4A
Friday, September 30, 1994
OPINION
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Course evaluations shouldn't be confidential
NICOLAS SHUMP Putting the power of evaluating teachers directly in the hands of students would foster more honest results.
For all those committee members trying to figure out how to make the course evaluations relevant to students, here's the answer. Let the students control the evaluations. I dutifully complete my evaluations for every course, but I wonder how effective the process is, considering only the teacher and perhaps department heads will read them. Now, if the evaluations were made public to the student body, the process might actually seem worthwhile.
This was how the evaluation project was done at the college I attended before KU. A group of students was responsible for collecting evaluations for each course on campus. The next step was to organize these evaluations by class and section numbers.
It was a relatively simple process. However, it allowed for students to be open about their experiences in the classroom. Furthermore, they were allowed to express their opinion in words, not in quantitative terms or by scales (ie, 5-4-3-2-1). Most evaluations that I have completed have only one section for "additional comments."
This method is the only true way to determine the efficacy of individual faculty members. Granted, some evaluations would be nothing more than a steady stream of profanities and/or complaints by disgruntled students unhappy with their grades. I would hope that the editors would exercise their authority and choose representative comments from
among those collected. However, if a particular teacher or a particular class was receiving consistently negative comments, that would be a good indicator that a change might be necessary. Furthermore, it would allow students to have a better opportunity to choose their schedules and could possibly cut down on the add/drop traffic since students would have an idea of the nature of the class and instructor.
Some might object to such a subjective method of evaluation, but I have had faculty members tell me in no uncertain terms to avoid particular teachers and/or classes.
To illustrate my point, there is a class offered here at KU that includes, as a mandatory class project, the celebration of menstruation. Those of us who are estrogen-challenged might want to avoid this particular class. This type of information is not available to students under the current system. As it is, the current system of evaluation does not put a premium on holding the teachers accountable to the student population. Let's face it, no department head is going to feel comfortable making changes in teaching assignments based on a few negative reviews. But, if these negative reviews were a matter of public knowledge, such a change might be justified more easily. Or to take another scenario: What if students read that Professor X's class on Subject Y was the academic equivalent of Dustin Hoffman's interrogation in
"The Marathon Man." Such knowledge would probably result in low enrollment in that section. This would either force the department to drop that class or replace that instructor or both. Whatever the outcome, the students would benefit.
As the latest U.S. News & World Report shows, colleges and universities are having a tough time attracting students and are having to rethink their educational methodology and philosophy. One suggestion I have is to shift the balance of power in favor of the students. So to Sherman Reeves and fellow committee members. Give the power to the people!
ficolas Shump is a Lawrence senior in comparative literature.
VIEWPOINT
GOP 'Contract with America' presumes voter ignorance
The Republican party has signed on the dotted line. The GOP has a "Contract with America."
Republicans signed a contract encouraging the
people to kick Republican congressmen out of office if they fail to work for the best interest of the general population.
exposed to slanted, negative information that flashes across the screen than a reasoned exchange in a person-to-person debate.
Even though politicians have been engaging in
CONTRACT WITH AMERICA
Though Republicans
have taken a step toward cleaning up political campaigns, voters must choose more intelligently.
The GOP has chosen to campaign on what it believes to be its merits with a strong political platform.
Voters watching a war between parties are shortchanged in the election process.
This is a refreshing change from the past when both parties based campaigns on the apparent faults of their opponents.
The world of politics would be a much better place if both parties took on, and stayed with, the practice of promoting themselves instead of bashing their enemies.
We are forced to make decisions where the presumed notion is that one candidate is the lesser of two evils.
Politicians know that voters are more apt to be
Candidates have spent the better part of almost four decades learning the system of quick-hitting television sound bites and advertisements.
deception since the invention of organized society, it has reached high tide in recent years, and the GOP should
be encouraged to continue using respectable campaign tactics.
But unfortunately the GOP failed to camouflage the intention of its contract.
The American people do not need the signature or permission of a congressman to vote them out of office.
All they need is to register to vote and show up at the polls.
What America does not needs is a contract from its employees allowing the employers to fire them.
Bad politicians have remained in office because U.S. voters have become apathetic and uninformed.
Political publicity stunts are expected and inevitable, but the GOP has shown us they do not need to be viciously aimed at the opponent.
All candidates for all offices should keep that in mind.
But more than anything Americans need to care.
