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Editors-in-Chief: Zibby Pillote & Darya Watnick Business Managers: Tracy Marvin Advertising Manager: Mari Yamato News Editors: Rye Druzin & Megan Quint Opinion Editors: Cassie Bishop & Alec Kerry Features Editors: Beau Broughton & Maya McOmie Arts Editors: Alicia Kroell & Hayley Trivett Sports Editors: Fiona Corner & Michael DAngelo Style Source: Kathyrn Wlodarczyk Backdoor: Marcia Belsky & Erin Ruprecht Illustration Editor: Samantha Sarvet Illustrator: Samantha Sarvet Photography Editor: Larissa Board & Maggie Mcdermut Photographers: Danielle Blechert Copy Editing Chief: Sarah Gottlieb Copy Editors: Grayson Arango, Ailee Feber & Amelia Mulford Staff Writers: Jake Bartman, Danielle Blechert, Alix Finnigan, Joshua Freeman, Micah Leinbach, Scott Pisapia, Anthony Ruiz Advisors: Peter Christenson & Jason Feiner
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la carte gets shelved, buffet prevails

All-you-can-eat will remain while administration addresses concerns over the switch
BY MEGAN QUINT
News Editor

The Pioneer Log News

January 27, 2012

The administrations plan to transition Fields Dining Room from an all-you-can-eat cafeteria to an la carte system has been deferred for at least a year. The decision was reached in early January, following a period of discussion between certain members of the administration, Executive Council and Student Activities that began at the end of fall semester. Not all members of the administrative council involved in the original plan were a part of the decision to defer the changes. The initial proposal, which was announced to the student body in October, included the remodeling of the interior of Fields to account for la carte lines, as well as adding a second entrance and patio seating. This plan was conceived in response to the opinions of students and of Bon Apptit, who had been asking for the changes for almost four years. Potential benefits of the la carte system include longer

Platt DSA controversy continues

BY RYE DRUZIN
News Editor

meal hours, shorter lines and the option for students to take food out of the building. Everybody was pretty excited to try and do it, said Facilities Manager Larry Atchison, who was a part of the original administrative council on this project and was involved in selecting Holst Architecture to to the renovations. The positive feedback was countered by a healthy amount of skepticism amongst the student body. A lack of student input in the decision, the notion of fundamentally altering the campus main social center and the cost override were all sources of controversy in response to the changes. I think that waiting is a wise decision. While I am a fan of an la carte dining service...more time needs to be spent consulting students, said Sarra Wynn (14). Associate Dean of Students Jeff Feld-Gore cites uncertainty and a lack of information as the main motivation for deferring the project.

We were at a point where we needed to make a decision about whether to move forward or not, so we just said were going to postpone it at least one more year to really address some of those concerns, said Feld-Gore. Among the concerns Feld-Gore mentioned are portion sizes and the cost. The expense was one of the biggest questions for students, and ...we wanted to be able to answer that so students would feel good about it before we make it, said Feld-Gore. Feld-Gore said that the reaction within the institution has been disappointment. We want to make it happen, but we want to make it happen right, so that disappointment is tempered a little bit, said FeldGore. Although the renovations to Fields Dining Room will not be implemented as planned, other changes will be put in place within the meal plan system for the up-

coming academic year. These will include the option to use a meal equivalency in the trail room for lunch in addition to dinner, which already exists, as well as shifting the late night hours in the trail room back an hour, creating a one-hour overlap where both dining rooms are open. One of the things people want is flexibility in the plans, said Feld-Gore. These changes aim to allow more flexibility for dining hours and locations as well on cutting down on lines in Fields, which Feld-Gore cites as a main complaint among students. Feld-Gore will continue to poll students on this topic in his upcoming forums in the residence halls, taking place Jan. 30 and 31 in the evening.

