.The Louisville
VOL. 69, N0.22, 12 PAGES AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 20, 1997
Staff Photos by Dan Spaulding
Left, those gathered at the Feb. 19
University Congress get an overview of
where U of L is involved in educating
Kentuckians. Above, John Shumaker
outlines the Challenge for Excellence t 'o
the crowd in the Life Sciences Building.
University Con~ss gives U of La
look at the Challenge for Excellence
By Joshua Hammann
Staff Writer
Current U of L students who return for
Homecoming 10 years from now, might not
recognize the place. If University of Louisville
president John Shumaker has his way, the
challenge the school is now undertaking will
transform U of L from a second-tier urban
research university into a top-flight university
with a national reputation for excellence.
Shumaker hosted an open meeting of the
University Congress on Feb, 19 in the Life
Sciences lecture hall to address the definition
of a research university and outline U of L's
plan for attaining that prestigious position. ·
According to Shumaker, a research
university is one that is distinctive for
advancing the intellectual, social and
economic development of the surrou,nding
commmunity.
The plan is under way now because of the
various windows of opportunites presently
open that would facilitate such a large-scale
project.
"Gov. Patton has started an initiative to
en~ance the quality and effectiveness of
higher education in Kentucky_and the Greater
Louisville E.conomic Development
Partnership has called for those same goals in
higher education," Shumaker said.
Shumaker's presentation included the
requirements to become a top research
university, where U of L stood academically
and finacially, and U of L's strategy and
timetable of reaching the goal.
Shumaker said that high quality
undergraduate prgrams, graduate programs of
national stature, and a focus on community
development were among those requirements.
"Our graduate and undergraduate programs
must receive specialized accredidation and
produce a high percentage of employed
grad~ates," Shumaker said. "We also have a
responsibility to have research programs
focused on the specific problems of our city."
The issues of research universities is only
one facet of the project though. The
University's present status served as a list of
what the school already had and what it must
do to aclhieve the desired status.
Shumaker said that U of L could no longer
be considered an urban school.
"The Metropolitan Statistical Area includes
Bullit and Oldham counties in the Louisville
Metropolitan Area," Shumaker said, "and the
Central Higher Education Service adds
Hardin, Meade, and Shelby county to U of L's
educational arena."
The present financial standing of U of L
financially was also brought up. -
The university receives 42 percent of its
revenue from state appropriation and only 17
percent from tuition and fees . On the other
hand, 59 percent of expendi.tures are
See SHUMAKER, page 3.
Inside Etcetera:
Affordibility is the key
factor when shopping
for shoes according to
many students. Chrystal
Galloway examines the
trend on page 6.
Inside Sports:
U of L women's
basketball team
defe~ted UK, but lost
their quest to break
their single-game
attendance record
A&S dean candidate said she
wants .student participation
By Caleb 0. Brown
Staff Writer
Finalists for the position of Dean of Arts and
Sciences have been selected. The first finalist,
Da_gmar Cronn, visited campus on Feb. 17 and
18.
Croon is the
founding Dean
in external research support over her
career. She also said her work makes her a
good candidate for working within a
research institution.
"I have been fortunate to be in an
institution that has come--to be pretty
comfortable being a research institution,"
Croon
said.
"I've vowed that if I come here as
dean of Arts and Sciences that I
would form a student advisory group .
at the collegiate level, and make sure
that I have a diverse grouping of
students."
of the College
of Sciences at
the University
of Maine,
Orono. During
her eight years
in that role, the
budget she
oversaw
increased 280
percent, despite
seven mid-year
-A&S dean candidate
Croon
said that
her work
at Maine
involved
finding
information
that had
previously
b e e n
unavailable.
budget cuts
- imposed on the
university.
Croon said that as A & S dean, she would
work to gather the input of students to make them
part of the decision-making process.
