Obsolete lighting could leave auditorium in the dark

By Chris Donovan

This extension cord and plug melted sometime last week due to an excess amount of energy flowing through it.

These SAT packs are supposed to be portable devices that are used temporarily. They are currently the primary lighting devices for the UMD auditorium.

The UMass Dartmouth Main Auditorium is host to many events: Theatre Company and 20 Cent Fiction both put on all their theatrical productions, CAB puts on both Mr. and Mrs. UMD and a host of other organizations hold a variety of events throughout the year — it was even the location for a gubernatorial forum before this year’s election. Every single one of these events for the past couple of decades has run under the glow of an inadequate lighting system.

According to an anonymous source from within the UMD auditorium staff, the lighting system that is currently utilized has been in use since the auditorium’s birth over forty years ago. “The system was designed to last for twenty years, and it’s been in use for forty,” the source claims. “It finally ended up dying in October.”

The system dying means that the lights themselves have no power, and the dimmers for the lights are broken. Some students may have noticed that some events in the past couple of months had to take place with the house lights still on. “People complained a lot during Anne Frank and the CAB movie nights,” a staff member claims.

In order to compensate for this outdated setup, portable systems have been purchased to power the auditorium. These portable SAT(short for satellite) packs “were originally purchased as a backup” and since have become the primary source of power.

“It’s like the difference between a flashlight bulb and an actual lightbulb, with the SAT packs being a flashlight, and a new lighting system being a lightbulb. First off, the lightbulb will last a lot longer than the flashlight, and secondly you would never use a flashlight to light your whole room” says the source.

The temporary SAT packs have a shorter lifespan in the auditorium because of their location. The packs are meant to operate at room temperature, and are currently on the catwalk where temperatures can reach 120 degrees farenheight. “These packs are already malfunctioning. We shut the lights off, but the SAT packs still have power running through them so the lights never actually turn off,” explains the source.

There’s also potential for the problem to become dangerous. This past week there was an incident where the connection of an extension cord and one of the SAT packs melted because of the amount of power that was flowing through it.

The source expressed fear of this situation saying “before this [the cords melting] happened, a circuit breaker should have tripped...but it didn’t.” The only reason the problem was noticed is because “a SAT pack wasn’t working and we didn’t know why.” It’s unknown if the cord melted due to an electrical fire, or if it was just the heat of the energy flowing through it.

The lighting problems have been brought up to administrative and Campus Center officials in the past— even to the extent that “plans were drawn up years ago, but never implemented.” As a result, in addition to the potential for other lights shorting out, “organizations such as the Theatre Company and 20 Cent Fiction have to rent equipment just to turn the house lights off,” said the source. The Theatre Company spent close to $1,300 on lighting for “Moby Dick the Musical,” and 20 Cent has spent $650 on lighting for “The Who’s: Tommy.”

In order for this problem to be solved the old wiring needs to be gutted and new dimmers need to be installed. Parts and labor have been estimated to cost a total of $300,000. The labor itself could take two to three months depending on how many people would be hired to do the job. This would mean that the auditorium itself would be shut down for the time required to complete the repairs. According to the source, “no matter when they actually did the repairs, it would cancel some events, but at the same time, it needs to be done soon.”

Online room selection leaves mixed feelings

By Nate Silva

As students file into the Woodland Commons to fill out their housing contracts, the university will find itself at the close of this year’s selection process-which for many will be one long remembered. For the first time ever this year, the OHRL stepped away from the traditional selection process that plagued the campus center in the past by hosting all housing sign ups for students via a new online system.

The impressions denizens of UMass Dartmouth have regarding the new selection method are widely varied— a situation that comes as no surprise to OHRL Director Victor Culatta. “Of course with any first time process, there have been lessons learned and our staff is already planning to improve the process for next year,” explains Culatta. “We plan to incorporate the feedback students have offered to make changes that will benefit students in future years. We also plan to solicit feedback from the residential life advisory board (students) and RHC to further improve next year’s process.”

Upon logging into the system, prospective residents were given only five minutes to enter their required information to stake their claim, a problem that many students claim to have prevented them from getting their first choice. “It was bad,” says sophomore Jimmy Paddon. “The five minutes to choose was the most stressful thing ever. All the apartments filled up with at least one person in the first couple minutes.” For sophomore Kyle Mills, the system being case-sensitive was another irritable and confusing factor for many users. “The fact that it was caps sensitive and we didn’t know it screwed over a lot of us,” says Mills.

