and there are other legal issues as well.”

According to Constantinide, these issues include problems which make the University liable-buying and selling certain items like paintball guns or other “weapons,” study guides made by students which could fall under the category of plagiarism and financial transactions gone awry.

While publicity for CaneExchange has been minimal, as of Aug. 25 there were 838 registered members and about 180 products for sale.

“I think it’s great that there’s finally a better system than book buyback at the bookstore to sell last semester’s books for a decent price,” Andy Valente, junior, said. “Plus, you can sell pretty much anything you need to get rid of securely without listing fees or being afraid that the product you buy wasn’t what you expected.”

Other successes include the $1,200 startup fee generously provided by Mel Tenen, director of auxiliary services, the acceptance and support by the student community, and the ever-growing recognition of CaneExchange as the site for UM students to buy and sell.

“Just imagine that your mother gave you a $200 vacuum cleaner that you’re never going to use-at least you can sell it back and make $100 or so,” Maki said. “Actually that did happen to me…that’s partly why I think this is such a good idea.”

For more information about CaneExchange visit www.caneexchange.miami.edu.

Teressa Dalpe can be contacted at t.dalpe@umiami.edu

ETC

The Miami Hurricane
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Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society is now accepting nominations for new members. Nominate any student, faculty or staff member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership. Forms are available in the STIC (UC 209) and most administrative offices. Email m.garg2@umiami.edu for more information. Nominations are due back to in the STIC office no later than Friday, Sept. 16 by 5 p.m.

Elsewhere – Study appears to link lack of sleep, weight gain

The Miami Hurricane
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The Daily Iowan (U. Iowa)

(U-WIRE) IOWA CITY, Iowa-Late night venti frappacinos from Starbucks and large pizza deliveries might no longer be to blame for the dreaded Freshman 15.

Weight gain has now been linked to sleep deprivation, according to a report from the recent North American Association for the Study of Obesity conference. When a person is sleep-deprived, the level of the hormone leptin, which is involved in the regulation of appetite, is lowered. In turn, low leptin levels increase appetite.

College students should get nine hours of sleep a night, James Clack, the retired Duke University psychological services director, said in a telephone interview.

However, college students are among the most sleep-deprived Americans, averaging only six hours of sleep a night.

Kathy Mellen, a dietitian for Student Health Service, believes that more than hormone levels can be attributed to college weight gain. Weight can be altered by sleep deprivation, but an unhealthy diet can also affect how much a college student gains, she said.

“Students turn to food to keep up their energy when they are up late studying,” she said.

Duke University has attempted to help by eliminating 8 a.m. classes this fall in order to aid students in obtaining the recommended nine hours of sleep. Clack said most classes now fall between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

President Shalala reaches out to new students via podcast

The Miami Hurricane
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The University of Miami recently launched its first podcast, capitalizing on the latest trend in digital communications. Podcasting is a method of distributing audio broadcasts via the Internet. The first podcast features President Shalala sharing her “Top-Ten List for New Students.” Visitors to the podcast Web page-www.miami.edu/canescast-can listen to the file on their computers or download it to their MP3 players.

UMNEWS

The Miami Hurricane
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The University of Miami moved up again in the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” rankings, from number 58 last year to number 55 this year in the National Universities category. This continues the steady upward trend that brings it closer to the top 50-last year the University moved from number 60 to number 58, and the previous year it experienced a dramatic six-point jump from number 66 to number 60.

CALENDAR

The Miami Hurricane
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TODAY

Author Toni Morrison, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner, will speak at the University of Miami Convocation Center at 6:30 p.m. The event is open to all students, faculty and staff with a ‘Cane Card. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., begins tabling in the breezeway and collecting donations in the residential colleges for Operation Big Bookbag. It will be accepting school supplies for children of inner city public schools.