"I've vowed that if I come here as dean of
Arts and Sciences that I would form a student
advisory group at the collegiate level, and make
sure that I have a diverse grouping of students,"
Croon said. "I would use that group as a soun9ing
board, as a source of good ideas for fixing issues
that they think need attention, and iden-tifying
those issues."
Croon, who attained her Ph.D. in Chemistry
from the University of Washington, said she
possesses qualites important to any research
institution.
"Up until three years ago, I walked
around in this kind of shell-shocked kind
of mode, wondering how an atmospheric
chemist who was so totally unqualified
could find herself working with an
extraordinary group of people statewide on
math and science education reform," she
said. "But, I did help write the 10 million
dollar grant that comes from the National
Science Foundation. We're in our fifth year
in a five year award."
Cronn has raised more than $13. million
Dagmar Cronn "0 n e
of the
things
that I did
not have when I came to the university was
a great deal of relevant data," Croon said.
"I sort of got a reputation for being a
micromanager, as if all I were interested
in were data."
Croon said that the information she
desired was basic, and should have been
readfly available.
"No one could tell me how many people
they had in their department, how many
majo.rs they had," Croon said. "They
couldn't tell me how much external grant
support they'd had. They couldn't tell me
how many publications had come from that
unit. They could tell me, but not accurately,
the average student credit hour load."
Croon said U of L has done well in
d~fining its programs.
"You have done the right thing in
selecting. your Ph. D. programs,'; Cronn
said, "specializing in ones that are sort of
the new areas of interest in this country.
You are carving out specialized niches that
can really make a name for this institution,
especially in these areas that are sometimes
brand ne~ or simply more focused than
those offered elsewhere."
Shumaker says Challenge for
Excellence goals are attainable
Gas spill stops traffic near U of L
By Dug Begley
Staff Writer
Though there are many obstacles yet to face,
President John Shumaker said the initiatives
associated with the recently proposed Challenge
for Excellence are well within U of L's grasp.
But, he said, doing so will require support from
all facets of the University community.
While the proposal is not yet complete, the
newest draft puts a more prominent focus on the
undergraduate population at the University.
Shumaker said. the newest form of the
Challenge was designed to explain the
importance of the undergraduates to the U of L
community.
The previous versions were "beginning to take
away from the fact that 71 percent are
undergraduates," he said.
The most recent draft, dated Feb. 5, states that
the u-ndergraduate programs at U of L need
improvement to reach a higher standard of
prestige.
"Along the way," the challenge explains, "we
shall improve the quality of our undergraduate
programs because they are the cornerstone of our
future success .... The Challenge for Excellence
will enrich undergraduate education by
expanding our honors programming, providing
undergraduate research experiences, funding
more opportunities to study at international
universities, learning from and working with
endowed chair faculty and using enhanced
scholarships to attract outstanding high school
graduates."
Shumaker said that the challenge relies on
attracting top-notch scholars and researchers to
U of L, and providing more to the pool of talent
already at U of LIn addition, he said researchers
need to be in direct contact with the students.
"We don't want you to just get by up in a
laboratory," Shumaker said, "but to be doing your
best to make U of L a place where academics
can thrive."
Finding talented scholars who are also
eager to work with students is a big challenge,
Shumaker said, but that is why he said the
school must choose its faculty carefully.
He said in many cases you have two
choices, either you choose the established
.~ . ---- -
researcher or the up and comer. With the
established person, the university runs the risk
of that person levelling off and not pushing
further in their research and instructional
pursuits. On the other hand, the younger
faculty member may not reach the desired
potential at all.
"That's the challenge really," Shumaker said.
At the same time the University is looking
to attract top new talent, it must increase the
opportunities current faculty have, he said.
"We need to give better support to the good
people who are here already," Shumaker said.
"They're the ones who brought us to this point."
Another major component of the challenge
U of L must overcome is an increase in the
technological capabilities of the University,
Shumaker said.
He said improving the information services
offered at U of Lis "the most critical issue we
face" to meet the goal ofbecoming a preeminent
research school.