According to Culatta, the system also unexpectedly went offline for a time last Friday due to the crashing of an off-site server. “Housing staff were available throughout the process all week and were in the office until 8:00 p.m. that evening to assist students who were unable to select a room online,” says Culatta. As in previous years, significant amounts of residents weren’t able to secure their first choices for housing arrangements, though Culatta claims that the high demand of premium options was the cause for this- not the new online selection process. “The system worked as it was designed,” explains Culatta. “However, as with all room selection processes, not everyone receives their first choice in housing. This was not a result of the system but the reality that premium housing options were in very high demand.”

Though many were clearly less than satisfied with their experience with this year’s selection process, there were also a significant amount of students that were pleased, finding the system relatively easy to use. “It went pretty smoothly,” claims junior Deanna Mustachio. “It went fine- I had one of the first choices and I was staying in the same apartment.” Senior Gordon Johnson was also fairly pleased with the way this year’s selection was operated- especially in comparison to years prior. “It was my fourth year of the process,” says Johnson. “The fact that everything was online made the process easier. It gives you immediate verification of what’s going on. It made pulling people in easier.”

Now that such an abrupt change to the school’s housing selection is in the past, Culatta states that the process will only improve in the coming years. “Change is often times difficult. However, I believe that this change and process is moving us in the right direction to take advantage of the available technology and make room selection more convenient for students. Our staff is committed to continually improving the process.”

A modern day treasure hunt

By Chris Donovan

For anyone who enjoys the idea of a scavenger hunt, there is an activity that has been spreading around for the past seven or so years. This worldwide activity, commonly known as geocaching (pronounced: geo-cash-ing), combines modern day technology with the old concept of a scavenger hunt. Participants go online to receive coordinates. From there, they plug the coordinates into their GPS and trek through woods, mountains, rivers, etc until they reach their destination. Once at their destination they must search for some sort of container. When found, adventurers will find traditionally a notebook and a box full of trinkets. Everyone who comes upon a geocache is encouraged to sign the book, take an item, and leave an item of their own.

Geocaching started back in 2000 after the government made 24 satellites around the world publicly available to process GPS signals, which greatly increased the accuracy of GPS systems. According to the official geocaching website, geocaching.com, “Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy by hiding a navigational target in the woods.” He then posted the coordinates of the target online and waited. A few days later a handful of GPS users had found Ulmer’s cache, which included a notebook and various prizes including videos, books and software, and started sharing their experiences online.

After this initial experience, the concept of geocaching started spreading around the world. Geocaches aren’t just limited to the United States either; there are currently thousands of geocaches throughout the world, even including Antarctica.

Anyone can create a geocache, and then post coordinates online for others to find. Some cachers want to make the discovery experience harder than just putting in coordinates and finding a location. Some cachers will make a riddle, or puzzle for adventurers to find in order to receive the coordinates. Other times coordinates you receive will lead you to a puzzle which when figured out will lead you to the location of the actual geocache.

However, just having coordinates isn’t necessarily enough. Experienced geocachers will do their best to make finding a cache a challenge. Caches can be hidden under rocks, in trees, underwater, inside buildings, anywhere you could possibly think of. Not all caches are accessible to just anyone. Some will require special skills, such as rock climbing or scuba diving. The limits are endless.

For those interested in picking up geocaching as a hobby, you can get a GPS for around $100 if you shop around online. After that visit www.geocaching.com and get started on your own geocaching adventure. Who knows, perhaps there is even a cache or two hidden on this very campus.

Fuel wraps up ‘Spread the Phire’

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — May 1, 2007 Fuel agency students at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth enjoyed the sweet smell of success with their “Singled Out” campaign event. This interactive event drew more than 200 participants to Woodland Commons on Thursday April 26. “Singled Out” was the culmination of a semester-long effort of 35 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth students participating in the Spread the Phire: Sapphire Collegiate Marketing Challenge; a unique industry-education partnership that gives students the chance to apply their knowledge in the real world. The purpose of the program was to expose students on campus to the new Phire mobile banking service in addition to providing strategic recommendations to Phire’s parent company: Sapphire Mobile Systems.

