Last week, many students rallied in a silent protest on the front of Buchtel Hall’s steps. Students of many backgrounds shared similar interests as they stood with their mouths duck taped.

Prior to the protest, students were sent an email in reference to the Office of Multicultural Development’s (OMD) potential closing.

Despite the request to deter the protest, many students still showed up in support, which gained widespread attention on campus and throughout the Akron community.

The OMD has been fluid in improving the graduation and retention rates for students who utilize the offices services. Many students tend to be accepted into the honors college at UA, along with being admitted into top law and graduate programs.

UA leaders stated that a portion of OMD’s services were a method of segregation and that it takes grit and iron to graduate. The plan is to make the office a place for underrepresented students. University leaders also stated that OMD’s name would change and that services will remain the same but staff may be cut.

Director of Diversity at the University of Akron, Michael Davis, is among many students that have asked for answers and the requests have just been shut out. According to Davis, the students asked for statistical data to support the claim the changes would be made successful. That request was also denied.

“If the administration keeps the name and services, but fail to fill vacant spots within the office with qualified persons, provide adequate space (admin did not mention if OMD would stay in its current location), and a staff who truly cares for underrepresented; graduation rates can get worse”, says Davis.

To keep up with this issue, contact the Office of Multicultural Development located in Simmons Hall, or visit the website at uakron.edu/omd

Imagine being 13,000 feet in the air in a plane and then deciding, on your own free will, that jumping out would be the most fun option.

For junior Adam Ghannoum, who studies mechanical engineering and applied mathematics, this is his favorite way to spend a sunny day. He has been involved in skydiving for three years.

“I always wanted to try it since I saw it in a movie when I was little,” Ghannoum said. “When I got to college it just seemed like a fun idea. I had a buddy who was into it and I went out and did a first jump. I was hooked right away and signed up for the class to do my first solo jump.”

The place where Ghannoum calls his home dropzone is AerOhio in Rittman. His parents were a little less than enthused to have their son jumping out of airplanes up to 15 times a day, weather permitting. So far, he has skydived over 600 hundred times. However, soon Ghannoum’s father was curious about the sport his son had become addicted to, and went for his first jump on Father’s Day.

“Being able to see how excited he was and seeing the moment where he realized what it was all about was amazing,” said Ghannoum.

This is a male dominated sport. However, according to Ghannoum, some of the best skydivers are females. Ghannoum’s own girlfriend, Jen Winter, has become involved in the sport. Skydiving is like a small family of adrenaline junkies.

“Recently, a guy I’ve jumped with a few times had a parachute collapse during landing and was in the ICU for a few weeks,” he said. “He’s recovering now but it’s a small community and incidents close to home remind you to respect the sport, remember your limits and appreciate your friendships.”

According to Ghannoum, his short-term goals include to keep improving and hopefully not hitting the ground.

Anyone interested in getting a rush of a lifetime can call 1-800-SKYDIVE or visit AerOhio’s Facebook page.

The University of Akron’s radio station ended the school year by winning awards and breaking old records.

“WZIP is what I always listen to going home and coming up for classes, work, or whatever I may be doing around the city of Akron,” Julie Wallace, a sophomore studying education, said.

WZIP has earned several awards and now they can add the Signature Station of the Year Award. This award is given by the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) and is a professional association for professors, industry professionals and students who are interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises.

According to officials at the station, it has also continued to break their rating records, and once more, the WZIP station end the year with their biggest ratings to date. With this record, WZIP has become one of the most listened to radio stations in the country when it comes to college campus stations.

WZIP is run by students and reaches an audience of not only the UA campus but in the city and surrounding areas of Akron. According to the station, it started in the winter of 1962 and things have changed not only the music, but the name: being renamed to mimic the university’s mascot, Zippy, in 1989.

WZIP also has trained DJs that play on request or just what is on the pop 40 list that day. The DJs check this list twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday to keep track on what the students and locals want to hear from the station.

Students of all majors can join the station, and the application process is fairly easy. By just going to their office located in Kolbe Hall, students can apply and schedule an interview. The School of Communication also offers many classes designed to teach students about the radio and broadcast business.

