Point News, 1995 February 28

              Page 2 The Point News February 28,1995
Caroline assualt
investigation continues
KEISHA REYNOLDS
staff writer
Investigation is still underway
after a student was assaulted last
Sunday in Caroline. According to
Joanne Robinson, Assistant Direc­tor
of Public Safety, a male resi­dent
of Caroline tried to pass
through a group of approximately
15-20 non-students. The student
excused himself but as he attempt­ed
to pass he was struck three times
in the head, uncertain of who deliv­ered
the blows. The student re­ceived
fist blows to his ear, near his
temple, and his jaw. Once he got to
his room he immediately phoned
Public Safety. However, when
Public Safety arrived on the scene,
the suspects were gone.
Robinson says there were two
witnesses to the incident. One wit­ness
said the group of suspects
included two white males and that
the other members were African
American males. The victim was
only able to offer description of one
ofthe white males as being approx­imately
6 feet tall, skinny but well
built and having short brown hair
and a neatly trimmed beard.
Robinson adds that, “it's unclear
how people got in the building; we
share that concern,” she pauses then
adds, “I mean we’ve all done it,
someone’s coming in behind you.
You don’t want to be the bad guy
and say I’m sorry...”
Harry Tafe, director of Public
Safety, adds “it's especially dis­turbing
that 15-20 people entered
the building with no signs of forced
entry.” Taft advises that students,
“certainly can’t just rely on Public
Safety.” He pauses to point out
how people wouldn’t let a group of
strangers into their house, but then
adds, “...students should treat the
hall as if it's their home.”
Only one dorm, Queen Anne is
kept locked 24 hours a day, after an
intruder incident in the fall of 1992.
No other dorm is kept locked around
the clock.
New report outlines next
Honors College step Vvi'&
JESSICA SALT
staff writer
Mike Hughes scrambles to get to first place, but did not make it.
The Seahs played their season opener. See Sports page 8.
While Honors College Day seems
to have been long past, it has not been
forgotten, and its effect is still taking
shape. Most recently, a concise eight
page document has been prepared by
the Planning Committee for the Fac­ulty
Senate. This document attempts
to incorporate the input of the stu­dents
as it was seen on Honors Col­lege
Day, and contains recommenda­tions
for the implementation of some
of the topics dis­cussed
on Honors
College Day con- .........
ceming the mean­ing
of an “Honors
College,” and its
impact on the St.
Mary’s College.
This document
comes as the Col­lege
gears up to
implement the
plan. A committee
of faculty and ad­ministrators
has
been formed to as­sess
the feasibility
of new proposals.
The stated pro­posal
of the docu­ment
is that “the
characteristics of -----------
the honors college
should be those of honors programs
found at many public colleges and
universities: a special sense of intel­lectual
community; high academic
standards; an emphasis on student
choice of educational goals and cours­es;
interactive learning situations in
small classes; independent study cul­minating
in a major senior project;
and curricular and extracurricular en­richment
activities.” It goes on to list
three distinctive marks that the hon­ors
college should have. The need for
a wide breadth ofeducation is stressed,
along with the need for distinctive
skills beyond those strictly academic,
and a further recognition of the stu­dents
’ role in a world wide communi-ty.
There are proposed specific alter­ations
concerning the general educa­tion
curriculum, the major, and the
recruitment and retention of a student
body appropriate for an Honors Col­lege,
the student community and the
faculty. Specific examples include
the proposal for a senior project or
exercise that
wouldbe required
— for all students.
This project is de­scribed
as the
“linchpin of the
curriculum,” and
will serve in guid­ing
the undergrad­uate’s
entire ca­reer.
The specif­ics
of such a
projectorexercise
would be left to
the individual ma­jors
to define.
Another pro­posal
ofthe docu­ment
is an annual
theme that would
serve in “improv-
----- ing the focus and
dialogue of the
College community and linking cur­ricular
and extra-curricular life.”
Because of the gravity of this doc­ument,
it is being made available to
the students for comments and sug­gestions.
Copies can be picked up in
the Student Government Office.
Please feel free to write comments on
the copy, and return them to the SGA
office by Friday, March 3. These
comments are going to be compiled
and will be considered heavily while
changes to St. Mary’s are beingmade.