Campaign planning began in February following extensive research on Sapphire Mobile Systems and its target market, which was conducted by agency members in January. With the knowledge obtained from their research, they executed an integrative marketing campaign in order to spread knowledge about the Phire service to other students on campus.

Fuel’s first two events were designed to establish awareness and inform people about how to use the mobile banking service, The events were held at local bars where there were prizes and Phire Facts posted all over the walls and in bathrooms, giving people knowledge about how to use the service. Both the events were a great stepping stone toward the final event, which was a game show called “Singled Out,” an old television show on MTV that the target market could relate to.

Incentives included prizes from Sunday’s Tanning, Outback Steak House, Texas Roadhouse and Dunkin Donuts. In addition, food from Metro Pizza helped make the event come alive.

Utilizing a $2,500 budget provided by Sapphire Mobile Systems the students gained valuable real-world experience by researching, planning and executing the “Singled Out” event aimed at exposing the Phire service to college students who are the target market for a service such as this. Sapphire Mobile Systems served as Fuel’s client, providing objectives, a budget and the necessary resources for the development and execution of a successful campaign.

“The success of our final event proved that all the hard work and effort put in by the agency had paid off, we had a great turn out and everyone had a great time,” says Elyse Antrim, Department Chairman.

To wrap up the program, Fuel students will present the results of their promotional campaign to executives from Sapphire Mobile Systems in a formal agency-style presentation on May 15. The students will present their successes, such as the percentage of UMass students who are familiar with Phire rose greatly from less than 2% before their campaign.

“Before our campaign, no one was aware of Phire, and they have to option to pay via text messaging, and because of our success Phire is a name that is recognized around campus,” says Jared Haselton.

For more information about the Spread the Phire: Sapphire Collegiate Marketing Challenge at UMass Dartmouth, please contact Kristen Adams at 413 - 210- 7299.

EdVenture Partners develops programs, which link industry and education utilizing unique Curriculum-Based, Peer-to-Peer models. Founded in 1990, Orinda, California based EdVenture Partners (EVP) has already seen 45,000 students pass through one of our unique programs. EVP is the only marketing education consultancy in the United States that brings together educators, students, clients and their channel partners for mutual collaboration, partnership and benefit. All EVP designed programs provide the opportunity for students to apply academic theory to real-world situations, thereby leveraging student minds in addressing client goals and objectives.

THIS WEEK IN UMASSD HISTORY

Tuition increase standoff, what next?

Original article by Rick Whiting
Friday, May 4 1979

The lines have been drawn.

Governer Ed King had asked all State colleges and universities to raise tuitions an average of $225 or else face possible cuts in their budgets. On Wednesday, the UMass Board of Trustees voted to raise their tuitions of $225 to $750 a year by the Spring of 1981. Lowell University could hike its tuition to $800 by 1981. And the Community Colleges and State Colleges are expected to raise tuitions $100 to $400 and $600 a year respectively.

On April 26, SMU’s Board of Trustees voted to hold tuitions at their present $525 making it the only one of thirty-one state colleges and universities to do so.

President Donald Walker outlined what may happen in light of the Trustee’s vote. “The Community Colleges could still join us and vote for no tuition increase. Gov. King could come back to us with equal funding if we raise tuitions. Or we could have our budget cut by the governor and the state legislature.”

Walter Smith, counselor for the Board of Trustees, stated “if other segments of Mass. Higher education (such as the state and community colleges) follow on SMU’s heels, then we won’t be alone. This will disperse the heat as the King Administration will be dealing with others besides SMU.”

Assistant to the President, Dan Aldrich believes that any guess as to what will happen now is purely conjecture. “The governor has said he will review the budget if tuitions aren’t raised, which could mean anything. We have our work cut out for us explaining the action taken by the board. If we should become too much the focal point of this, the board may have to reconsider its vote.” Aldrich added that “since SMU students have paid more than their own education in comparison to other university level Mass. Students, we should be allowed to carry on.”

Dean of Administration William Wild calls himself an optimist. “I don’t believe the governor would cut our present appropriation as this is a bare bones budget and doesn’t even full all the employees we currently have on the payroll. We’ve been limping along with terrible budgets for many years.

The question is what can be done to keep the governor and state legislature from cutting SMU’s budget. At Monday’s Student Senate meting the feeling was that massive protests at the Statehouse wouldn’t get SMU anywhere. Former Senator Jayne Brady said, “Contacting legislators is a far more effective way of getting our point across.”

