Inside

Section A
The price of success; and Freeing free speech.

Hip-hop and festivals

Hyphy music comes to Toledo; and a review of Lil Waynes Rebirth

Rocket Recruits
UT introduces No. 1 recruiting class; Fetterman revealed; and both basketball teams lose.

Todays weather

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

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Arts and Life, B1

Sports, B4

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Players in the Washington scene

University of Toledo pays federal lobbyist firms $130,000; receives $13M in federal funding for FY09
By Joe Griffith Editor in Chief

Issue 36

During his State of the Union address on Jan. 27, President Barack Obama urged Congress to close the credibility gap between American citizens and Washington lawmakers. To close that credibility gap we have to take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized

influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; to give our people the government they deserve, he said. Its time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or with Congress. Its time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office. As the Obama administration looks to shed light on the

work of federal lobbyists and decrease their influence in Washington, public institutions of higher education continue to lobby lawmakers in hopes of securing federal research dollars. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, the University of Toledo spent roughly $130,000 in fiscal year 2009 to employ the efforts of two federal lobbyist firms in Washington. William McMillen, vice president of governmental relations and chief of staff in the Office of the President at UT, said UT paid roughly

$90,000 to the federal lobbyist firm Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. in 2009. According the Center for Responsive Politics, UT also paid $40,000 to Dykema Gossett PLLC from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2009; however, McMillen said UT ended their affiliation with the company that summer. According to a UT Congressional Requests report from fiscal year 2009, UT made 16 congressional project funding requests totaling approximately $24 million, and received roughly $13.2 million of those requested funds.

The people on the ground

According to McMillen, there are roughly 40,000 lobbyists working in Washington and thousands of lobbying firms that specialize in a wide variety of industries such as higher education, energy, transportation or agriculture. You name it, there is a lobbying firm that specializes in
Lobbyists, Page A3

Student dies in car crash on winter break

Memorial set for sometime next week
By Randiah Green News Editor

Online and Active

Have thoughts about the role of lobbyists in higher education? Comment on our Web site.

Obama to raise Pell Grant to $35B

By Vincent D. Scebbi Assistant News Editor

RecycleMania underway at UT
Students slow to participate in national recycling competition
By Khyara P. Harris For the IC

President Barack Obama announced in January a proposed 92 percent increase to the Federal Pell Grant for college students, expanding the available Pell Grant funds to $35 billion. The current Pell Grant program offers a total of $16.6 billion to eligible students. Any time there is an increase in Pell Grants, its good news, said Carolyn Baumgartner, the director of financial aid at the University of Toledo. According to Obamas proposed budget, 8.7 million students would benefit from the increased Federal Pell Grant, compared to the current 7.7 million students who receive it. According to Baumgartner, 7,086 out of the approximate 17,000 undergraduate students at UT receive Federal Pell Grants. A lot of students are eligible at UT, she said. According to Baumgartner, the maximum amount of Pell Grants awarded to students for this school year is $5,350 and the minimum is $976, but the amount will increase another $200 for next year. Baumgartner said most UT students who receive the grant are in the high-need population. According to Laura Smith, the technical analyst in the Financial Aid Office, the changes in Obamas proposed budget will allow any student who meets the qualifications for a Pell Grant to automatically receive the full amount. In order to receive a Pell Grant, students must be high school graduates who are working toward their first bachelors degree and must have satisfactory academic progress.
Pell, Page A2

Nick Kneer / IC

Running red with UT

From the media press box of the new Fetterman Training Center overlooking the newly renovated track. For a peak inside the new Fetterman Training Center check out the Sports section on page B4.

RecycleMania, a competition that inspires college students across the nation to reduce, reuse and recycle, has made its way to the University of Toledos Main Campus for the first time. UT is currently ranked 60th in the nation out of 299 colleges participating in RecycleMania for recycling paper, cardboard, bottles, cans and food service organics. UT is a part of the Per Capita division of RecycleMania, which weighs how much we recycle against how many students attend UT, said Sam Harden, a graduate student majoring in public administration. The Per Capita division

was chosen because this is UTs first year participating according to Kent Evans, a senior majoring in political science and geography. Recycling cans are located in all the buildings and residence halls so students can responsibly throw away recyclables, Harden said. Once these are filled, Lott Industries collects the cans and handles both the measuring and recycling at the companys factory. After the recyclables are weighed the measurement is taken and posted to the RecycleMania Web site, Harden said. UT is in its third week of RecycleMania and has drawn little to
Recycle, Page A6

The memorial for former student Faith Amuzu, who died in a car accident on his way back to the University of Toledo from West Virginia during winter break, is being scheduled for next week. Amuzu, who was originally from Accra, Ghana, was a sophomore transfer student majoring in pharmacy. Amuzu was also an active member of the UT College Republicans as well as Student Government. Interim Dean of Students Michele Martinez said it took weeks to locate Amuzus family and notify them of his death. This has been a long process for the family, Martinez said. It was quite an ordeal of finding his family because they dont live in the United States so Ive asked everyone to be really patient. Ive been talking to the family and Ive been kind of the spokesperson of trying to figure out exactly what were going to do. Martinez said there is no set date for the memorial service because she is waiting for Amuzus father to get his visa to come to the U.S. from Ghana. He cant make his flight arrangement until he gets his
Memorial, Page A6

UT begins month of remembrance

Power, Progress and Promise kicks off Black History Month at the University of Toledo
By Julie Gollihue IC Staff Writer

Online and Active

Have thoughts about Obamas increase to the Pell Grant? Leave them on our Web site.

