Placement test developed
A new and more effective method of testing incoming college freshmen in English proficiency has been co-developed by KU English education professor Oscar M. Haugh.
The examination, just issued by Houghton Mifflin of New York, is called the "College English Placement Test" and is the result of four years of research by the authors.
Haugh, who also serves as director of the KU language arts teaching program, combined with James I. Brown, professor of rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, to prepare the examination for Houghton Mifflin.
The examination concerns itself with effectively measuring a student's understanding of the basic structure of the English language and his ability to manipulate his language effectively, and providing accurate information for placing a student in the kind of composition class best suited to his needs and abilities. Depending on the results a student will be placed in one of three English sections—remedial, regular, or honors. Because the exam points out individual weaknesses it has diagnostic implications as well, Haugh said.
To help determine the exact content of the exam Haugh and
Red Cross blood drive begins today at JRP
The Red Cross blood drive begins today and will continue through Thursday, said Mrs. Marcella Wolfson, chairman of the drive.
The blood drive is sponsored and organized by the Pershing Rifles, she said. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lobby of Joseph R. Pearson Hall.
Mrs. Wolfson said donors need weigh only 110 pounds and be in good health. Parental consent is no longer needed for 18-year-olds, she added.
Blood drives by the Red Cross supply one-half the more than five million blood units used each
year in the United States, Mrs. Wolfson said.
After blood is collected, she said, it is sent to distribution points and hospitals. Needed blood is often supplied by hospitals. A sub-center distribution point operates from the main center in Wichita on a 24-hour basis to help meet the need.
Mrs. Wolfson said because Douglas County participates in the Red Cross blood program, KU students and residents of the county reserve blood for thirteen dollars a pint when it is needed whether they donate or not. Costs can run as high as $100 in some metropolitan hospitals which do not have this program she added.
City's newest commissioner calls for KU cooperation
City Commissioner John Emick said in an interview Sunday it was imperative that the city of Lawrence cooperate and function with the University.
The city is growing as is the University, Emick said, and the problems they have in common are related to growth.
"Growth problems are good problems," he said. Emick was sworn in as a city commissioner Feb. 3 to replace Dr. Robert Hughes, a Lawrence physician, who moved from the city.
Mayor Clark O. Morton Jr., who presides over the commission, said Emick was appointed because his previous experience with the job, his interest in it and his availability of time for it. Emick served on the commission from 1965 to 1969. He was mayor of Lawrence from April 1968 to April 1969. Illness prevented him from re-running for the job at the end of his term. He will complete Hughes' term of office which will end in April, 1973.
Emick said the commission also meets regularly with University officials in an attempt to coordinate the city's growth problems with KU's. Representatives of the KU faculty and administration serve on the city's Planning Board, the Board of Code Appeals and the Human Relations Board.
Problems of traffic, housing and sewage, Emick said, are mutual to the city and the University.
Emick said the commission worked with the University to provide more and better housing for the students. The University he said, wants the city to be responsible for a certain percentage of the housing.
Since KU is on the hill, he said, any new facilities as residence halls or classroom buildings have sewage and water problems. Agreements are worked out with the city on the amount KU will pay to hook onto the city sewer system. Water is bought on a gallonage basis, Emick said.
He said garbage and trash was another mutual problem. Presently the city is looking for a
2 KANSAN Feb.10 1970
new landfill location because the one west of the KU campus is almost full.
"The commission is always willing to help the students with their problems." Emick said.
Student organizations, he said, often come to the commission for help. For instance, during Rock Chalk Revue, the commission allows the students to string a banner advertising the show across Massachusetts Street. Lawrence merchants are encouraged to attend the performance.
Brown sampled nearly 160 American College and university English professors to determine what should be involved in a freshman English course.
KU representatives who were recently involved on a screening committee which chose a new City Manager, Buford Watson Jr., were Donald Metzler, associate dean of engineering; Francis Heller, dean of faculties; and Edwin Steen, professor of political science.
Emick said the University was always willing to help the city. For instance, KU service organizations promote and collect for the yearly March of Dimes fund raising.
A University even the size of KU gets lost in a large city, Emick said. It is better to have a University in a town the size of Lawrence so both can work with and benefit from each other.
This, combined with the personal teaching experiences of the authors, went into the original choice and construction of items on the test. All items chosen were then screened three times, when some were found to be invalid.
HUTCHINSON — A Modesto, Calif. youth discovered the cost of bringing marijuana to Kansas could be greater than the penalty of his conviction for illegal possession.
Convicted youth discovers taxes
To insure proper and orderly emphasis, Haugh and Brown arranged the items so they parallel actual steps in writing a composition. This includes subject selection, limiting the topic, organizing the topic, expressing ideas in complete sentences, determining how to choose the best means of expression, and proof-reading.
John Peterson found the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had placed a claim of $160,000 on his estate for an excise tax. The tax is $100 for each ounce of marijuana transferred.
Peterson discovered the tax as he prepared to appeal his conviction here on the illegal possession charges. He sent to California to obtain the necessary processing fees, and discovered the IRS claim made against his money.
An optional second part of essay questions concerning contemporary problems is also a part of the exam.
"This is where we separate the men from the boys," Haugh said.
Student. are given a choice of subjects to write to further check the student's ability.
The "College English Placement Test" is only now being released and can be expected to be in wide use during the fall.
Midi-skirts will go
NEW YORK (UPI) — Found:
One designer who predicts the
midi-length skirt won't shoot
down short skirts.
He's Mr. Blackwell, originator of the worst dressed list. He says the midi probably will be in garbage cans by fall.
Blackwell said. "We spent five years making women feel free and now the fashion industry is trying to tell them to put on a dress that will age them 20 years."
In Person! In Kansas City! OLIVER
("Sunday Morning;""Good Morning, Starshine;"
"Jean")
Sunday, February 15; 7:30 p.m. Municipal Auditorium Music Hall Reserved Seats: $3.50; $4.50; $5.50 at all Jenkins Music Stores and the Music Hall Box Office Sunday
WE'RE:
open from 7:00 a.m.-2:30 a.m. stocking many drug items specializing in breakfast keeping our cafeteria open from 10:00-8:00 serving a varied grille menu close to campus,
friendly.
and