“You get your money’s worth, as well as what the individual student puts into it,” Kalonna Davis, a senior working at WZIP, said. “We are a community with friendly and helpful people.”

In light of looming changes to compensation for part-time faculty, members of the Ohio Part-Time Faculty Association (OPTFA) were on campus Wednesday afternoon to hold a rally for what they consider to be a large problem at The University of Akron, as well as to bring attention to the financial compensation for part-time faculty.

“The university would like the public to believe, and adjuncts to believe, that the reason that they can’t do anything about their compensation is because they’re running in a deficit,” said Matt Williams, vice president of New Faculty Ohio. “They use the current state of the budget as a scapegoat for not providing a living wage to part-time faculty.”

As the Buchtelite reported on Monday, The University of Akron has adopted measures to avoid the potential cost of the Affordable Care Act. These measures limit part-time faculty to less than thirty hours a week in order to avoid the projected $4 million cost of complying with the act.

According to Matt Williams and the OPFTA, part-time faculty have already seen a 32 percent decrease in compensation over the past 18 years relative to inflation.

In 1997, the base part-time compensation rate for part-time faculty was $540 per credit hour. Today the base part-time compensation rate is $600 per credit hour, according to the OPFTA.

Officials at The University of Akron confirm the numbers reported by OPFTA, however caution their context.

“There is no comparing the rates from 1997 to today,” said university officials Eileen Korey and Laura Massie.

The rates in 1997 were fixed rates. Today the minimum is $600 per credit hour with a range up to $2,000 per credit hour, where there is no cap. The amount that contingent faculty is paid per credit hour is tied to experience and credentials, according to university officials.

Among their chief arguments, OPFTA believes that the university should make a compensation minimum of $5,000 a semester for part-time faculty and to make good faith efforts to include part-time faculty in decision making at
the university; according to Williams.

“The buzz word around campus is this idea of universal accountability…when is senior administration going to give up their compensation? [When] are they going to take on the same burden that faculty have been shouldering over the last thirty years?” said Williams.

The University of Akron declined to comment on decision-making efforts; however, Eileen Korey did respond to concerns over the terminology of Universal Accountability.

“Our Provost Mike Sherman has been using the phrase Universal Accountability to describe what is expected of all of us across the campus, as we are all responsible for student success.” Korey said.

In a presentation given by Provost Sherman to the Board of Trustees, Universal Accountability for Student Success was defined as a plan to make the entire campus accountable for student success and achievement; from Admissions to New Student Orientation, the individual colleges and Administration.

Williams and the OPFTA maintain that they believe the best way to raise graduation rates are by paying contingent faculty a living wage.

Financial woes at The University of Akron have many students and faculty members concerned, as the university looks to
face a projected $26.7 million deficit for the 2014 fiscal year.

“I want to know how the university is in such a hole,” junior education student Rachel Ake said. “I’m spending $5,000 a semester, along with the other thousands of students on campus. I just don’t understand how that’s possible.”

Based on data from university officials, tuition and student fees represented approximately 69 percent of the university’s revenue in 2012. State appropriations totaled approximately 24 percent of the university’s revenue, making 93 percent of revenue directly tied to student enrollment.

Despite seeing increasing enrollment over the years, state appropriations have remained relatively unchanged since 2003, where the state appropriations ranged from $87.9 to $90.6 million a year between 2003 to 2012. This results in a reduction of educational appropriations per student over that period. The state of Ohio has bi-annual budgeting, which requires the state to create a budget every two years.

According to The University of Akron’s Chief Financial Officer, David Cummins, higher education took a significant budget cut in the bi-annual that the university is currently in. Cummins said that the $26.7 million deficit is largely connected to the loss of revenue from stimulus funds and a sudden decrease in enrollment. The state had two years to spend money from stimulus funds, which the university saw in 2010 and 2011. President Obama’s administration proposed a second round of stimulus in 2011, but it was not passed by Congress.

In response to the sudden loss of funding from stimulus dollars, Cummins said that the university had put together a two-year plan that would get The University of Akron to its new state funding level over a couple of years.

