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OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PUBLISHED DAILY SINCE 1912
CRAIG LANG, Editor
SUSANNA LOOP, Managing editor
KIMBERLY CRAFTREE, Editorial editor
TOM EBLEN, General manager, news adviser
MARK OZMEIN, Business manager
DENNIS HAUPT, Retail sales manager
JUSTIN KNUPP, Technology coordinator
JAY STEENNER, