Tropic Thun- der proves to be a big hit. Page 15. theBARUCH COLLEGE, ticker THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK VOLUME 94 • ISSUE 1 WWW.THETICKER.ORG SEPTEMBER 2, 2008 Baruch carpets nowhere near flying Student BY JANA KASPERKEVIC loans face SENIOR STAFF WRITER Before the end of the Spring crisis 2008 semester, clubs and organiza- tions occupying the offi ces in the west wing of the Vertical Campus’ <Loan industry third fl oor were asked to make the proper arrangements so that new suffers loss of carpeting could be installed over the summer. Various club memo- funds due to rabilia went into the boxes and the fl oors were, for the most part, to be failing economy cleared off , leaving the heavy lifting and moving out of the larger furni- BY LILIAN RIZZO ture up to the custodial and school SENIOR STAFF WRITER staff on the day that the carpets were to be changed. Th e downturn of the economy However, the summer came and has aff ected Americans in many went, and the old carpets stayed. ways and now it will be hitting col- With school back in session and the lege students specifi cally. Over the club fair fast approaching, student past few months, major private clubs are getting a head start on the lenders have been stopping or cut- new academic year while facing ting back on college loans. the possibility of changing carpets According to Th e Wall Street within the fi rst two weeks. Journal, since the beginning of the Th e Student Center budget allo- last school year Citigroup Inc. and cated $70,000 for the new carpeting. Bank of America Corp. have put However, this budget was based a stop on most loans or have in- upon estimates from almost three creased their credit score require- years ago, which then caused the ments. As of Aug. 5, Wachovia Corp. discrepancy between the budget fell in line. Th e New York Times re- allocated and the bids of $84,000 ported the Massachusetts Educa- tional Financing Authority (MEFA) SEE CARPETS PAGE 4 ILLUSTRATED BY EDWARD DRAKHLIS announced July 28 they would not give any loans for the upcoming academic year. Wachovia spokeswoman Fer- ris Morrison said the decision was made after “evaluating our organi- Baruch Remembers zation in the current environment.” Tom Graf, executive director of MEFA, said the halt on loans was a result of disruptions in the capital markets. With major lenders pulling out, many college students have been scrambling for other means to fi - nance their education. MEFA sup- plied over 40,000 college students in Massachusetts with loans. Bank of America and Citigroup were among the top private sources for fi nancial aid to students across the country. “Due to the fl uctuation or am- biguities in the fi nancial market, it is true a lot of lenders have pulled out,” said Vincent Coff ey, direct loan coordinator at Baruch. Coff ey advised that before any students look to private institu- tions for aid, they should try to get as many federal loans and as much aid as possible because the terms and conditions are more appealing to them. Th e most popular federal loan used by Baruch students is the William D. Ford federal program, which does not require a co-signer or credit check. “I am glad these programs exist so students can attend and have an education,” said Coff ey. Th e Ticker has dedicated a special section to fi ve individuals, part of the Baruch community, who Th e loans that are still available passed away over the summer. Th ey may be gone, but their friends and family will never forget them. from most institutions now have SEE REMEMBERANCESEE BARUCH REMEMBERSPAGE 14 PAGE 14 SEE LOANS PAGE 4 INDEX BUSINESS FEATURES LIFESTYLES ADVERTISING Opinion . 5 An in- Student Get Business . 6 depth travels to informed To place an advertisement, Features . 10 look a this Mexico and on heart contact Chad Mc Lean at Arts . 16 acclaimed shares her failure and (646) 312-4713 or e-mail experience. how to [email protected] Science . 20 novel. Lifestyles . 22 prevent it. Sports . 26 Page 9. Page 12. Page 20. PAGE 2 I THE TICKER NEWS SEPTEMBER 2, 2008 News New bill to clamp down on file-sharing NEWS {BRIEFS } BY JANA KASPERKEVIC downloading has not changed and COMPILED BY RACHEL VINCENT SENIOR STAFF WRITER remains in the lower 80 percent. ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR According to the 2007 survey, 70.5 With President George W. Bush percent of institutions, CUNY in- TUESDAY 9/2 signing the Higher Education Op- cluded, reported that students can portunity Act of 2008 (H.R. 4137) lose their campus network privi- Th e New York Times will be into a law, the U.S. is said to have leges for P2P violations. presenting information on the 2nd taken a new critical step toward re- “Th e 2007 survey data confi rms fl oor lobby of the Vertical Campus storing the higher educational pro- that colleges and universities are from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. grams, claimed George Miller, the making signifi cant eff orts to ad- chairman of the House Education dress the problem of P2P piracy on Th e Offi ce of Student Life will be and Labor Committee. campus networks,” said Kenneth having a voter registration table on However, with 1,125 sections C. Green, founding director of Th e the 2nd fl oor lobby from 12:30 p.m. and additional subsections, the Campus Computing Project. “Col- to 5 p.m. (Also held Th ursday). new 1,158 page long bill does not leges and universities are engaged only reward and better the edu- in user education and are impos- Th e Weissman Center for Inter- cation system by ensuring equal ing sanctions for P2P violations. national Business will be hosting a opportunities, overseeing loan Additionally, many institutions are study abroad fair promotion on the practices, encouraging schools to spending signifi cant sums to de- 2nd fl oor lobby from 12:30 p.m. to 7 improve their safety and readi- ploy software that providers claim p.m. (Also held Th ursday) ness plans and to adopt energy ef- will stem P2P downloading. Yet we fi cient practices, but also punishes know that the proposed P2P soft- Women of Islam will be holding schools for certain misdemeanors ware solutions are far from perfect, the event, “Celebrating Ramadan” such as illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) as was acknowledged in recent in room 3-215 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 fi le-sharing. congressional hearings.” p.m. (Also held Th ursday). “We don’t want people in col- Th e City University of New York lege to go to higher education in- Policy on Acceptable Use of Com- stitutions where they’re receiving puter Resources, last updated on WEDNESDAY 9/3 an education [to think] that it’s OK Aug. 11 of this year, states in its to perform illegal activities online,” License and Intellectual Prop- Th e Offi ce of Student Life will be said Copyright Alliance Executive erty section that “Users of CUNY having a voter registration table on Director Patrick Ross, echoing the ED.GOV computer resources may use only the 2nd fl oor lobby from 12:30 p.m. sentiments of various congressmen legally obtained, licensed data or to 5 p.m. who support the copyright provi- Margaret Spellings, Education Secretary, will crack down on illegal fi le sharing. software and must comply with ap- sion of the new bill. plicable licenses or other contracts, Th e Weissman Center for Inter- Under the copyright provision Spellings, the current Education litico. “Th ese regulations will put as well as copyright, trademark and national Business will be holding a of the Higher Education Opportu- Secretary, stated that she is con- a huge burden on a thinly staff ed other intellectual property laws.” study abroad fair promotion on the nity bill, schools that cannot stop cerned about the new bill due to agency. Th ey will certainly need to Th e Enforcement section claims 2nd fl oor lobby from 12:30 p.m. to illegal fi le sharing will not face pen- the “creation of more than 60 new, hire new staff .” that violators of such rule might 7 p.m. alties but the enforcements and the costly and duplicative programs.” A 2007 campus computing sur- face suspension or termination of determining of such circumstances “Th e 110th Congress left a huge vey released in October of last year their access to CUNY computer re- Women of Islam will be holding will fall on the shoulders of the present for the next secretary of ed- revealed that the number of col- sources and even be referred to law the event, “Celebrating Ramadan” Education Secretary and the De- ucation,” Terry Hartle of the Ameri- leges and universities with poli- enforcement authorities. in room 3-215 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 partment of Education. Margaret can Council on Education told Po- cies addressing inappropriate P2P p.m. Time Warner director joins Baruch staff BY MEGAN LAW to improve the visibility of Baruch of a college was not a diffi cult ad- SENIOR STAFF WRITER College. She’s very smart, person- justment for her. She said “ […] able, knows how to handle the what is striking is the similarities Christina Latouf has been ap- press, and has had a lot of experi- rather than the diff erences. It’s so pointed as the new chief communi- ence with [them].” fast paced and Baruch is relevant in cations and marketing offi cer of Ba- Latouf will report directly to the so many areas beyond education.