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Show -- no-n -- rrr Westminster College Salt Lake City, Utah VOLUME XLII: ISSUE 6 WWW.WESTMINSTERCOLLEGE.EDUFORUM NOVEMBER 4, 2008 Student rights: then and now Voting, drinking ages as viewed by Westminster students and professors Lindsey Kavanagh and Chad Labdon StaffWriters As U.S. citizens, students are afforded certain rights. At age 18 comes the right to vote. At 21, the right to purchase and consume alcohol. However, this has not always been the case. Why is the voting age 18? Why cant you legally drink until youre 21? Many people take the rights theyre given for granted and dont know the background of those rights. FACULTY REMEMBER VIETNAM ERA The 2008 Presidential Election is significant for multiple reasons. For the first time, an African American is the Democratic Presidential nominee and a female is on the Republican ticket for Vice President. Most importantly, students across the country, and especially at Westminster, are more involved politically than they have been in recent memory. Students havent always had the freedom to express themselves politically, though. Education professor Tim Carr turned 18 in the summer of 1971 when the voting age was changed to 18 from 21. Carr had just finished high school and was acutely aware of the situation in Vietnam. Lucky for him, when he turned 18 and became eligible' for the draft, the atti- tude concerning the war began to change. The Watergate scandal was revealed by two Washington Postreporters, prompting President Nixon to defer the publics attention Continued on Page 8 Westminster faces economic uncertainty President Bassis addresses concerns in All College Meeting Jonny Bonner Editor-in-chi- ef Ask Michael Bassis what hes losing sleep over and theres no hesitation in the Westminster presidents reply. The economy keeps my up at night, on a personal level as well as institutional, Bassis said in response during a question and answer session at the All College Meeting, Thurs., Oct. 23. address centered The focal point of the semi-annu- al around Westminsters response to the current U.S. climate, including concerns regarding undergraduate and graduate enrollment, fundraising, pledge payments and endowment returns. Potential plans for college expansion were also announced. Bassis noted an intent to trim operational expenses and focus on administrative costs in 2009. The president added setting tuition for next year will be a more agonizing decision than ever before. Were going to try and be as frugal as we can with administrative expenses without creating holes in the fabric that could come back and hurt us. Issue 6 Highlights Westminster is far from alone in recruitment worries, said Bassis. Theres a lot of concern, some of it boarding on panic at campuses across the county. Its hard to know how deep, how severe, college-goin- g families are going to be effected by this. Curtis Ryan, vice president of Finance and Administration, supported a cautious approach to the coming fiscal year while addressing the standing-room-on- ly audience in Gore Auditorium. The college experienced a strong growth in enrollment and fundraising with moderate growth in expenses in 2008, Ryan said. The college is also exploring expansion to the Sugar House business district, said Director of Community Relations Annalisa Steggell. Steggell detailed what she deemed an urban campus, which may include an art gallery on 2100 South in initial stages. Bassis said the college is in very preliminary discussions with developers in Sugar House. What all of this is, is economic uncertainty, said Bassis. Someday the sun will come out, and were aiming to maintain our place in the sun by sticking to the strategic plan. off-camp- us A&E Sports Election year inspires films that dissect politics and faith. Survey predicts Mens basketball team to win confer Page 12 Page 6 ence title. |