The Towerlight, April 23, 2001

tl20010423-000 "0111/Fer Monday www.thetowerlight.com Published 'twice weekly by students of 'Towson University 4/23/01 RAs not planning to form union EMF students showcase films Tigers fall in three of four 15 Wermeil qualifies for ECAC's 19 Deparinunds News 3 Nation 4 Taking Stock 5 Campus brie/ S 6 A&E 9 Backstage Pass 119 Sound Bites 14 Sports 15 in This Corner 15 Athlete of the Week 18 Fast Break 19 Op/Ed 22 OT program slips in rankings Once as high as 13, Towson's graduate occupational therapy program ranked 23rd by U.S. News Leta Green The Thwerlight Towson's occupational thera-py program, the only major pro-gram on campus ranked in U.S. News and World Report, was ranked 23rd in the nation for best graduate schools in the country. Maggie Reitz, chair of the occupational therapy program, said she felt excited about the ranking when she found out last week. ""With a past ranking of being number 13, it's interesting because the ranking is basically like you are in a beauty pag-eant,"" she said. The program, which is in its 26th year, will begin offering a doctoral degree in the fall and. is working On having a new pro-fessionals building constructed. Towson's program tied for 23rd place with five other national universities, including the University of New Mexico and the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities. Rankings in the health profes-sions are based on the results of surveys which determine a pro-gram's reputation, which are sent to deans, faculty and administrators of accredited graduate programs. Respondents are asked to. evaluate the academic quality of programs by rating them from marginal to distinguished. Individuals who were unfa-miliar with particular programs were instructed to select "".don't know."" Scores for each school were averaged from all respon-dents who rated that school. The OT program at the University is small, with about 200 students and usually only 20 to 40 students focused on the Up close & personal with Tracy Morgan Chris Ifenrrthe Tawerbght Tracy Morgan performed his stand-up routine for a packed crowd Thursday in the Chesapeake Rooms. To read the uncensored question and answer session with the ""SNL"" star, go to www.thetowerlight.com. major at any given time. Reitz said the program is known to be competitive because it accepts students after a screening process, on a semes-ter basis, 01' is a health rehabilitation profession that helps individu-als with disabilities achieve independence through activities and wellness. Reitz said Towson's 01' pro-gram is a wonderful community of shared learning, where some-thing is always happening. One of the main reasons why we got our ranking is the due to the faculty who spend a lot of time with the students,"" Reitz said. ""They like to assist and attend with honoring the stu-dents and they are very student-centered."" Reitz also said the program is See 01, page 7 Jeff Bawd= The Tawerhght Maggie Rietz, chair of the occupational therapy program, said she was excited about the program's national ranking of No. 23 by U.S. News. Today High 82 Low 61 Tuesday High 79 Low 46 Wednesday High 64 Low 43 Thursday High 65 Low 46 "