Though African-Americans have progressed towards equality, President and CEO of the Greater Toledo Urban League John C. Jones said African-Americans have more work to do to overcome racial disparities. According to Jones, everyone has become focused on how far African-Americans have come, but seem to forget how far they still have to go. It is up to the younger generation to carry on the revolution and demand more equality, Jones said. A year and a half ago all of us were excited. We elected a person of color, a person of African descent to be the President of The United States of America. But with this, a new term arose that we were now a post-racial society. This frustrates me, Jones said. Jones said he doesnt want to have a post-racial society that sees no color because

culture is an important part of a persons identity. When I look at our president, I see a man who is black. And that is not a bad thing, Jones said. Never did I hear Dr. King share from the concept that we should fight for a colorblind America. What King said was that he wanted an America to respect the content of my character and not discriminate against the color of my skin. The University of Toledo began the celebration for this years Black History Month on Monday with a program called Power, Progress and Promise. Speakers, poets and choir members began the celebration with words of inspiration to UT students and community members. As college students you all are in a unique position to impact the world with what you have going on here, and what will happen to you when you leave the university and go out into what is called the real world, Jones said while speak-

ing at the celebration. At the Urban League, Jones works with community members to encourage them to have the power within themselves to continue the revolution for equality. James Jackson, associate director of Multicultural Student Services, said the theme of this years celebration, Power, Progress and Promise, represents the journey of AfricanAmericans from the beginning of time and how they will progress in the future. Progress speaks to us of our travels and reminds us that we may not be where we want to be as African-Americans, but we are not where we used to be, Jackson said. The promise is the students; the potential and the hope that we have for you young people. Jones said there are still inequalities between AfricanAmericans and other races in unemployment. According to Jones, in the early 1900s around 6.5 percent of African-Americans were

Dean Mohr / IC

President and CEO of the Greater Toledo Urban League John C. Jones speaks at the Black History Month program Power, Progress and Promise on Monday in the Student Union Building. unemployed. In the 1960s, when Jones said the black revolution took place, the unemployment rate for African-Americans was around 5.5 percent. The current rate is at about 10 percent. If you take those same statistics and break them down according to minority groups as well, you find that the African-American unemployment rate is double that of the national rate, he said. According to Jones, this shows the African-American people still have much to fight for. Jessica Merritt, program director of the Office of Student Involvement and first-year doctoral student with a focus on foundations of education, said the program was designed to spark interest in how the university is celebrating diverse
Remembrance, Page A3

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feel, to a large degree like they have to compete with one another to get what again are scarce federal resources, or limited amounts of time that lawmakers will grant them, so that when they can mount a very concerted lobby effort on whatever it is they are lobbying on and that might be money, that might be attention, that might be the ability to do this or that, it could be things that really have nothing to do with the educational mission at all, he said. While the Obama administration attempts to limit the influence of lobbyists and reform earmarks, McMillen said lobbyists arent going away in Washington and when you have millions of dollars on the line if you dont have a lobbyist youre putting that money at risk. According to Calzonetti, the push for earmark reform and legislative transparency is step in the right direction. Calzonetti said earmark reform in Washington helps weed out the weak proposals that are sent to members of Congress. What you need to do is, if you have a request going in, you need to be sure that its a quality product and the project will meet the scrutiny and that the member of Congress feels good about supporting it, he said. So with earmark reform its much more difficult to receive these funds; you have to make a very strong case, you have to show why its important for the nation and the region.

BriefsA2 From Page

Tupac Resurrection will be screened.

Lobbyists From Page A1

it, so there is a lot of lobbying firms that specialize in higher education and Van Scoyoc is one of them, McMillen said. According to McMillen, federal lobbyists are vying for increased funding to institutions of higher education, which comes in the form of earmarks congressionally directed appropriations. Van Scoyoc receives approximately $90,000 per year of UTs budget through the office of Research and Economic Development to serve as UTs interest in Washington by tracking the movement or availability of funding from federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, McMillen said. In addition to tracking the emergence of federal research dollars, Van Scoyoc also tracks the progress of legislation dealing with issues that concern the UT community such as student loans, scholarships and issues that may affect the UT Medical Center. We get more than $8 million worth of earmarks or congressionally directed appropriations per year, in part in the fact that they [Van Scoyoc] are the people on the ground in Washington every day, McMillen said. The other thing that they do thats important is they have, besides the elected officials, they have insight and access into agencies.

According to McMillen, Van Scoyoc advises UT and helps shepard the earmark requests through the appropriate congressional people.