“Instead of doing a lot of dramatic cuts right at the beginning, we thought we had several years of enrollment growth behind us,” Cummins said. “Enrollment collapsed in 2012, and now in 2013 it has gone down, which compounds our problem.”

The reduction in student enrollment is not limited to new students, but also includes returning students as well. One percent of student enrollment is equivalent to an approximately $2 to $2.5 million windfall or shortfall, depending upon the shift on enrollment, according to university officials.

To deal with the budget shortfall, the university has suggested refinancing on debts, making changes to investment policies, not filling vacancies, a $13-14 million in target reductions across all university units and a reduction of $1 million worth of investments in the Achieving Distinction program.

Several faculty and staff on campus have voiced concerns about the deficit, believing that there are other issues that the university needs to address that have contributed to the deficit.

“The problem is quite simple,” said Dr. William P. Williams. “There are too few full time, tenure track faculty, and there are far too many administrators.”

The University of Akron will also be met with possible costs associated with the Affordable Care Act. In a memo sent to employees addressing actions to increase effectiveness, efficiency and student academic success, The University of Akron said that “Universities…are facing the consequences of the Affordable Care Act, and taking action to address anticipated health care costs. Here at UA…we estimate the cost of providing health benefits to part-time staff and faculty would exceed $4 million…we decided to limit part-time staff to less than 30 hours a week, and part-time faculty to eight credit hours per semester.”

This measure adopted by the university has become an area of concern for many part-time staff, as it will cut their normal semester pay significantly. These part-time staff teach approximately half of the courses at The University of Akron.

In response to these changes, the Ohio Part-Time Faculty Association is holding a rally on May 1 at The University of Akron’s main campus, according to Matt Williams, vice president of New Faculty Majority.

“We want to educate the campus community about the inadequate working conditions and the pay and benefit inequities faced by part-time faculty at UA,” Williams said.

University of Akron officials caution, however, that the $26.7 million deficit is not to be connected to the changes made to part-time employment.

“Part-time faculty have been upset about the restricted pay and credit hours; that is outside this $26.7 million budget problem,” said Eileen Korey, The University of Akron’s chief communication officer. “The activity going on to restrict the hours for part time instructors in order to save what could be another $4 million dollars plus, in costs, that’s completely separate.”

The budget deficit faced by the university is not unique to The University of Akron. Colleges and universities throughout the state are also feeling the bind from decreased state appropriations and down enrollment.

According to ABC affiliate WTVG Toledo, The University of Toledo observed a $13 million deficit last year due to similar reductions in student enrollment.

A speech contest held last Tuesday awarded five students from various classes around campus.

Paige Dobbins, a freshman anthropology major at The University of Akron, won the first prize of $1,000 at the UA School of Communication Speech Competition for her speech titled “Removal of the Penny from Circulation.”

“This competition has reinforced my love of public speaking,” Dobbins said. “I’ve always be really interested in politics and economics, but it’s always seemed out of the question. Winning this competition has made me realize that nothing is out of the question, so long as I’m doing what I love and speaking about what I’m passionate about.”

Dobbins’ speech was about how the penny is virtually worthless in today’s society and how it cost millions of dollars to keep in circulation. Her speech was one she gave in her effective oral communication class last fall.

“I had an awesome teacher, Lori Brown, who really supported me when I was in her class,” she said. “She was an unrelenting confidence boost.”

She said that she has always been a fair public speaker, but doesn’t have a large amount of speech experience. Dobbins
did attend the Jackson High School for the Arts, which is where she said she gained a lot of performing experience.

“It’s really my background in the performing arts that has giving me the confidence I have with public speaking,”
Dobbins said.

While she doesn’t plan on pursuing speech, Dobbins said she would enter another competition of this kind if given the chance.

Freshman Kathryn Russo won second place and $750 in the competition; freshman Natalie Monastra won third place and $500; sophomore Christy Hlavaty won fourth place and $250; and post-secondary student Krista Mathis won fifth place and $250 dollars.

Bonnie Keiper, the coordinator of the General Education Speech Program at UA, said that the competition proved to be a memorable evening. Keiper is also the coordinator of the event.

