Jennifer Ditlevson
November 18, 2008
Delta Zeta members crammed on couches and filled the floor in their Clark Hall suite armed with squiggle scissors and pink and green paper scattered paper about the floor. They all had gotten together to make scrapbook pages in memory of their beloved sorority sister Giselle Updegraff Monday night.
The room bustled with activity as Updegraff's sorority sisters slowly began to volunteer stories about how they knew her – what made her unlike anyone they had ever met.
"She marched to the beat of her own drum," a girl said as she drew an outline of puffy paint on a pink-and-green-striped album page.
Sisters of Delta Zeta gathered less than 48 hours after Updegraff, a senior journalism major at AU fell from her seventh-floor dormitory window between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. She passed away only a few hours later at Akron City Hospital.
According to Katie Ryder, who lived near Updegraff and witnessed the situation, Updegraff was distraught and had been arguing with her roommate. During the altercation, residence assistant sophomore John Kuzio contacted Safety... continue
AU eliminated 48 university staff and administrative positions last Tuesday as part of the plan to cut the university budget that President Fred Finks hopes will begin to repair the $3 million operating budget deficit.
The cuts included 16 senior level administrators, four administrative assistants, 13 building services staff, four maintenance staff, nine from auxiliary services and two from the business office. The total savings of the position cuts will result in the saving of $460,395 this year and will increase to $2.6 million in the 2009-2010 academic year.
"The decisions that have been made were not easy," Finks said. "I’ve never sat on a decision for four weeks before."
Finks said he did not know he would have to make the cuts until three weeks ago.
AU has contracted with Job and Family Services to assist in finding its former employees the jobs they will need or want. Career counseling will be offered for those individuals who are being laid off. If they or any member of their immediate family are currently enrolled in college here, they will be allowed to continue their education here for free.
There has also been a casual worker... continue