WEDNESDAY

Hurricane Productions presents movie night at the Cosford cinema. Sin City is an adaptation of Frank Miller’s stories based in the fictional town of Sin City. Showings are at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The Multicultural Student Association greets students each fall by sponsoring the annual Black Student Welcome Reception for new and returning students, faculty and staff. Students meet with key members from the University community as well as receive a copy of the Urban Access Resource Guide for students to assist them in their transition to the University of Miami. The event will be held in the UC I-Lounge at 6 p.m.

THURSDAY

The Lowe Art Museum will be holding the Monthly LoweDown Happy Hour and closing reception for Uncanny from 7 to 9 p.m., which will include jazz, light cocktails and a guided tour by the artist, Billie Lynn.

An info session for University of Miami Up ’til Dawn campaign to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will be held at 5 p.m. in the UC I-Lounge.

Taken by surprise

The Miami Hurricane
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Left in the aftermath of a storm that was widely underestimated, the Coral Gables campus remained closed through Monday after sustaining significant damage from Hurricane Katrina’s 86 mph winds and 18 inches of rain. The storm, which forecasters had expected would hit further north early Friday morning, picked up speed and reached Miami Thursday evening, shortly after school had closed at 6 p.m.

“The storm came up quick,” Dr. Pat Whitely, vice president for student affairs, said. “It was unexpected and our emergency operation hopefully got information out to students in time.”

By the time the storm passed, many students and facilities were left without power, buildings had experienced flooding and a significant amount of landscape damage blocked roads where trees had been knocked down or pulled from their roots. One tree, a banyan outside the bookstore, had been a trademark at the Rock for years.

“That tree didn’t have any damage during [Hurricane] Andrew but unfortunately it was a very old tree and I guess its time was up,” Dr. Whitely said. “It’s very sad because it was a significant tree and of sentimental value for many students.”

Clean-up crews, some brought in from Tampa, were on campus all weekend cleaning up the debris and clearing out roads. The work was expected to be done by the end of this week; in the meantime, University officials urged that students park their cars in garages as much as possible to ease the cleaning efforts.

Students living on campus experienced Katrina’s wind and rain-indoors.

“Everyone had flood damage of some kind whether from air conditioners leaking or windows leaking,” Cara Facer, junior, said. “It was scarier living in the apartment area during a hurricane than in any other residential college because of the large windows. During the storm, you could literally feel the wind blowing in.”

“We had recaulked all the windows [in the dorms] in the last three years,” Dr. Whitely said. “We had such intense rain in such a short period of time that we just had to do everything that could be done. We’ll have to investigate that.”

Residents living in the Holiday Inn and the apartment area lost power, which was not restored until Sunday.

Students in Mahoney-Pearson Residential colleges had water coming into their rooms, and the UC carpet in the first floor, which may have to be replaced, still carried a damp scent from flooding on Sunday.

Despite damages, the University tried to accommodate students as much as possible. Facilities such as the C-Store, Richter Library, the Wellness Center and food vendors remained open on Sunday and Monday with adjusted hours. HurryCanes shuttles also operated on adjusted hours, and a special service ran between Eaton and Mahoney. And in case students got bored with classes being cancelled, shuttle services were added for transportation to Sunset Place.

“People could go to an afternoon movie if they wanted to do that,” Dr. Whitely said.

Classes and all on-campus activities were cancelled Monday, mainly to keep students from coming to campus while clean-up efforts were still in mid-stride.

“We should be on our feet by Tuesday,” Dr. Whitely said. “The good news is that there were no significant injuries or loss of life. Aside from water and landscape damage we fared as well as expected given the severity of the storm and the fact that no one expected it to be this bad.”

For more updates on University advisories, go to www.miami.edu/prepare.

Natalia Maldonado can be contacted at n.maldonado@umiami.edu.

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ABOUT US

The Miami Hurricane is the student newspaper of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The newspaper is edited and produced by undergraduate students at UM and is published in print every Tuesday and online everyday during the academic year.

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