DONELLA HEARNE FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
KANSAN STAFF
STEPHEN MARTINO
Editor
JEN CARR Business manager
CHRISTOPH FUHRMANS Managing editor
TOM EBLEN General manager, news adviser
CAMERON DEATH Retail sales manager
CATHERINE ELLSWORTH Systems coordinator
JEANNE HINES Sales and marketing adviser
News...Sara Bennett
Editorial...Donella Heame
Campus...Mark Martin
Sports...Brian James
Photo...Daron Bennett
Mellasa Lacey
Features...Tracal Carli
Planning Editor...Susan White
Design...Noh Muser
Assistant to the editor...Robbie Johnson
Editors
Business Staff
Campus mgr ... Todd Winterts
Regional mgr ... Laura Guth
National mgr ... Mark Masto
Coop mgr ... Emily Gibbon
Special Section mgr ... Jen Pierer
Production mgr ... Holly Boren
... Regan Overy
Marketing director ... Alan Stiglio
Creative director ... John Carton
Classified mgr ... Heather Niehaus
Letters should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 200 words. They must include the writer's signature, name, address and telephone number. Writers affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin are required to provide this information.
Guest columns should be typed, double-spaced and fewer than 700 words. The writer will be photographed.
The Kansan reserves the right to reject or edit letters, guest columns and cartoons. They can be mailed or brought to the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE Foreign policy lacks guidance
President Clinton is the architect of the most incoherent foreign policy in postwar America ...
Sean Finn / KANSAN
When the foreign policy of the world's superpower is reduced to little more than the sum of the parts of its domestic lobby groups, it can be argued that the country forfeits its moral authority, even though it is a superpower no longer...
Clinton has set himself the task of refashioning NATO in the amorphous image dreamed up for the organization by such leaden strategists as Anthony Lake, his National Security Adviser, and Warren Christopher, his nominal secretary of state.
The vision of American foreign policy-makers has been astonishingly blind to the fact that NATO is the only institution in the post-Cold War world with the full panoply of political and military capacity to meet new challenges effectively. As a consequence, there is the real prospect that the pattern of cooperation that has served America as well as it has served the countries of Europe will weaken over time, leaving fit the that is effective in its wake.
The Times London
Clinton is a crafty gambler at the 'craps game' of politics
Say what you will about the commander in chief of the United States Armed Forces.
But when it comes to rolling the dice in the great crasp game that is politics, Bill Clinton can be my shooter every time.
Call him waffling, shortsided and ignorant of the delicate workings of foreign policymaking. You can even call him unfit to rule.
Consider the events that led up to the dramatic showdown and settlement forged by the diplomatic mission to Haiti recently;
So he turned to trying to stem the tide of humanity that was literally drifting helplessly on the seaby somehow making the deplorable conditions in Haiti less dangerous, even livable, again.
After the flawed policy of imposing international sanctions on a country already toiling under the massive burden of political persecution, widespread disease and economic destitution dramatically increased by the flow of refugees, the Clinton administration reversed its policy of granting the Haitian "boat people" political asylum.
GUEST COLUMNIST
I think it's fair to say that the president was never comfortable with this shift in policy, and it certainly offered no solution to the politically-charged issue of immigration.
When negotiations finally broke down and the problem the Clinton administration inherited from the Bush presidency had moved to the front burner of the international scene, Clinton acted.
it was an immense political gamble, and one that, had it failed, would have left Clinton with no other option than to initiate an invasion that neither the
In what may become a political watershed for the troubled administration, the president first drew out the big stick and then sent a former president turned freelance diplomat to whisper in the ears of Haiti's military leaders.
majority of the American people nor the Congress wanted.
This for a president who is, at the moment, about as unpopular as a popularly elected leader can be.
Yet the president's brinkmanship has, at least for now, avoided the possibility of the slaughter of thousands of Haitians at the hands of U.S. troops in the streets of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.
And the action, though woefully tardy, also may give Clinton a much needed boost in credibility and confidence.
Boldly naming Jimmy Carter, Sen. Sam Nunn and retired Army Gen. Colin Pointer as point men in the last ditch effort at a peaceful settlement was not wholly popular within the administration itself.
That the president overcame the objections of Secretary of State Warren Christopher and others is a positive sign that he is capable of intelligent, clear headed foreign policy decision-making.
It is true that many questions still remain, and in many ways, the biggest challenges in Haiti are yet to come.
The triad of negotiators could not have been more perfectly balanced or suited for the task.
What does the United States do now that troops are safely on the ground? How long should the United States maintain an armed presence on the island?
There are certainly no guarantees that life in a country that has never truly known democracy will not return to the days of murder and despotism, even if all goes as planned and free elections are conducted again next year in Haiti.
These are tough questions that have no clear answers, but they are questions that must be handled swiftly, morally and competently.
The uncertainties of the post-cold war world provide both pitfalls and opportunities for the United States, not only in Haiti but around the world.
In the meantime, Clinton has some more chips on the table to work with and a little more time to prove that he's more than just lucky.
When it is practical, the United States must seek a peaceful means of promoting freedom and democracy, even if that means the demonstration of the will to act on any threats it makes.
Brian Blankenship is an Overland Park Junior in English and history.
HUBIE
By Greg Hardin