When The Minaret’ decided to launch our first ever summer edition, geared exclusively toward online readers such as yourself, we had a couple of goals in mind. Primarily, we hoped to keep our readers informed of key developments on college campuses across the country, especially our own.
Hundreds upon hundreds of returning non-local students spend the summer working back home, where it is easy to fall victim to isolation and lose touch with campus. The process of readjustment in the fall can be disorienting. Furthermore, this issue hopes to welcome the incoming class of 2011, to provide them with some information about college life and give them some entertainment tips on the rest of the summer.
Helping the freshman class adjust will remain one of our top priorities throughout the rest of the summer and coming fall. The new arrivals should be sure to check back next month for the next summer edition which will provide tips on college life at UT, answering some of those questions that linger in a nebulous form in the back of the head, and if left to multiply often lead to nightmares.
Another one of our top priorities throughout this summer and coming fall will remain safety and security on campus. To update our readers on the status of the Security Study Group (SSG) report: it is in completed form and on the desk of President Ronald Vaughn. According to Rod Plowman, vice president for administrative services, the report was given to President Vaughn by its due date of May 30, at which point the President left campus to watch our victorious baseball team win its second consecutive national championship before he embarked on a several week vacation. Vaughn is not due back on campus before press time for the summer edition, and there are no indications that he will disclose the findings of the report before he returns to campus.
The administration repeatedly assures us that safety and security is a high priority, which is why we trust that they will release the findings of the report shortly, as soon as President Vaughn returns from his vacation. We will update the site immediately upon receiving it. Readers will also want to check out our next summer edition, due out next month, for a more detailed analysis of the findings of the report as well as the U.S. Department of Education’s review of UT’s compliance with the Clery Act. In April, The Minaret advised that a public and transparent release of the report is a perfect opportunity to inspire confidence in the administration from the UT community. We still believe this to be the case, which is why we will continue to ask the administration for the report, and warn that temporizing will only invite suspicion from the UT community.
In the meantime, we urge all students to sign up for SMART (Spartan Mobile AleRT), UT’s new text messaging system that will alert students in case of emergency through text messaging. No advertisements will be sent and the service is free. To sign up, simply log on to SpartanWeb and click the ‘Spartan Mobile AleRT’ link on the left; the process will take less than a minute.
The Minaret will continue to look out for the security of UT students, and will update our website continually throughout the summer with valuable information germane to that priority. We will also continue to update our site with entertainment tips, news alerts, measures to help freshmen adjust, and just plain old fun anecdotes to help pass the summer. In this manner, we can meet our goal of keeping our students informed and helping our new students become informed, as we look forward to a successful 2007-2008 school year.