"What we've got is good," Shumaker said,
"but we don't have enough of it."
For U of L to improve its technologies,
Shumaker said it must first make a more secure
financial commitment.
"We have to build it into our budget as a
continuing item," he explained.
Yet to acquire noted faculty members and
increase the money spent on technology will take
increased funding. That is why the Challenge
for Excellence is also focusing on restructuring
the University to streamline operations.
"The cost of achieving excellence is one we
will gladly pay through greater efficiency and
internal reallocation, community partnerships,
venture capital opportunities, collaboration with
state agencies and increased support from state,
federal, corporate and philanthropic sources," the
challenge said.
By meeting the goals set by the challenge,
Shumaker said U of L will become a more
respected research institution and possibly earn
the classification of a Research I institution, as
determined by the Carnegie Foundation. But,
Shumaker emphasized, the Research I status is
not the reason U of L set the iniative.
"That's not the goal,:' Shumaker said, "that's
the measure."
Staff Photo by Dan Spaulding
A gasoline leak caused the Louisville Fire Department to respond Feb. 18 at the corner of Floyd
and Warnock Streets. No one was injured in the spill from the BP gas station.
No1ted author Tobias Wolff to highlight literary conference
By Lon!n Reni Beard
Staff Writer
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the
Twentieth-Century Literature Conference, which
will be held Feb. 20-22 on Belknap campus. One
of the keynote speakers this year is award­winning
author Tobias Wolff.
"It's very exciting to be able to have a writer
of (his) stature for our 25th anniversary," said
Harriette Seiler, conference director. Wolff is
writerin-residence and J~sse Truesdell Peck
Professor of English at Syracuse University. He
has won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the 0. Henry
Award, 'The Los Angeles 'Times Book Award and
in 1995 was the recipient of the Chancellor's
Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement
at Syracuse.
Wolff is the author of two highly-acclaimed
memoirs, 'This Boy's Life and In Pharaoh 'sArmy.
He has also published a short novel, The
Barracks Thief, and three collections of short
stories. His most recent book is a collection of
stories titled The Night in Question. "The kind
of writing he does, students love," Seiler said.
Wolff will read from his works Feb. 21 from
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Middleton Auditorium,
Strickler Hall.
The conference has become a multicultural
event, according to Seiler, with people coming
from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Finland,
Australia, Italy, Taiwan, and Tunisia. "We're
getting to be known as a place where Hispanic
creative writers can come and read," Seiler said.
"They say outside of Florida and California, there's
just nowhere for them to go, so that's exciting."
Over 800 people sent in submissions for this
year's conference. Once received, the submission
are judged "blind" - all names are removed,
and the papers are then identified by a number.
"That's why it's so exciting when some new poet
gets accepted," Seiler said. "Another exciting
thing is we have grad students mixing with very
experienced scholars. They are there with big
names- people they have quoted in their papers."
Seiler said that the conference is known
nationally as "being a very friendly conference,
a pleasant conference, because of the warmth of
our welcome. People also like the fact that it's a
conference totally devoted to the 20th century.
The big MLA Conference covers all the centuries
and often people there are job hunting. Here,
they're only here for the delight and discussion
of the literature."
There are 144 panel presentations,discussions
and readings on a variety of subjects. Most focus
on a particular author or genre. "There is one
this year called "Hypertext and Computer
Fiction. That's very new. There are also several
about films," Seiler said. Because of the variety
of topics, Seiler said all students should find
something of interest during the three day ~
conference.
Other than Wolff, the other keynote speaker
is Bonnie Kime Scott, professor of English and
women's studies at Arizona State University. She
will be speaking on "Modernism Voyages Out"
Feb. 20 at 4:45p.m. in Middleton Auditorium at
Strickler Hall.
Special guests include Meena Alexander,
David W. Foster, and Judith Roof. Alexander is
professor of English and women's studies at the
Graduate Centre and at Hunter College, City
See CONFERENCE, page 2.