President Walker said, “Political figures listen to their constituents. If the students, faculty, university employees and people in the community would call or write their state legislator we could keep them from cutting the budget.” Dean Wild agreed such lobbying is the “most effective tool we have. We have students from all over Mass. So there are many legislators involved.”

Aldrich said that the administration has also been getting the story out to the local papers in hopes that they will be either supportive or at least neutral. But in an editorial in Tuesday’s “Standard Times,” SMU’s Trustees were criticized for taking such a hardline stance. “SMU Trustees,” stated the editorial, “have decided, in effect, that since state funding to them unequal, they will force the issue by making tuition unequal.”

Declining enrollments spell trouble for schools

Original article by: Kevin O’Reilly
Friday, May 6 1983

Last month a special task force on enrollments was formed at SMU and last week there was a public forum to discuss a looming crisis of admissions and enrollments that could change the direction of the university.

What is happening at SMU is also occurring on campuses across the country - especially in the Northeast and Midwest - and administrators are worried. Enrollments are down and statistics show that they will continue to decline over the next twelve years.

The cause is relatively simple, but the solutions will be much more complex.

According to a report published by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), the number of 18-year-olds in the United States will decline 22 percent by 1995. In Massachusetts, the projection is far worse. By 1995 there will be 42 percent fewer 18-year-olds in the state than there are now. These figures are counts of people already born and thus are hard data, not forecasts. These figures also assume there will be no immigration of people into fast growing areas such as southeastern Mass., but the report does recognize a population shift that will occur away from the Northeast and Midwest.

During the 1960’s there was a 45 percent increase in the number of 18-year-olds, which, according to the AGB report, helps explain the explosive growth of higher education during that time. But the report also shows that a sharp drop in this age group will occur between 1979 and 1994 when the population will go from 4.3 million to 3.2 million, a 26 percent decline.

SMU has already begun to feel the pressure. According to Director of SMU Admissions Barry G. Phelps, there were 513 fewer applications for admission this year compared to last year. That represents a 10.2 percent decline. However, Phelps cited the fact that SMU has just started mid-year admissions and of the people who came in, “probably 150 would have applied in September,” he said.

If those people are taken into account, then the drop in enrollment would be 6.9 percent at a time when the number of 18-year-olds in the state decreased by 4.5 percent from the previous year.

Both Phelps and the AGB report also take into consideration factors which colleges and universities have little or no control over. “Among these,” said the report, “are the state of the economy, both nationally state student aid; the rate of increase in college prices relative to the general rate of inflation and to the growth in family incomes; and the relative attractiveness of alternatives to college, such as military service or the labor market.”

Along with the national and state factors Phelps also recognized some problems antique to SMU. One long standing headache is the lack of on-campus housing which “rules us out for many.” Each year, approximately three-fourths of the freshman class applies for housing but only one-fourth get in. “In a typical year,” said Phelps, “900 freshmen who are accepted for admission at SMU are turned down for dorm rooms.”

“Unless there is more housing, we’ll have special problems,” said Phelps. “The competition (for dorms) is keener...someone else is giving them beds. We ma have to depend on the commuters.”

Another problem unique to SMU deals with last year’s SAVE SMU campaign which has been making recruiting difficult. Though he feels that the campaign was “worth it,” Phelps acknowledged that about two percent of this year’s decline could be attributed to SAVE SMU because of the perception that SMU is “going under.”

The general feeling is that if the right decisions are made in the future, SMU will be better off than most schools, but it is also realized that competition for students will be intense.

The AGB report predicts that “prestigious private colleges will have to struggle to maintain diverse student bodies rather than becoming enclaves for the very rich and limited number of the very poor. Community colleges will face stiff competition from four year institutions and universities for the traditional college age students who enroll in transfer programs, and will have difficulty financing the large number of part time students who enroll in non-credit courses.”

The report continues, “a fairly broad consensus exists that two groups of colleges and universities are particularly at risk - non-selective private liberal arts colleges and public state colleges and universities, many of them former teacher’s colleges. Private junior colleges are also highly vulnerable to enrollment decline.”

Survey reveals differences between ‘74 and ‘83 freshmen

May 7, 1984

The average freshman entering SMU in 1983 attended religious services, drank beer, went to at least one concert, has liberal to middle of the road political learnings, is 18 or 19 years old, entered college directly from high school and didn’t finish their homework on time.