“These are five very talented students who are all great speakers,” Keiper said.

Dr. Elizabeth Graham, the director of UA’s School of Communication, also was happy with the speech contest.

“Tuesday night proved to be everything we had hoped for,” she said in an email sent out to UA staff. “Five wonderful speeches, an audience of 300+ students, faculty, community and university members, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, and of course cupcakes.”

Imagine balancing being a full time student, an athlete, a coach, and having a part-time job.

This is a reality for Patsy Ford, a junior studying mechanical engineering. Ford is passionate about women’s rugby. She has been playing for six years and this year she became the assistant coach for The Lady Buzzards Rugby team.

“Balance is a huge goal in my life that I’m constantly working towards. It’s really hard but I couldn’t see myself giving up on any of these,” said Ford.

Ford explained that many people compare rugby to soccer and football, only in rugby there is very little protection.

“It’s a continuous contact sport where the only mandatory protection is a mouth guard.

To score, you have to actually touch the ball to the ground in the try-zone (comparable to an end zone) which is worth five points. Then, the conversion kick is worth two points and has to be kicked in line with where the try was touched down. This is where football gets the saying ‘touchdown’ from,” said Ford.

There are many things that are rewarding when coaching: especially when the team has little rugby experience.

“When they understand the game it’s because I have properly prepared them. It’s just so awesome seeing them play well because of what I taught them,” said Ford.

Ford became hooked on rugby in high school and believes rugby will be a large part of her life until, according to her, her body falls apart. Travelling as far as California to play in a game can attest to Ford’s dedication to the sport. She has also played and won the national title in 2011. She currently plays on Akron Women’s Rugby team. This team is not associated with the university; it is a club team.

Women are always welcome to join at any time. The current team members are patient and willing to show new girls the ropes.

For more information about the women’s Akron rugby team, check out akronrugby.com.

A special edition of Zipmail was sent out one week ago meant to clear up confusion about rumors of the Office of Multicultural Development.

“We have become aware of a lot of misinformation on campus about the Office of Multicultural Development (OMD),” the Zipmail said.

According to the Zipmail, OMD is expanding into two new offices, called The Multicultural Center and The Student Success Center.

However, many students, like senior Michael Davis, don’t see this as an expansion. They see this as the OMD closing its doors for good.

“The Office of Multicultural Development was designed to assist first generation, low income, underrepresented students,” Davis, a peer mentor for OMD, said. “We are simply stating that the university should leave OMD as it is now, because all of its academic services and programming are successful.”

It was because of this that Davis and over 100 other students held a peaceful protest outside of Buchtel Hall Tuesday afternoon.

The Zipmail described how these new divisions would be used.

“The Multicultural Center will focus on enriched programming for all minority groups; The Student Success Center will focus on academic support programs and services with a multicultural emphasis to strengthen student retention and success,” it said.

To Davis, this move would instead leave The Multicultural Center for programming and The Student Success Center failing to support underrepresented students in their academics.

He also said that another problem with this plan is funding. With $26.7 million in debt, the students say that there is no room to establish this new center.

Jim Tressel, the vice president of strategic engagement, said that because of the new plans the university has to zero in on this debt, the university can reach this new goal.

“We must work harder and smarter in these challenging budget times,” he said.

In addition to the budget problems, Davis said the reasoning behind this new change is flawed.

“For example, the Student Success Center will have a ‘multicultural emphasis,’” Davis said. “So then why change the name, the job descriptions of the staff, etc.? When administration states that they want to make the OMD more inclusive, well, it already is. Most of the peer mentors within the office are white. OMD has black, white, Hispanic and Muslim students working there.”

Davis was involved in the African Male Learning Community through the OMD before being accepted into the UA Honors College. He is now the president of the Student African American Brotherhood and the political action director of the Pan African Student Organization. He cited the OMD for his success.

Bianca Gomez, another protester in Tuesday’s events, before becoming a peer mentor herself, she used the OMD’s services. She is now the president-elect of the Pan African Student Organization. She agreed that if the goal of the new centers are the same as the OMD, then it should stay as the OMD.

