The University of Idaho Argonaut

Grounded for life
I attended my first Vandal Men’s Basketball game of the season versus Hawaii. I was a few minutes late and was glad to see the Vandals holding their own versus Hawai’i and an excited crowd. I let my son choose our seats and he chose a spot in the student section behind the Hawaii bench. This is the last time he gets to choose. I was disappointed in the obnoxious and inappropriate behavior of about 10 students we sat near. It started with some gentle taunting of the other team and progressed into yelling, “Faggot, test tube baby, and your mother is a cheap whore.” When one Vandal fan turned around and gave them a well-deserved disapproving glance, they started yelling that she was just an “old bitch.” Earlier a young woman with a Hawai’i shirt walked by and they yelled at her that she “isn’t even hot.” I am proud to be a member of the university community but embarrassed by these students behaviors. It makes me think twice about attending games and three times about bringing my three year old with me. I warned my son that if he ever behaved that way, he would be grounded for the rest of his life. Perhaps these students could use a similar outcome.
Angela Crabtree
UI Visitor Center Representative

Defining director of diversity
I am a very concerned student. I am tired of all these smoke screens and misleading titles that the University of Idaho is throwing around
On Tuesday, Provost Doug Baker had a meeting with young, uninformed members of UNITY that do not understand the magnitude of the decisions that are being presented.
While this misinformation is not the fault of the innocent students, it is due to their lack of knowledge in reference to titles, chain of command, and university politics that is misleading them.

Over the past few years it has been the mission of many staff, students, and faculty members to bring to life the UI Diversity Plan.
Last year their efforts finally took a large step in the right direction by implementing and hiring a Director of Diversity and Communities and placing him on the president’s cabinet. Unfortunately this position has been set up to fail. Now they are trying to organize all of the diversity offices under this position, which is good. But there are people trying to sabotage this position with a name change.

When UNITY was asked to attend this meeting they were told last night that this position would be called vice president of diversity, equity, community and assistant dean of students. How one can be a vice president and an assistant to the dean of students?
Being the concerned activist that I am, I immediately e-mailed Provost Baker. His response was :
Thanks for the note. We had a good meeting last night with UNITY and went over many of these issues. We discussed the need to bring together the work of offices to address student/faculty/staff recruitment and retention, improving curriculum/co-curriculum/pedagogy, outreach and engagement, scholarly and creative activity, culture climate, and community relations.

Some of those issues have traditionally worked with Student Affairs and have a strong link to programming in the area. Others are broader university or statewide issues.
The draft title, as we are discussed it, was Director of Diversity, Equity, and Community and Assistant Dean of Students. On the organizational chart there would be a box linking the position to the president for the broader issues and a box linked to the Dean of Students to show the link to student affair issues.
There are trade-offs with this and other structural options. At the end of our meeting last night I invited students to e-mail me their insights, concerns, and suggestions. If you have more, please pass them on. Thanks.
Doug
What does this mean?
This means that the university will be taking a big step backward. In reality, this position will now be seen as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Community and Assistant Dean of Students. Reducing this position to a Dean Position and putting all the diversity issues back where some feel they should be. Where they cannot be addressed or heard!
Jessica L. Samuels
Junior, sociology,
anthropology, justice studies

C’mon UI
I am writing to complain, not about the fact that classes were canceled, as they rightly should (have been), but because the announcement was made after 8 a.m. Some classes begin at 7:30 a.m.
Even those people for whom classes began at 8:30 a.m. received the message too late. Many had in fact already arrived at campus before hearing via rumor mill that campus was closed.
Many students do not live on campus. Instructors do not live on campus. When the announcement that campus is closed includes the phrase, “Essential personnel only will make every effort to report to work for critical operations and life-safety activities.
If travel conditions are so severe that an essential employee cannot safely get to campus, employees should notify their supervisor immediately (University of Idaho communications, Jan. 31.)”

Perhaps it would have been prudent to issue said announcement at a time when many, if not most, off-campus people affected by this had already left home early enough to reach campus in time for morning classes. What good does it do to cancel classes in the name of safety when people have already driven to, and arrived, at campus so that they do not lose credit in essential courses. Or, in the case of instructors, so that they can teach said students who are worried about losing credit. This message was issued:
“Emergency personnel are asking people to do the following:
Stay at home, if at all possible … Do not approach downed power lines, and don’t knock snow off of the lines … Clear snow away from fire hydrants … Check on your neighbors who may need help … Be aware of heavy snow loads on roofs (KHQ.com, Jan. 31.)”

And yet UI waited until 8 am to announce the closure of their facility. When the warning issued by the national weather service is not only a winter storm warning, or a severe weather alert, but a hazardous weather outlook, maybe it is a worth one day of cancelled classes.
Businesses are closed today because of weather. At 9:02 a.m., I finally received an e-mail from facilities management stating that all buildings will be locked at noon. An absurd risk of life occurred today. Why would whomever is responsible for making the decision to close campus wait so long to do so?

If there is a next time, said person should perhaps get out of bed a bit earlier and issue said message about a school closure at least as early as the elementary schools in the area did so. One individual was actually seen walking to school on snowshoes. “Officials made another plea for people that don’t have to be on the roads in North Idaho to please stay home (KXLY.com, Jan. 31.)” And yet the prestigious UI did not see fit to allow those individuals under their wing to remain at home where they were safe.
When all of this is occurring, perhaps one day of cancelled classes prior to 8 a.m. would not be unfit.
Hannah Brown
Junior, psychology,
communication studies