TheUSDVISTA
Volume 55 Issue 17
Thursday, March 15, 2018
On Newsstands Weekly
◆ The Official Student Newspaper of the University of San Diego since 1968 ◆
USD ranks in Peace Corps USD ranks 16th for Peace Corps volunteers with 18 Toreros currently serving
USD releases statement on peaceful protests Celina Tebor Feature Editor Taryn Beaufort Opinion Editor
Madelene Baker, class of 2016 and Hunter Levy, class of 2017, are currently volunteering for the Peace Corps in Morocco, Africa.
Celina Tebor Feature Editor As students enter their junior and senior years of college, thoughts regarding post-college intensify. The fear of unemployment, lack of self-fulfillment, and the idea of self-dependency are thoughts that pass through the minds of college students. Some Toreros jump right into the job market, others continue onto a graduate school, or some join the military. Another option some pursue is joining the Peace
Corps, a volunteer program run by the United States government to help developing nations worldwide. The Peace Corps announced that USD ranked No. 16 among mediumsized schools (enrollment between 5,000 - 15,000 undergraduates) in the agency’s 2018 Top VolunteerProducing Colleges and Universities list. This is the third consecutive year USD has ranked on this list and in total, 224 USD alumni have traveled abroad to serve as volunteers in the Peace Corps. There are currently 18 Toreros
serving worldwide throughout the Peace Corps. Madelene Baker, class of 2016, earned a degree in international business, and currently serves in Morocco. She has been there since September 2017. At first, Baker was hesitant about joining the Peace Corps after graduation. “I have been considering the Peace Corps since I was probably in middle school,” Baker said. “But in college after seeing all of my friends with business degrees going into such lucrative jobs and
Photo courtesy of Madelene Baker
thinking about how much debt I have, noting that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has not yet proven to be reliable, I thought, ‘Is it really responsible for me to be volunteering for the next two years of my life?’” Baker decided to commit to one year with AmeriCorps, an umbrella organization that provides funding to other service organizations. At City Year New York, she worked in inner-city public schools to help students with mathematics and
See Peace Corps, Page 8
Stanford names four Toreros as University Innovation Fellows Celina Tebor Feature Editor Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design has named four University of San Diego students as University Innovation Fellows (UIF). In February, the program named 258 students from 64 higher education institutions in nine countries as Fellows. Junior Isabelle Ashraf, first-year Reijer den Dulk, and sophomores Julia Heaton and Riley Dean were tasked with examining USD’s campus to find gaps between opportunities and their accessibility, and focusing their research on how to improve the lives of people in the USD community. They were invited to apply to the program by Juan Carlos Rivas, assistant director
Accessible and affordable books See News, page 2
of the Changemaker Hub, and the $4,000 program fee was funded by President James T. Harris III. The team went through a six-week training over intersession and into the spring semester trying to find those gaps and create solutions to fill them. The six-week online course began during intersession 2018 and finished in February. The course involved readings, meetings, and research, among other things. Working with the Changemaker Hub, the team worked to answer, “How might we expand existing changemaking opportunities in a way that builds community?” While the team has a cohesive goal, each student has personalized ways to create an impactful outcome, drawing from their own involvement and experiences.
See pages 6 &7 for full story
Riley Dean, Julia Heaton, Reijer den Dulk, and Isabelle Ashraf are UIFs. Photo courtesy of Julia Heaton
In reaction to the Parkland shooting in Florida on Feb. 14, high school students have protested certain gun control laws and the National Rifle Association (NRA), along with other issues concerning guns and the United States government. Some high schools are threatening to suspend students who protest or walk out of school. Often a suspension or other reprimand from a high school can decrease a student’s chances of getting admitted into a university, and the disclosure of disciplinary suspension is required on the Common Application, the website that many students use to apply to private colleges. Some universities released a statement to high school seniors who are protesting, informing them that a suspension or disciplinary action stemming from participation in a protest will not harm their chances of admission into the university. In spring 2018, University of San Diego released this “Statement on Peaceful Participation in Protests:” “We recognize that many high school students from across the country are engaging in peaceful protests following the tragic high school shooting in Florida. Many of these students represent the classes of 2022 at colleges and universities across the country. Some of these students are asking questions about whether disciplinary action associated with peaceful participation in these protests would negatively affect their acceptance to their university of choice. USD would encourage disclosure of disciplinary action, but in this particular case, would not view such peaceful participation and associated disciplinary action as negatively impacting admissions decisions to our university.” As a Catholic university and Changemaker Campus, USD directly encourages students to engage in civil dialogue. The National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) asked universities to make it clear what this would mean to the high school seniors currently seeking admittance to college. Stephen Pultz, USD’s assistant vice president of enrollment management, commented on USD’s motivation behind issuing their formal statement.
See Gun Control, Page 5
Post-graduation plans
USD ranks in Peace Corps
Art Cash: Money in Print
Lamont Smith resigns
See Opinion, page 4
See Feature, page 8
See A&C, page 9
See Sports, page 11
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