FAFSA process changes, affecting Verification

BY JOSH FREEMAN
Staff Writer

The Pioneer Log 0615 SW Palatine Hill Rd. MSC 121 Portland, OR 97219 piolog@gmail.com www.piolog.com

Last year, the Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) were created in response to student and faculty concerns about smoking and ` on Lewis & Clarks three campuses. This year, the DSA in front of the Platteau has drawn complaints from students and has left staff in a quandary about what to do. Its really close to these buildings, and that was a decision that was made to put it there, said Platt-Howard and Hartzfeld Area Director Natasha Begin. However, what was happening is students down in Howard were hearing a bunch of noise and [the DSA] amplifies. Its a nice DSA, its a covered DSA, and so I think it attracts a lot of people. We have a lot of students coming over from Copeland and coming over from Forest to use the DSA so its definitely attracting more students. The noise coming from the DSA had become so troublesome for students living in Howard that the college brought an acoustician onto campus to measure the noise being generated from the DSA. According to Begin, it turned out that the noise from large groups of smokers was vibrating off of the east side glass weather panel and was then being projected towards Howard, which explained the increased noise that was being heard by that hall. The glass weather panel has since been removed, with Campus Living and administrative staff hoping that the removal will reduce noise projection from the DSA without increasing noise generated towards Copeland and Platt-East. The removal of the bench is a separate matter. According to Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Chair of the Smoking Policy Implementation Review Team Michael Ford, the removal of the bench at the Platt DSA was an attempt to reduce the numbers of students hanging around the

What the Platt DSA looks like currently, shown with the east facing weather panel and original bench removed to reduce noise projection and crowd size.

PHOTO BY RYE DRUZIN

DSA in order to better control noise levels, especially during quiet hours. We tried a lot of things during the fall term through Campus Safety Officers, through RAs, through fellow smokers who had gotten involved, said Ford, and in the end those did not prove to be effective.

I dont want for people who smoke and use the DSAs to... feel ostracized in any way, shape or form.
The lack of change from the community of smokers and students that are using the DSA prompted Ford and others to recommend that the bench be removed by Facilities. It was, after some deliberation, according to minutes obtained by The Pioneer Log from November and December meetings of the Team. Since then, students have acted on their own, bringing their own table to the DSA last week, which was promptly removed by Facilities. While Begin appreciates that students use the DSA and the community that has been built around

it, she feels that there is a level of respect and responsibility that has been lacking from the community, responsibility that the community must show for their space. You know, especially for Campus Living, we really respect and appreciate community, said Begin. It would be fine if people hung out [at the DSA], so long as they were continuing to be respectful of the fact that it is so close to the [rest of the] community. I mean, at the beginning of the year people were burning signs that were put up there asking to be quiet and so that is, to me, a sign of a little bit of disrespect which is really unfortunateI dont want for people who smoke and use the DSAs to feel isolated or to make them feel ostracized in any way, shape or form. They are just as much a part of the community, so how can we just come to some communal understanding? Campus Living staff welcome questions and concerns from students regarding any of the DSAs. The Smoking Policy Implementation Review Team encourages students to attend their monthly policy meetings. The next meeting will be held Wednesday, Feb. 15, 12:15 - 1:15 p.m. in the Gray Room in Templeton, across the hallway from the Dubach PC Computer Lab.

Students filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2012-2013 schoolyear now have a new aid at their disposal: the Data Retrieval Tool. Designed to download financial information directly from the IRS into FAFSA, the DRT will only be effective if tax returns from the current year are already on file for the student. For this reason, the Financial Aid office has moved the priority filing date for FAFSA to March 15, two weeks beyond its usual March 1 deadline. FAFSA is a form used to collect financial data from continuing and prospective financial aid recipients. Parental and student asset and income information is necessary to complete the form, which is then processed and used to create an award of federal grants and loans, in addition to institutional grants. The impetus behind the Financial Aid offices push for the DRT comes on the heels of a Department of Education policy change. Verification, a process that affects approximately 30% of Lewis & Clark financial aid applicants annually, consists of the required submission of various financial documents, including signed copies of tax returns, in order to verify the information submitted in the FAFSA. For the 2012-2013 school year and all subsequent years, signed copies of tax returns are no longer acceptable as per the Department of Education. Instead, IRS tax return transcripts must be ordered directly from the IRS and provided to the Financial Aid office. Use of the DRT circumvents the need to request the tax return transcripts, as it imports the information directly from the IRS website to the FAFSA. This is valid as long as no changes have been made to the imported data in the FAFSA by the applicant. The Financial Aid office expects the DRT to simplify and expedite the verification process for chosen financial aid applicants.