“What is the purpose of the name change?” Gomez said.

A release written by Lee Gill, associate vice president for inclusion and equity/chief diversity officer at UA, said that the name change to The Student Success Center will more accurately represent the mission of the department.

“The Student Success Center will provide the same services currently provided by OMD such as Peer Mentoring, African American Male Learning Communities, 4 PAS (a four phase advising system), PASSAGE, and Interact,” Gill said in the release.

He also said that leadership of the OMD will not change as it switches to The Student Success Center and the same person who has been director will remain. As for The Multicultural Center, it will provide more programming opportunities to the minority population on campus.

“An associate director will be responsible to solely engage our African American students and organizations in co-curricular events that lead to leadership development, positive cultural experiences and academic achievement,” he said. “The newly proposed Multicultural Center (MC) will focus on providing broader intentional programming for our entire student population.”

According to Gill’s release, the Multicultural Center will report to him, as the OMD has been reporting to that office for the last five years.

Tressel said that the reason many students think that the OMD is closing is due to lack of communication.

“The difficult time the students may be having is in part due to an inadequate job of communication and collaboration on our part,” he said. “We will improve that communication and collaboration in the future.”

Tressel said that the university recognizes that there is a diverse student population and that they have different needs that need to be met.

“Our goal is to most effectively meet them where they are, and serve all of them accordingly to the best of our ability,” he said. “With the combined efforts of everyone on our campus, we can and will do that.”

Fedearia Nicholson, Assistant Vice President of Student Success, said that it is important that the university continues
to promote student success to all students, respect all of the differences of students at UA and to meet the needs of the diverse student population. She also said that she thought the students handled themselves professionally at the protest.

Davis said that the protest against this change went well.

“We had a ton of support from several organizations and students of diverse backgrounds,” he said.

Davis hopes that instead of dividing the OMD, the university can expand the department so it can continue to reach a variety of students.

“Ultimately, we want students’ voices to be heard, and considered,” he said.

For more information about the OMD, visit uakron.edu/omd.

Students outside of South Hall Thursday evening might have been surprised when students started gathering and performing choreographed dance moves.

These students were from residence halls across campus and held a flash mob to songs including “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, “Lights” by Ellie Goulding, “Starships” by Nicki Minaj and “Yeah” by Usher.

According to Tiffany Montgomery, the residence life coordinator of South hall and the coordinator for this flash mob, 55-60 students from residence halls including Honors Complex, Orr, Bulger, Spanton, Quaker, Exchange, Gallucci, Grant, South and Spicer were involved in the flash mob.

Montgomery said that she began planning the flash mob in March and she, along with her staff and hall government, practiced for two weeks before splitting off to teach the rest of the participants.

The flash mob was originally scheduled for last Tuesday, but was moved to Thursday due to the rain.

“I was very happy with the results,” Montgomery said.

Erica Maher was a part of the flash mob and was happy to work with Montgomery and South Hall.

“I thought it was fun, engaging and a great opportunity to allow the halls to work together,” Maher said. “It wasn’t like your ‘typical’ flash mob, but it was fun working with people we know and learning the dance.”

She said that what wasn’t so typical about it was the fact that it incorporated many residence halls and it was more of an event than a surprise.

“Although some people were surprised, a majority came to watch and support friends,” Maher said.

The event was sponsored by the Department of Residence Life and Housing and choreographed by Blayna Montgomery, the owner of Cloud Nine Dance Studio in Randolph, Ohio.

Akron gave a warm welcome to award-winning actor John Lithgow on April 18.

Raised in Akron, this was Lithgow’s first time visiting in 52 years. He addressed his audience at E.J. Thomas Hall as part of the UA Forum Series. His speech was entitled “The Power of Storytelling.”

Hundreds of people – young and old – gathered to witness this compelling speech from a man who has a broad range of talents that include acting, singing and writing.

Lithgow began his speech by rhetorically asking the audience why people want to tell and hear stories. He explained that people love to feel emotions, and that is exactly what stories can give.

After his brief introduction, Lithgow began the story of his life.

