The Patriot announces winners of InPrint Creative Writing Contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 4, 2011

The Patriot Newspaper

University of the Cumberlands

For more information, Contact:

Kristin Gotch, Editor-in-Chief,

(606) 539-4172

kgotch0016@ucumberlands.edu

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky.--The Patriot student newspaper will release a special edition for their InPrint Creative Writing Contest co-sponsored by Campus Activity Board, expected to be out the week of   April 4.

The InPrint Creative Writing Contest is the first student writing contest to be sponsored by The Patriot.  The newspaper’s special edition will feature the contest’s winning pieces in non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and photography as well as short interviews with the contributors. The contest was open to all UC undergraduate students.

“Working with InPrint has been a lot of fun, and considering it was the first time The Patriot has ever been involved with a creative writing contest, I feel the contest was fairly successful;” said The Patriot's editor-in-chief, Kristin Gotch, “I’m excited to get the issue out, and I think our readers will really enjoy the content.”

Rebecca Moses, a junior, was selected as the winner in the fiction category for her short story “Another Dream” and in poetry for her poem “Muses.” Sarah Denison, a junior, placed second in poetry for her poem “Broken Icicles” and Caleb Hetrick, a sophomore, placed third for his poem “My Deck.”  Zachery Bruckner, a sophomore, was selected as the winner in non-fiction for his essay “The Boardwalk and the Beach.”  Anya Venn, a senior, was selected as the winner in photography for her three scenic-outdoor photos.

Judges for InPrint included Phil Meeks for fiction, Greta McDonough for non-fiction, Darnell Arnoult for poetry, and Roger Hagy for photography.  Meeks is an agent for the University of Kentucky Agriculture Extension office, and his fiction has been published in “Motif 2: Come What May,” and other publications.  McDonough writes a popular weekly column, “From This Place to That,” in her hometown newspaper in Owensboro, Ky.  Arnoult has written two books, a book of poetry, “What Travels with Us: Poems,” and a novel, “Sufficient Grace.” Hagy is the project manager in the creative services department at University of Tennessee where he is responsible for external communications and the Torchbearer alumni magazine.

The Patriot has been the official student newspaper for University of the Cumberlands since 2002.  All students and faculty are welcome and encouraged to contribute.  The Patriot prints five issues each semester.  Visit The Patriot’s official Facebook page at facebook.com/patriotnewspaper for assignment meeting dates and upcoming events.  Also visit thepatriot.ucumberlands.edu for up-to-date UC news now online.

For more information contact student editors, Kristin Gotch: kgotch0016@ucumberlands.edu  or Kate Sexton: ksexton0104@ucumberlands.edu.

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Biology field course seeks more student interest

Cumberlands’ biology department is planning to teach a field course in central and southern Florida and Andros Island, Bahamas from May 8 through May 22.  The course will be offered to both biology majors and non-majors and will cover topics in subtropical ecology.

Biology majors will focus on the specifics of the various habitats as well as research management and field-work in ecology and the issues of conservation.  Non-major students will learn the basics of habitat, ecology, and the scientific method.

“Field courses give students the chance to get in an intensive period of field-work, and there is really no substitute for that,” said Dr. Renee Yetter, associate professor of biology.

Forfar Field Station, Andros Island, Bahamas
Courtesy community.webshots.com

The course, taught by Yetter, begins with four days at the Archbold Biological Station in Placid, Fla. where students will study Scrub, Bayhead, Dry Prairie, Hammock and Mangrove Swamp habitats.  Students will spend one day at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, Fla. and one day at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Fla.  During the second week of the trip, students will travel to Andros Island, Bahamas where they will study at the Forfar Field Station.

            According to Yetter, the cost of the course will depend on how many students enroll.  If 13 students enroll, the cost will be $2,600 per student.  If 12 students enroll, the cost rises to $2,618 per student.  At most the course will cost $2,752 per student at an enrollment of eight.

            Expenses are broken down between lodging, lab fees, food, travel and credit hours.   According to Cumberlands’ financial planning office, students will only be able to use student loans as financial aid.  If students use their student loans to the cover the cost of the course, the amount of loans they can use for the following fall semester will be reduced.  

“For example, if a student qualifies for a $5,000 loan and they use $2,000 of that toward the summer class, they will only have $3,000 of that loan for the fall semester,” said Karen McKinney, assistant director of financial planning.

            Eight students must enroll in the course for it to be offered, and according to Yetter, as of now not enough students have shown interest.  Yetter and the biology department are considering other options for the field class.  

            Yetter said that one option would be for the department to offer a field course in Appalachian ecology.  The course would focus on Appalachian habitats and the affects of coal mining on biodiversity. 

            Yetter is also considering teaching the Florida/Bahamas field course during a spring semester.  Students would then study in Andros Island during spring break and in Florida over a four-day weekend.  Students would then be able to use financial aid to cover the course as if it were a regular course because the class would take place in the same time frame in which financial is regularly offered.  
             Update:  The class did not receive enough interest from students and will not be taught this summer.  The biology department is deciding whether or not to offer the course in spring 2012. 

UC continues to consider four-day week schedule

       University of the Cumberlands is in the process of considering a change from the current five-day week class schedule to a four-day week schedule to appeal to both current and prospective students.

        The four-day week schedule was first proposed in August 2009, but when the proposal was made to the faculty in fall 2010, it was met with some hesitance and opposition.

          
         Some departments think that it would be too difficult to fit classes into a four-day schedule. 

        
         “Every department has a different challenge that they foresee, and some have more than others;” said Gina Bowlin, co-chair of the 4-D committee, “larger departments are already working on such a compacted schedule, and for them to lose a day and try to cram it into the other four days is very intimidating.”

Sophomore, Christin Miller looks over her schedule for  the fall 2011 semester.  In the near future students may only be registering for classes Monday through Thursday.

           
         Classes would meet for an hour and 15 minutes twice a week in the same way that classes now meet on Tuesday and Thursday.  However, more classes can be taught on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule because classes are 50 minutes, meaning departments will not only lose a day, but also a class-space in their schedules. 

          
         According to Dr. Jeff Smoak, co-chair of the 4-D committee, UC academic dean, Larry Cockrum is attempting to ease the schedule load of each department by requiring all departments teach one or two online courses in a regular 16-week semester. This implementation will go into effect in the fall semester of 2011.

Smoak said that teaching a few online classes will help department chairs to better assess whether or not a four-day schedule will work for their departments.

          
          The online classes will replace courses that are offered in multiple sections.

         
          “For example, there are currently three sections of music appreciation taught in the music department each semester.  In the fall, two of these sections will be offered on campus, and one will be offered online,” explained Smoak.

          
         Professors will have the option between two different formats of online classes, synchronous and asynchronous classes.  Synchronous classes meet in a chat room at a certain time.  In an asynchronous format, assignments are posted online on iLearn, and students are responsible for turning them in on time as well as corresponding with professors via email.

        
         Online classes will be taught later in the day, giving professors a lightened in-class schedule from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. when classes are normally scheduled.

         
        The committee is still far from a final decision regarding the four-day week. 

        
        “We need to get through the initial phase of the first year with the online classes,” said Smoak.

         
        Although it is too early to tell whether a four-day week is possible, both Smoak and Bowlin agree that it would be a positive move for the university.