These statistics are from a profile compiled by Dean of Students Celestino Macedo, Associate Dean of Students Thomas Mulvey, and Admissions Director Barrie Phelps.

The profile compares ‘83 SMU applicants with the class that entered in 1974 and with a national group of 1983 freshmen. According to the report, SMU varies drastically from the national norms in many areas. There have also been extreme changes since 1974.

According to the survey, 98.5 percent of incoming freshmen are 19 years of age or younger and all from high school. This figure is close to the national average of 96.3. In 1974, however, there were twice as many returning students, which has been determined as anyone who’s been out of school for five years of more before beginning college.

The important things in the lives of the 1974 freshman appeared to be the development of a life philosophy (65 percent), helping others in difficulty (60 percent) and becoming authorities in their special fields of endeavor (58 percent).

The 1983 freshmen seem to have a more materialistic point of view. Their top priorities are to become financially well-off (74 percent), to become authorities in their field (72.5 percent) and to raise a family (70 percent). The ‘83 students seem to know more precisely what they want from a college and from life in general than did the ‘74 students. SMU’s statistics in these areas for this year are all within three percentage points of the national average.

The fact that SMU offers financial aid isn’t as much of a factor in attending this school as it is nationally, but the fact that SMU has low tuition is more important to students by fifteen percentage points. In 1974, over fifty percent of the incoming class cited low tuition as a reason for entering SMU.

Although this year’s students have consistently more confidence in themselves than did the ‘74 students, intellect and social self-confidence, as well as public speaking and writing ability are al below this year’s national norm. The SMU students drive to achieve is also lower than that reported nationally.

SMU students (entering freshmen), according to the report, drank more beer, loused-up on homework more and wrote more computer programs than the national survey reports. The SMU Athletic Department recruited one quarter the amount of freshmen as were recruited nationally and only half the amount of academic recruitment was done.

Over seventy-two percent of the entering freshmen had chosen SMU as their first college choice, and 82.2 percent plan to get a bachelor’s degree here. This statistic is 10 percent higher than the national figure.

Seventy percent of all registered freshmen are Roman Catholic. The national figure is 35.2 percent. Less than half the nationwide number of Protestants (35.2 percent) are enrolled at SMU (15.1 percent). In 1974, 15 percent of the entering students had no religious preference. That number has been cut by more than half in 1983.

Most entering freshmen (88.5 percent) planned to live either with their parents last fall (44.1 percent) or in the college dorms (44.1 percent). Nationally, more freshmen planned on living in the dorms (65 percent) than with their parents (28 percent). This seems to be due to the shortage of dormitory space at SMU.

Less than 7 percent of SMU’s class of ‘87 lives farther than 100 miles from the campus as compared to over 34 percent of the freshmen in the national survey.

Question of the legalization of marijuana seems to affect just over half the students at SMU, compared to 66.6 percent wanting legalization in 1974. The number has been cut in half, but 12 percent more of the SMU freshmen want pot legalized than reported on the national survey. Only 24.6 percent of all SMU freshmen felt that college grades should be abolished, compared to 15.1 percent in 1983. But 89.2 percent of ‘83’s freshmen felt there should be a minimum of competence for college graduation. This question wasn’t applicable on the ‘74 survey.

Between ten and thirteen percent more of the 1974 students felt that the issues of taxing the wealthy more heavily, helping in faculty evaluations and lack of consumer protection were important. The 1983 students feel that criminals have too many rights and that success in a business of their own is very important. In ‘74, 58.1 percent of entering freshmen felt that large families should be discouraged whereas in ‘83, 66.9 percent felt that raising a family is important.

...in 1974

In 1974, most college students were “trying to find themselves.” Gerald Ford had just taken his position as thirty-eighth President of the United States with his first official act being the pardon of Richard Nixon for his complicity in the Watergate break-in of 1972. “The Way We Were” by Barbara Streisand hit number one on the pop records charts, fell off, and then reclaimed the number one position. A new pastime called streaking was coming into popularity, especially when an unidentified young man streaked across the baseball field just before the opening game of the World Series. The Vietnam War was over, but the veterans from that war were getting no recognition. College newspapers were being used as forums for everything students felt were wrong in the world. In 1974, when students were asked if there should be regulations on their school papers, only 19.1 percent said yes.

