Dorm Crowding Also Means Dorm Discount, by Shelby Jacobson

 This increase in freshmen and transfer students this 2013-2014 academic year is being accommodated by Resident Life though several techniques used in the past. Residential students are being housed on campus in study lounge conversions and so-called three person doubles.

 

UW La Crosse’s website, www.uwlax.edu/reslife, states that two person dorms cost $2,250 per semester, with a $25 fee for Coate, Laux, and White first year halls, or double the cost per year. Students who choose to be a part of a three person double or a study lounge are being given “an approximate $300 discount per semester,” says Paula Knudson, vice chancellor.

 In the past, Resident Life also has made arrangements with landlords near campus for student housing despite the financial loss this causes UWL. According  Knudson, there has been a surplus in students for the past thirty years.

Knudson explained the dormitories are meant to accommodate 3,266 students. The last application count completed on August 19 estimated to have 3,544 students. The 278 additional students are housed either through three person doubles or in four to five person study lounges. Presently there are 114 three person doubles.

When dorms open up the price for students switching from a study lounge or three person double is pro-rated.  By example, at the quarter of the semester students who switch would be discounted $150 rather than the approximate $300.

Knudson has a five or six year plan to create additional housing for UW La Crosse Students. This plan is looking to budget a new residence hall of 300 rooms across from Whitney Center.

Fall Illness & Health Center Info, for Those Who've Never Used it, by Crystal Oravis

            Back to campus means back to the cold and flu aisle for many students. There has already been a large amount of illness at UW-L.

Students should take as many precautions as possible to avoid becoming part of this statistic. Cliché things such as washing hands constantly, covering mouths when coughing or sneezing, and even trying to take in as much vitamin C as possible will greatly reduce the risk of getting sick.

All students on campus should know that the health center on campus is a very valuable resource. The student health center is free to enrolled students and can prescribe a number of medications such as cough medication, sinus decongestant, Mucinex, and much more. All of these medications are at a low cost and can be added directly to student bills. The health center is open Monday through Friday by appointment, with the urgent care office open Monday through Friday as well. The health center is closed for weekends and holidays.

The health center offers urgent care services such as acute care, allergy injections, minor injuries, and radiological services. Appointments are required for routine things such as counseling, consultaion and referral, gyneocogical and reproductive services, HIV and STD testing, immunization services, laboratory services, medication dispensary, medical evaluation and treatment, minor surgical procedures, nutrition, physical therapy, and primary care.

Many students are unaware that many services are free to them. Other than additional medications, and procedures such as X-rays, all visits are considered included in the student fees.  This center makes routine and minor required visits very easy to accomplish while working around busy school and work schedules as well as being in a very convenient location right across from the Whitney center. More information, as well as specific office hours, can be found on the university website.

"TV Monitors" Installed in Hallways, by Erich Schnell

The University Information Technology Service now has TV screens in buildings across campus.  The screens can be seen in the academic buildings as well as Murphy library and Mitchell Hall. 

The goal of the screens is to “improve the communication of events on campus," says Dr. Mohamed Elhindi, the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer for the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse.

The events displayed on the screens will be updated regularly. New posts will be added and old posts taken down promptly.

Campus events from various clubs, athletics, and CAB are set to be posted already. Other events can be submitted for review at the Eagle Help Desk in Wing Technology Center or the ITS webpage under “self service ticket system.”   Elhindi encourages campus clubs to submit their events. 

The screens run during the buildings’ regular hours of operation.  This means that the screens do not run on the weekends or after class hours.  

The funding for this project is taken from the general fund and is part of UW-L’s priority to improve communication.

Who Wears a Bike Helmet? Not Students, by Hannah Moseson

      
             LaCrosse, as a college town, has many bicyclers, but not necessarily helmet wearers. 

            It is easy to notice a pattern:  adults and children bicyclers generally wear helmets, while teens and college students (LaCrosse’s largest bicycling demographic) seldom wear head protection.  On any given weekday, hundreds of students ride up to Carl Wimberly to lock up their bikes, coming and going throughout the day; over the course of several hours, chances are less than ten will be seen wearing helmets.

            “I know helmets are a good idea, but there’s not any traffic on campus and I don’t want to have to carry a helmet around all day.  I hardly ever see anyone else wearing them either,” says Emily Krause, a UW-L junior. 

There are a variety of reasons helmets aren’t being worn: some students dislike the look of helmets, some don’t want to have to carry them around, and some people are put at ease by the limited amount of traffic on campus.

            While it’s true that campus is mostly traffic-free, many student bicyclers bike because they are coming from off-campus housing, where there is traffic in abundance.  If students do not want to carry around a helmet, they can lock them up with their bikes. 
              Students worried about hair or appearance could weigh those concerns against their wellbeing.  Last year there were 12 bicycle related deaths in Wisconsin alone.   

President Proposes University Scorecard, by Mikaela Kornowski

President Barack Obama would like to create a system by 2015 to directly link the amount of student aid a school receives to the grade it earns

The system would ultimately implement what is being called a “scorecard” for institutions. The scorecard would require universities to come up with a good report  to receive an acceptable amount of federal student aid. The grade is decided by average tuition cost, average student debt, grad rates, grad students who received Pell grants, and average earnings for graduates.

The Obama Administration states that tuition cost has increased 250% over the past 30 years. Likewise, average family income has only increased 16%. The average student graduates $26,000 in the debt.

The President says,“Higher education is still the best ticket to upward mobility in America, and if we don’t do something about keeping it within reach, it will create problems for economic mobility for generations to come, and that’s not acceptable.”

More than half of the top 30 fastest growing jobs call for a higher education. Currently, the United States is ranked 9th in the number of what is considered “young adults” in college.

On August 22, President Obama spoke at the University at Buffalo. In his address he stated, “Colleges that keep their tuition down and are providing high quality education are the ones that are going to see their taxpayer funding go up. It is time to stop subsidising schools that are not producing good results and reward schools that deliver for American students and our future.”

Students may be glad to hear that their university may be getting its own report card for a change. However, the debate of the possible scoring system is just starting.

It may be some time before any act of administration will be able to have some control over tuition cost.

Check whitehouse.gov for a copy of the scorecard.

UWL Is LaCrosse Loggers Sponsor, by Sean Eaton

For $40,000 a year from UW-La Crosse, the Eagles baseball team will in turn be able to begin playing their games at the LaCrosse Loggers’ Copeland Field in 2014.  UWL is already a game sponsor and has a “guess his major” promotion each home game.

Through the partnership, the University along with the Loggers are attempting to raise $600,000 for the necessary improvements to Copeland Field. As of this point, due in large part to a $300,000 donation from Festival Foods, the Loggers, along with UW-La Crosse, are well on their way to their goal. Josh Whitman, UWL a.d., has stated that none of the financial responsibilities of this partnership will at any time fall on the students.

In 2012, the Athletic Department announced a partnership with the local semiprofessional baseball team. The Loggers approached UW-La Crosse with an idea for a sponsorship deal. The idea was centered around a fund raising effort by the Loggers to be able to pay for a new video scoreboard, new batting cages, and new dugouts.

The partnership stemmed from 2010, when the University of Wisconsin La Crosse athletic department was faced with some difficult financial decisions surrounding its baseball team. With little funding, and a list of needs, the program was forced to cut the part of the budget that paid the $35-40,000 of salary owed to the head coach. This cut made the head coach’s salary come entirely from fund raising. “I didn’t think it was fair to ask our coach to go out and raise money for his own salary,” said  Whitman.