Senate approves Common Book and semesters

The semester conversion study subcommittee recommended at last night's Senate meeting that Otterbein convert to a semester system. The subcommittee was responsible for investigating the possible switch to semesters. A summer work group will be responsible for looking into the details involved in the switch. "What provisions have been made for student input, given the committee will be working over the summer?" asked Hillary Warren, associate professor of the communication department, to subcommittee member Don Foster. Abíódún Góké-Paríolá, vice president of Academic Affairs, responded by saying students had been on the subcommittee this spring and the full Senate, which includes students, will be voting in the fall. Also at the meeting, the Common Book for 2008-2009 was announced by Kate Porubcansky. The theme for the upcoming year will be "Journeys-Lost and Found." The committee, which consists of students, faculty and staff, chose "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah. Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. He moved to the United States in 1998. In 2004 he graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in political science. Porubcansky said choosing the Common Book was a "year-long process." There was an open call in the spring and summer for book nominations. Anyone can nominate a book as long as they have read it. The Common Book committee started narrowing down the nominees based on a set of predetermined criteria. By winter break, the committee had narrowed the nominees down to 10-12. During winter quarter the books were then narrowed down to five. The authors of the top two to three books were contacted to see if they were willing and able to visit Otterbein and then the winner was chosen. t&c;

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