The Griffin: volume 62, issue 13 - Jan. 24, 1992

              by Scott Sroka Griffin News Editor Winter fun 101 ... See Letters page 2 See Cuts page 11 Several of the students who were found responsible for the incidents appealed Rissmeyer's decisions to Dr. ThomasE. Miller, vice president for Student Affairs. "They viewed it [Rissmeyer's decision] as too harsh," Rissmeyer said. "I found 10 people responsible for some degree of participation in the harassment," Rissmeyer said. No outside charges have been filed. Patricia A. Rissmeyer, dean of students, said she has concluded her investigation of the racial incidents that shook the campus last semester. As a result, three students have been "separated from the College." Sababu Norris, coordinator of multicultural programs, is pleased with the way in which the College handled the racial incidents. "It [the institution] responded immediately and therefore, immediately put the campus back into the right perspective of moving forward regarding positive development of race relations," said Norris. "I applaud the College and its efforts." "There was no formal complaint lodged [with the Team]," said Philliben. Therefore, it was not involved and couldn't be involved with the disciplinary process.Kathryn E. Philliben, head of the Racial Incidents Team, which was formed Oct. 16, said that the Team was not involved in the investigation.Junior Rob Douglas appears enlightened after a rigorous game of Rugby . plu* *7 TIMOTHY FLINT After threatening hate letters were found under the residence hall doors of African-American students, members of the College comm unity joined in an Anti-Racism Day. Racial tension dominated discussion at Canisius in October when racial hate messages were left on the phone mail of Aron Myers, a Residence Assistant at the time. Miller said that he has completed the appeals process. According to Miller, three students have been "separated from the College." Six must perform community service, one is on probation, and one student has been found not responsible. The students who were "separated from the College" were College residents. by Scott Sroka Griffin News Editor Computer Science cuts anger chair, rekindle Fr. Ryan issue Issues of governance and "due process" under Rev. Edmund G. Ryan, SJ., executive vice president for Academic Affairs, are far from over, according to Dr. Jeffery J. McConnell, computer science department chair. According to Fr. Ryan, "You have some majors that expand, others contract." He listed Computer Science, in terms of enrolled The loss of these two faculty will also cause a large gap in the age of professors in the Computer Science Department, according to McConnell. with less than five full-time equivalent [FTE] faculty," the report states. "The cuts will drop the department to three FTE faculty, and will thus immediately lose accreditation." "I didn't contact him directly," said Fr. Ryan, who stated that McConnell was contacted by Dr. Ellen O. Conley, acting dean of Arts and Sciences and Dr. Walter G. Sharrow, former dean of Arts According to McConnell he has yet to receive official notification of the cuts. L. Crawford. Despite assurances from Fr. Ryan that he would be a part of the decision making process, McConnell said that he was first made aware of the cuts via a personal phone call from one of the two dismissed faculty members.and Sciences. "From my viewpoint," said McConnell, "this was a unilateral decision by Fr. Ryan. Any decisions relating to renewal and nonrenewal must be referred to the Committee on Faculty Status." Fr. Ryan contends that he, along with Conley and Sharrow, made the decision not to renew the contracts of the two faculty. According to McConnell, the "It's not a firing," said Fr. Ryan. Contracts for non-tenured faculty must be renewed, and there are specific deadlines for notification of renewal or non-renewal. McConnell is disturbed over the lack of procedure in the dismissal of two members of the Computer Science Department, Dr. R. Mark Meyer and Dr. Tami "[Accreditation] is not possible Computer Science Department received accreditation from the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board, Inc. (CSAB) in 1987 and was reaccredited in 1990. The department will be up for review in the 1992-93 academic year. "One of the requirements for accreditation is that the faculty in Computer Science must have wide ranging backgrounds so as to offer courses in all necessary areas of the field," according to McConnell's Statement on Computer Science Department Faculty Cuts. Go Bills... Bills and Canisius score in education by Katie Smith Griffin News Reporter See Bills page 11 Canlsians display their share of Bills fever while anxiously awaiting Sunday's event. uichellb gbiss The College was also asked by the NFL to work in conjunction with the NFL Players' Programs, an entity of the League established in 1991 to aid players. The goal of the Players' Programs, according to Miller, is to build upon existing relationships be- community, especially with the College's Alcohol Task Force, Canisius was invited to join the NCAS as its 11th member school. Since admission to this organization Canisius has dealt with over 30 players, most of whom were sent to the College by the Bills' assistant general manager, Bill Munson. According to Miller, the athletes receive "tailored instruction" due to the limited amount of free time in their schedules. Based on the number of student-athletes the College graduates and the work of student-athletes both on campus and in the this Consortium has allowed Canisius to assist the Bills in continuing education/degree completion and academic advisement. Thus far, the players have either taken cassette courses or night classes through or at the College. Players have also come to Canisius looking for academic counseling and on one occasion, the College has actually offered a class at Rich Stadium. With the Super Bowl fast approaching Canisius students may be inclined to sit down and ask themselves the question "What do the Buffalo Bills and Canisius College have in common?" The answer is simple — education. The College's participation in Through its membership in the National Consortium for Academics and Spots [NCAS], the College has been working with the Bills and the National Football League [NFL] since 1987, explained Dr. Thomas E. Miller, vice president for Student Affairs and NCAS Advisory Board Chair. USA staff change (sec page 4) JPf THE GRIFFIN Serving the Canisius Community QLAC^i : wmm , \ ' ! i - t(ccc 1 MLK Celebration tonight (see page 8) Cash to be brash! (see page 15) VOLUME LXII, NUMBER 13 FRIDAY, JANUARY 24,1992 Racial probe 'separates' three Investigation is officially complete