Spectrum
Spectrum will host a meeting in the Student Union Building Room 3020 Thursday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. UT students and local community members will discuss black history within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement.

UTs earmarks
The roughly $13.2 million in congressional earmarks UT received in fiscal year 2009 is spread out through 12 different projects. According to Vice President for Research and Economic Development Franck Calzonetti, the earmarks are disbursed to UT following a technical review and approval from the specific agency that received the congressional appropriations. It could be the U.S. department of agriculture receives a notification that a project is to be supported at the University of Toledo, and then we receive notification from the agency, and then we have to submit a proposal, he said. If the proposal does not meet the requirements or mission of the specific agency, UT researchers must rewrite the proposal until it is approved, Calzonetti said. The directions of Congress are clear that the funds be provided [to UT] so we just have to make sure that we just put in good proposals and then the funds are just set up in a regular university research account, he said. In 2009 UT received earmarks from several agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Campus Activities and Programming

Campus Activities and Programming will host a movie night in the Student Recreation Center Oak Room Thursday 10 p.m. to midnight. The movie being shown is Zombieland. For more information, call 419-530-2310.

Center for Performing Arts

The Center for Performing Arts will host the Dorothy Mackenzie Price Piano Series on Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon and again on Sunday at 3 p.m. Pianist Lambis Vassiliadis will perform in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free. For more information, contact Angela Riddel at 419-530-2452 or TheArts@utoledo.edu.

Student Recreation Center

The Student Recreation Center will host a Spring Fling in the Student Recreation Center Aerobics Room Saturday from noon to 1:30 p.m. The 90-minute workout will consist of drills combining cardio, weights and core. For more information, contact Angela Green at 419530-3700 or angela.green@ utoledo.edu.

According to Calzonetti, and it gets to be controverUTs number one priority is sial, but universities today the construction of a Green- who want to be important house and Hydroponics Re- research universities and search Comwant to be plex. Throughrecognized for out the past Its sort of an un- their research few years, Caltheir known thing. You and zonetti said UT achievements dont think of [UT] as in research has received roughly $11 an agricultural have to be million of the university. aparth iofg tthe estimated $14 Wa s n o n million needed scene because to build the thats where c o m p l e x , William McMillen the money is. which is fund- Vice President, Dave Levined through the Government Relations thal, commuDOA. nications diIts sort of an unknown rector for the Center for Rething, McMillen said. You sponsive Politics, said the dont think of [UT] as an agri- centers mission is to shine cultural university. light on the dark corners of While the agricultural com- government. plex is UTs main priority, According to Levinthal, lobCalzonetti said the Center for bying among educational inSolar Electricity and Hydro- stitutions in the U.S. has gen is the project that has re- grown from $46.1 million in ceived the largest amount of 2000 to $106 million in 2008. funding, which came from So what that says is that the DOD. educational institutions particularly in a time when fedLobbyists and higher eral resources are ever more scarce are investing in federal education lobbying efforts in order to According to McMillen, try to get whatever resources most large universities with they can from the federal national research budgets government, or to protect hire federal lobbyist firms in their interests when it comes Washington. In order for UT to legislation that may be to attract the best faculty and passed by a congressman, scientists, McMillen said UT he said. has to show it is capable of Levinthal said CRP is neusecuring federal research tral on whether lobbying is dollars. good or bad and lobbying is If you want to be a player right guaranteed to Americans and you want to do that, you by the U.S. Constitution. have to [have lobbyists], he What it boils down to is said. Its a complicated issue that educational institutions

Remembrance From Page A1

culture by showcasing AfricanAmerican student talent. The Distinctive Noise Gospel Choir sang two pieces, and students Naki Akrobettoe and Alisha Davis recited poems.

Davis, a senior majoring in psychology, said she was inspired to write her poem Black beyond February by the lack of motivation in her generation. If we forget that there is still more to do, then we will never reach what we need to, Davis said. Davis said her poem was a message that African-American history and culture should only be celebrated for 28 days

out of the year. In a world where the me overpowers the we, we struggle to remember where we came from, Davis said. Akrobettoe, a graduate student majoring in English, said her poem Black is explains that she is proud to be black, but is constantly fighting stereotypes that come with being black. Black is racing the corporate ladder, leaving behind the ghetto

and the hood; but also times, Black is being misunderstood, Akrobettoe said in the poem. This year UT is focusing on encompassing all cultures during Black History Month, Merritt said. I know that sometimes people of different backgrounds fear feeling out of place at these events, Merritt said. We are trying to host events this year that will make anyone feel welcome, all races, and all levels, even faculty and staff. Merritt said one scheduled Black History Month event called Whites in Black History is construct-

ed to show the white influence on black history. Jones said it is important for all UT students to realize their part in the movement and the power that they hold. Ask yourself, what can I do to impact tomorrow? Jones said. Believe you me, while its wonderful that we have a president in the White House named Barack Hussein Obama, while all the varnish and all the luster is starting to wear thin on the good president, he was never able to do this by himself. The question always remains, what are we going to do to help fulfill the promise for tomorrow?

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