BY AMIR KURTOVIC AND KHOLOOD EID

News Editor and Photo Editor A fire alarm delayed the offi-cial start of orientation weekend Friday, Aug. 21, in morning at the Loretto-Hilton Center. But in-stead of fire or smoke, spray paint was the culprit. “Workers in the scene shop in the basement [of the Loretto-Hil-ton center] were spray painting, and the smoke detectors are pret-ty sensitive” said Tracy Winka, a Public Safety manager. “Some-times they put bags over the de-tectors to stop them from going off, but in this case they did not.” Students and parents were streaming into the auditorium when the alarm went off at 9:02 a.m. Webster University’s Presi-dent Elizabeth Stroble was only a few feet away from the entrance of the auditorium, speaking to Student Government Associa-tion President Justin Raymundo, a sophomore human rights and English major. In the duration of that conversation orienta-tion leaders (OLs) started telling people to evacuate the building. In front of the Loretto-Hilton Center, OLs and Public Safety of-ficers cleared the driveway and told people to move to the side-walk and grassy areas. Fire sirens could be heard wailing in the distance and nobody appeared overly concerned or annoyed by

the disturbance. “I don’t think it was hec-tic at all,” said Jabrina Sim-mons, an OL and senior biol-ogy major. “We tried to move everybody out of way before the fire department arrived.” Stroble stood outside the Lo-retto-Hilton Center talking with Webster Groves Mayor Gerry Welch and Dean of Business Benja-min Akande, among others. They, too, were relaxed and appeared to

be having a casual conversation. Stroble later remarked that she was exchanging notes with Mayor Welch about the response to the fire alarm by WU staff and Web-ster Groves police and fire fighters. The city of Webster Groves showed up in force. Three fire engines, one cop car and one ambulance were on the scene by 9:09 a.m. Both lanes of Garden Avenue, behind the Loretto-Hil-ton center, were closed to traffic,

while one lane of Edgar Road, in front of Emerson library, was also blocked. By 9:15 a.m. the Loretto-Hilton center was deemed safe by firefighters, allowing the planned event to get back on track. “[The alarm was] a minor set-back and delay,” Stroble said, “but also a teachable moment about

UPFRONT

The News Source for Webster University August 27-September 2, 2009

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Volume 63 • Issue 2

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Fire Alarm Delays Orientation

Fightin’ Gorloks

Webster Groves Company 2015 firefighters Kevin Owens of Crestwood and Matt Coppin of Eureka leave Loretto-Hilton after a fire scare before the opening speeches of freshmen orientation weekend on Friday, Aug. 21.

Webster University is one of most military

friendly schools

BY COLLEEN REANYOnline Editor

G.I. Jobs Magazine ranked Webster University among the top 15 percent for military friendly schools for 2010 in its September issue. According to Dean Grossman, the military representative for the St. Louis Webster campus, online degree options and financial aid pro-grams give military personal flexibility with their education. “Webster University has a long-standing tradition of welcoming both active-duty military and veterans to its worldwide network of campuses,” President Elizabeth Stroble said in a statement posted online. Grossman feels military personnel are mostly attracted to WU for the same reasons as civilians. “The wide range of pro-grams is a big seller,” Grossman said. “They also have the ability to combine two programs un-der one degree.” Webster offers classes at more than 100 locations in-cluding 40 military installa-tions. As the first university to setup a campus on a military base, WU first began offering

Commuter students worry about parking,WU tries to get them engaged on campus

BY AMIR KURTOVICNews Editor

At a commuter orientation ses-sion inside the Winifred Moore auditorium Friday, Aug. 21, most of the questions from students and their parents were about parking. But representatives of Webster University’s Commuter Council said they would like to see students devote more time to campus activities and less to worrying about parking. “Our hope for this year is to create programs on campus that will get commuter students to be more involved and engaged on campus, rather than continue to be segregated,” said Jennifer Violett, the assistant director of the University Center and adviser for the Commuter Council. Violett would like to see com-muter students get involved on campus and attend activities sponsored by different student groups rather than creating sep-arate events. As a former WU commuter student herself, Violett admits she did not feel connected to WU until she took an active interest in campus activities. WU

started the Commuter Council last spring to help students get involved on campus. Previously, WU students have formed groups similar to the Commuter Council. But without the support of a dedicated WU staff person, the groups would eventually fall apart as its found-ers graduated or lost interest. That is where Violett comes in. Violett, a full-time staff mem-ber, is responsible for advising and planning for the council. Along with Chris Penberthy, the president of the Commuter Council, they plan to work with different groups around cam-pus to make commuter students a more integrated segment of WU’s population. WU, after all, has more commuter students than residents. The council is organized as an advisory board with representation from groups such as the Student Govern-ment Association, Public Safety, the Faculty Senate, the Acces-sibility committee and Residen-tial and Housing Association. “I have a lot of commuter friends who said they feel iso-

lated from the University,” Pen-berthy said. “We’re trying re-ally hard to get the commuters involved in the different campus organizations.” At the commuter orienta-tion session, Penberthy stood behind the podium and led the discussion. He was accompanied by a six-member panel of WU

students and staff, each with ex-perience commuting to WU. As they tried to answer all questions coming from the large crowd of incoming freshmen and transfer students, it was clear that the biggest concern was parking. Questions were asked about

Jennifer Violett, the assistant director of the University Center and adviser for the Commuter Council, addresses a packed Winifred Moore Auditorium during freshman orientation Friday, Aug. 21.

Best Colleges To Work For:WU makes list for second year

BY AMIR KURTOVICNews Editor

Even though 2009 has been a dismal year for employ-ees, employers and job seek-ers alike, Webster Univer-sity has reason to celebrate. For the second year in a row the Chronicle of Higher Education, a publication dedi-cated to covering higher edu-cation, has named WU as one of the best colleges to work for. The Chronicle’s second an-nual survey of “Great Colleges to Work For” saw WU with a spot on the honor roll, the list of the 10 best colleges to work for. WU received the same award last year, in the Chronicle’s first

survey. The survey is based on responses from more than 41,000 higher education employees at 247 colleges and universities. “I experienced the warm, friendly and supportive culture at Webster the first time I vis-ited,” said WU President Eliza-beth Stroble in a statement. “It is an honor for the faculty and staff to be recognized nationally among peers for the outstand-ing work environment they’ve helped create throughout the Webster University network. “The Board of Trustees has empowered the university to continue to build a workplace in which everyone at Web-ster — faculty, staff and stu-dents — flourishes,” said Stroble.

One measure of job satisfac-tion is how long employees stay. Don Pillman, a staff member in the Desktop Technical Ser-vices department, has worked for WU since 1981. He remem-bers when most of the school was housed in Webster Hall and WU had to share a library with Eden Theological Seminary. “What has really kept me here is the incredible growth Webster has experienced,” Pillman said. “It went from a sleepy little col-lege to a world-wide university.” Pillman worked in a factory before WU, but wanted to get a job doing something

Neighborhood politico brings the rage and the insight from his many sides in new columnAntebellum | Op/Ed | 5

Women’s Volleyball

Preview

A documentary about art cars brought some mobile masterpieces to Webster University. Read more about the filmmaker, and go for a crazy ride.

Summer Photos

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The return of veteran players gives the Gorloks high hopes

for the season.

Lifestyle | 7

Sports | 10

Lifestyle | 6