“Now, not another word about storytelling – here are my stories,” he said.

Lithgow revealed his past, describing each moment that shaped who he is today. A very prominent and influential person in his life was his father, Arthur Lithgow. His stories as a child almost always centered around his father and his love for Shakespeare.

Arthur Lithgow was theperson who introduced his son to theater. Managing the Shakespeare Festivals in Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Arthur Lithgow sparked the acting flame within his then 14-year-old son.

John Lithgow started out with very minor roles in the Shakespeare plays. Lithgow jokingly stated that his first real role in a play was a French Messenger in “Henry IV” who only had a single line. He went on to reminisce how he would practice and practice the smallest line in the entire play for hours because it was the very first line he would speak on stage.

Lithgow said the setting of the plays in Stan Hywet made the plays “glorious.” He explained that the more of his father’s plays he acted in, the more he became confident as time went on.

After some troubles at Stan Hywet, Arthur Lithgow moved the Shakespeare Festival to the Ohio Theater in Cuyahoga Falls. Lithgow and his father spent 15 hours a day repairing the theater. They painted, swept, concreted and did everything they could to renovate the area.

Lithgow told the audience of a fleeting memory he had of his father when he was seven years old. While in the middle of a rehearsal, he gave his father a sandwich for lunch. His father took the sandwich from him without taking his eyes off the stage, for he was so engaged in his work.
Lithgow said his father was “strangely absent” when doing his work, and that he admired how dedicated he was to it.

Lithgow told another story of his father, this time making it comical for the audience. One of Arthur Lithgow’s actors in “The Taming of the Shrew” had to leave her role for personal reasons. He decided to take over her role, even though he had his own role in the same play. To make things even more difficult, the two roles had to be on the stage simultaneously. Lithgow recalled how his father managed to play two roles at the same time, and said the audience got a kick out of it.

Lithgow said an important message came out of that.

“Make a pact with an audience, and they’ll follow you anywhere,” he said.

Attendee Zack Thoren said the speech was an eye-opener.

“Mr. Lithgow’s speech was a very interesting and insightful one,” Thoren said. “Firstly, it was very funny and entertaining. It impacted me in a number of ways. I really, really appreciated that John admitted very early on that he was not a strong improviser or performer on the stage. He admitted that he had that weakness, and instead of accepting that limitation, he wrote a wonderful speech and performed it in a way that only he could.”

Not only was Lithgow’s father an inspiration to him as a child, but so was his favorite high school teacher, Ms. Robinson. Ms. Robinson was his art teacher, and he would always anticipate going to her class. According to Lithgow, she “inspired and encouraged [him] into the visual arts.” Soon it became his biggest priority, and he began winning many local art competitions.

University of Akron student Kelly Dwyer said that since Lithgow’s speech, she has changed the way she looks at her future career.

“You should never let anyone judge your life, and he understands that,” she said.

Lithgow has been nominated for 11 Emmy Awards, and won five of them. One of them was for an episode of “Amazing Stories,” and the other three were for his popular character of Dick Solomon in the series “3rd Rock from the Sun.”

Lithgow has appeared in over 30 films. Some of these include “Buckaroo Banzai,” “Raising Cain,” “Ricochet,” “Cliffhanger,” “Shrek” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”

In television, Lithgow found success in “Dexter,” a television drama in which he played Arthur Mitchell. Lithgow won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series.

Aside from being an actor, Lithgow is also an author and children’s entertainer. He has written eight New York Times best-selling children’s picture books. In addition, Lithgow released three children’s albums and performs concerts for kids.

As a request from an audience member during a question and answer session, Lithgow sang an entire song from one of his children’s albums. The song was called “Marsupial Sue,” based off of one of his most famous children’s book he had written.

To end the night, a long line formed as Lithgow signed books, including his memoir called “Drama.”

John Lithgow is an inspiration to not only those who are pursuing a career in the arts, but in all other areas as well. His story is a great example of what dedication and determination can do for a person.

“I will attack my goals and live passionately, like John did. He worked hard and got where he is because of that. I will also not let my limitations and weaknesses hinder me from reaching my goals,” Thoren said.