CAMPUS/AREA
Thursday, September 24,1992
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
Signing may earn foreign language credit
By Muneera Naseer
Kansan staff writer
Students at the University of Kansas might be able to use their hands as a foreign language.
During the Spring 1992 semester, Terry Hostin, president of the Kansas Association of the Deaf, wrote to James Muyksens, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, proposing that KU offer sign language as a foreign language option.
Muyksens referred the issue to the college's committee on undergraduate studies and advising. The committee this academic year will decide whether to accept Hostin's proposal.
Hostin said he wanted to encourage people to learn sign language so that when they meet deaf people in the street, they would be able to communicate.
"That would make our life more comfortable, more equal and more accessible to them," he said.
Kim Wilcox, char of the speech-language-hearing department, said it would take resources to offer four testers of sign language classes.
Sally Roberts, associate professor of special education, said that sign language was not different from other languages because it had its own syntax and vocabulary.
"Students in the past have wanted to be allowed to use sign language as a second language to fulfill foreign language requirement," she said. "It's something you can use more readily in the United States. It's more useful than French or German."
Martine Hammond-Paludan, director of academic affairs for the Board of Regents, said that now students could file a petition with the University allowing them to use sign language as a foreign language.
But Roberts said that in the past few years any petition she wrote for students was denied by the University, for reasons unknown to her.
The University's special education department received a $110,000 federal grant earlier this month. The grant, to be issued each of the next four years, will allow training of student interpreters for hearing-impaired people and the employment of two hearing-impaired adults to teach sign language classes.
"We can handle the classes through the grant," Roberts said. When the grant runs out, the University has to pick up the cost for the extra classes."
Roberts said that if the University approved sign language to fulfill the foreign language requirement, students could enroll in the available
sign language classes. There are two sign language classes offered at KU and two at the University of Kansas Medical Center. A total of 90 students are enrolled in the sign language courses at KU.
If the committee approved the proposal, the other University schools would have the choice whether their students could use sign language to fulfill their major.
The Legislature passed a bill in February that recognized sign language and allowed state educational institutions to offer it as a foreign language option.
Credit received for the course will count toward the satisfaction of a foreign language requirement of the institutions.
None of the Regents schools now offer sign language as a foreign language.
Sign language instructor Sally Roberts teaches her students how to sign the KU alma mater in her beginning sign language class.
Holly McQueen / KANSAN
Student Senate kills funds to bring band to campus
By Stacy Morford Kansan staff writer
Student Senate members argued for two and a half hours last night about whether Senate could pay for the rock band Toad the Wet Sropter to play at KU. At 11 p.m. the bill failed by fewer than 10 votes.
"Almost three times tonight we've overlooked important rules and regulations," said Daron Sinkler, Nunemaker senator. "Are we doing this because we like the band or are we doing this because it's a good service
The Toad bill, originally submitted by Brad Garlinghouse, student body president, and John Schwartz, Liberal Arts and Sciences senator, stated that Senate would co-sponsor the event with Student Union Activities and pay $1,250 for one fourth of the cost of the band's talent and one half of the advertisement cost.
What began as a light and humorous bill — section six attested to "the funkiness and grooviness of Toad," — by the end of the meeting had been "enrolled by the rule book."
"This is the one thing that people have said they wanted," Schwartz said. "I think all this debate is silly."
Patrick Dilley, graduate senator, was Senate's most vocal advocate for killing the bill. He said that the bill violated rules and regulations because it did not go through the finance committee and because the concert would not allow access for all students.
"I'm mad," he said. "If we're not going to follow our own dawn rules, then who is? There are reasons for rules and regulations. If we're going
to disregard them entirely, then why do we have Student Senate?"
Kristin Lange, Student Executive Committee chair, reminded the senators of the importance of not wasting money on "frivolous" expenses when student groups such as the Hispanic American Leadership Organization and the Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas might still need funds.
"I think we've debated around this from every single side we can," Lange said.
following the vote, a debate began about Senate's ability to adjourn prematurely. Leslie Lancaster, hold-over senator, was enraged by the 20-19 adjournment vote because it left two old-business bills on the floor.