In 1983, according to the survey, 37.7 percent of incoming freshmen at SMU feel that there should be regulations on student publications. The national survey shows that 42.2 percent, almost half, of all freshmen feel that regulations on student publications are needed.

According to the survey, students entering college in 1983 are more concerned with bettering their lives through education. The new freshmen know what they want, how to go about getting it, and plan on “going for it”...in between beers.

The life and times of a mother and student

By Adam K. Ellis

Michelle Nunzio spending some quality time with her two year old son Julian.

Michelle Nunzio is not your typical 18 year old freshman. Hidden behind her constant smile and good soul, a busy life exists. Michelle represents the mere 9% of single mothers in the U.S who are currently attempting to further their education through the collegiate track. Her story is the classic tale of triumph over adversity; of a single mother, who is also a full-time student and part-time nurse. So take a moment to receive a glimpse into a day in the life of the one and only Michelle Nunzio.

Michelle’s day begins at 6:30 a.m., when the majority of freshman students are fast asleep. Michelle has designated this time so that she may see her two year old boy Julian before she must go to school. After getting ready, Michelle makes Julian and herself breakfast and spends the next hour and a half in his company. By 8 a.m., she is out the door and on the road for the 40-minute commute from Carver to North Dartmouth.

As Michelle arrives at UMD around 9, she must attend the first of four classes, each an hour and a half long. Unfortunately, Michelle doesnít get to enjoy the privilege of taking easy freshman survey courses in which attendance isn’t mandatory and classes are relatively easy. Michelle is a full-time nursing major, which requires her to attend 6-7 hours of class per day.

When speaking with fellow nursing major Nicole Trearchis in regards to the difficulty of the program, she exclaimed, “It is a very time consuming major along with a heavy work load. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to be a young mother and be enrolled in a full-time nursing schedule. Just having myself to worry about while being a nursing major, well that is more than enough!”

To accompany this laborious workload, Michelle has altered her schedule so that she can do her homework during the day. “Michelle scheduled time between classes so that she can attempt to do all her work at school,” her mother exclaimed. “Because once she arrives home at the end of the night, she just wants to be with her son.”

Sadly for Michelle, the end of the night must wait beyond her schedule of classes. As the last class of her day ends around 5 p.m., she must drive directly to her part-time job as the caretaker of an elderly woman. When she arrives at the woman’s house, she must prepare supper, cleaning up the house and accommodating to the needs of the elderly woman for a few hours. Only after these jobs are finished, can Michelle finally return to Carver and spend some time with her son.

When she finally arrives at the front door around 8 p.m., her adorable little one jumps into the loving arms of his mother. And as hundreds of freshman debate over how their Thursday night on campus should play out, Michelle’s only concern is the two hours she gets to spend with Julian before he goes to bed. For the next two hours, she is content to read children’s books and entertain her son before she must put him to sleep.

Many of us wouldn’t blame a teenage mother if she chose not to further her education after high school. We wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to work and support her child after high-school. But thoughts of her son’s future and supporting him have only fueled Michelle’s desire more: “I feel like how far I get and what I accomplish in this world will directly affect Julian’s life. You can’t say to yourself ‘I am in this situation, so let me just settle for this.’ I knew a long time ago that I was meant for bigger things. You set your own limits in this world. So don’t sell yourself short.”

Michelle was quick to give credit to her strong supportive family, “My mom and my family watch Julian while I am at school. If I didn’t have them, the reality is that I probably wouldn’t be here. You’d like to think otherwise, but it is hard to believe. I am grateful and fortunate to have them by my side.”

When I asked Sissy how proud she was of her daughter, her emotions took over, “You can’t even imagine. It makes me cry just thinking about it. It could have been worse, getting pregnant in high school. But Michelle, she’s awesome. She is absolutely an amazing person.”

Michelle’s story is a very inspirational and uplifting account of the struggles of a single mother. As Michelle walks through the halls she knows she doesn’t share the life of the normal 18 year old freshman. But as the loving mother she is, she wouldn’t have it any other way, “If I didn’t have Julian, well I’d probably be like every other student. Not one day in the past 2 years have I slept in. But I can’t rely on a hypothetical or any what-ifs. I am very grateful to have a wonderful child and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”