Because of the
gravity of this
document, it is
being made
available to
the students
for comments
and sugges­tions.
O n l i n e b a b y b a b b l e
Carbondale, 111.-
Waaaaaaaaah! To most par­ents,
that utterance from their
infant can mean anything from
“I’m hungry” to “Change my di­aper”
to “Please stop your horri­ble
singing!”
But a professor at Southern
Illinois University at Carbondale
says that if you listen carefully,
you can almost tell exactly what
a newborn wants.
“There’s a certain something
in parents that triggers reaction
when they hear children cry, but
as a rule, parents aren’t trained to
deal with crying behavior,” said
Stephen Blache, a voice devel­opment
expert at SIU. “But once
they’re taught to sort out the
sounds, they’ll know how to bet­ter
comfort their children. They
can learn when to respond and
when to ignore the cries.”
And to help them differentiate
the various shades of infantile
wailing, Blache has collected
more than 300 baby cries and put
them on the Internet.
Ranked by type, the sobbing
sounds run the gamut from those
made as a result of hunger to
those that indicate the child is
sick.
He said that while a great deal
of research has been done on
crying, it hasn’t made its way
into the mainstream. “There is a
lot of useful information in
academia, but it hasn’t made its
way into the hands of health care
professionals and others who can
treat the babies most at risk. We
designed this to be useful to the
cry community.”
To reach the Cry Archive on
the Internet, type http://
gopher.siu.edu:70/l/depart-ments/
comdis/cries.
Campus-wide pool tournament
Ra, a competitor in last Saturday’s pool tournament, comes from
behind to win in a close game with Fern Flannary.
Townhouse surveillance nets prowlers
KEISHA REYNOLDS
staff writer
A spree of break-ins and theft of
expensive car stereos has recently
plagued the townhouse parking lot
Public Safety recently caught several
individuals, who were not students at
the College, prowling in the lots and
barred them from returning to cam­pus.
Harry Tafe, Director of Public
Safety, explains that there were ap­proximately
six reports of car thefts
this semester, primarily in the
townhouse and Mattapany parking
lots. Tafe says that, “most of the
thefts involve stolen stereo equip­ment
in most cases.” He added, “a
good number of the reports occurred
when cameras, stereos, and other valu­ables
were in view, and cars were
unlocked.” As a result of this rash of
thefts, officers were placed on a spe­cial
shift for surveillance of both lots.
Joanne Robinson, Assistant Di­rector
of Public Safety, explained that
the incident occurred Saturday Feb­ruary
18th, shortly before lam.
Robinson describes the three suspects
as white males. All had on camou­flage
jackets and pants, and one of the
suspects also had on a green army
jacket She tells how Officer Brooks
observed a person who appeared to
be a non-student walking through the
townhouse lot. However, he lost sight
of the individual as he disappeared
into the surrounding wooded area.
Sometime later, Officer Brooks spot­ted
tw'O other males inside a vehicle
parked on the north field. At approx­imately
2:30 am, Brooks began inter­viewing
both parties. Both claimed
that they were scooping out trails to
ride their motorcycles on. Public
Safety followed the vehicle to the
Public Safety office.
Around 3:00 am, the first individu­al
that was spotted on the townhouse
lot returned to the north field to
discover the absence of his friends.
Upon spotting their vehicle at Public
Safety office, the individual wandered
in with a false story. According to
Robinson, this individual eventually
confessed to Officer Brooks that their
purpose was to check out the car
stereos on the lots.
Once the Deputy’s office was con­tacted,
vehicles in the parking lots
were checked for theft. However,
none appeared to have been disturbed.
Tafe explains, the parties were sus­pects
because they were caught
“prowling around the parking lot at
night and could give no good account
of why they were there.” However,
because there were no signs of theft,
they were issued barring notices.
These notices prevent individuals
from returning to the campus. In the
event they do, they will be immedi­ately
charged with trespassing.
Tafe says, “we need to protect
ourselves from crimes of opportuni­ty.”
According to Tafe, many ofthe
crimes reported to Public Safety could
have been prevented by simple mea­sures
suchas remembering to lock
bikes.
He sums up by saying, “I don’t
think we’re under a crime wave, [stu­dents]
really need to be more aware of
our surroundings and more aware that
anytime you feel uncomfortable, call
us.”