Senate killed the bill. Immediately
"That's a complete cop-out," she said. "Half the senators should not be in office right now."
■ On the lighter side, Senate also passed "A Resolution to Open Bear Hunting Season." The resolution formally declared today Crimson and Blue Day. It encourages students to
wear crimson and blue attire to tonight's football game against the University of California.
Other groups and events financed by Senate last night included Kiosk, the Second Annual Major Fair, and the Hong Kong and Macau Student Association.
Senate also changed the composition of senate's electoral board by allowing a political science graduate student to replace the required faculty or staff member from that department.
Math 101 addresses shortcomings, increases classroom instruction
By KC Trauer
Kansan staff writer
When Beth Berry took Math 101 in Spring 1990, she found that no matter how much time she spent in Strong Hall, she kept failing tests and falling behind.
The class, which had no required lectures and little instruction, did not provide enough structure for Berry, now a West Depth, N.J., senior. She withdrew from the class twice and finally passed Math 101 this summer through a correspondence course with the help of an private tutor.
Since 1990, the University of Kansas' college algebra program has increased its emphasis on classroom instruction, and students have
Berry did not struggle alone. In the Spring 1990, almost a quarter of all Math 101 students withdrew, almost a fifth failed and 7 percent received A's.
responded with better scores. Last fall, 74 percent of Math 101 students passed the class and 16 percent received A's.
"I think the classes had a real repu-
tation of being self-taught," said Mariyn Carlson, director of the Kansas Algebra Program. "I think that we are now trying to emphasize the classroom."
The algebra program, which offered optional lectures three years ago, now requires students to attend class three hours a week. Homework, which also used to be optional, now constitutes about 10 percent of the class grade.
Stricter enforcement of the ACT prerequisites also helped to place students in the right classes.
"Over half the students in 101 had ACT scores that said they should be in 002," Carlson said.
Since the changes in the program.
KU's student-withdrawal rates have dropped below the national average for college algebra classes, said David shulenburger, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.
"We found that the changes produced a greater effort on the part of students," Shulenburger said.
Despite the improvement, Spring 1992 scores dropped to a level near where they were three years ago.
"This fall, score rates of weekly tests are running slightly higher than they were last fall," she said.
The program this semester changed the required classroom time from two to three hours in study groups, which
Carlson said harder mid-term and final tests along with a stepped-up emphasis on homework contributed to lower grades. Also, spring grades are normally lower than those in the fall.
Berry thought was definitely a step in the right direction.
"With the study groups it was like, 'Let's review the homework. Any questions? Good-bye,'" she said. "It wasn't enough for me."
Matt Strampe, a Lawrence senior who has taught algebra off and on since 1988, said the increase in classroom hours has allowed instructors to teach more.
"When we met twice a week all we had time to do was go over homework," Strampe said. "Now that we have three days a week, you can cover the material and teach it better to the students."
Linda Marshall, assistant director of the Student Assistance Center, said students used to complain to her about the teaching methods used in the program but rarely do anymore, perhaps because they were getting
more feedback in the classroom
However, students still have some of the same problems Berry faced when she took the class. Many of the difficulties stem from making the transition from high school to college, which requires the student to shoulder more of the responsibility for learning.
Amy Jumisko, Boulder, Colo., freshman, said. "For me, I was able to handle it better when I had the teacher pressure in high school to get the work done. But I think here, it's just learning to manage your time and getting it done."
Maggie Moore, Denver freshman,
said that between the class work,
tutors and computer tutorials,
students had the tools to help them learn
college algebra.
"If you want to learn something, you can learn it," she said.
KU math scores
Math 101 grade card
Math 101 grade card
□ Fall 1989
Passed - 64%
Failed or withdrew - 36%
□ Spring 1990
Passed - 58%
Failed or withdrew - 42%
□ Fall 1990
Passed - 74%
Failed or withdrew - 26%
□ Spring 1991
Research 71%
Passed - 74%
Failed or withdrew - 29%
Fall 1991
Failed or withdrew - 26%
Spring 1992
Passed - 63%
Passed - 63% Failed
Failed or withdrew - 35%
Source: KU General Education Assessment Reports
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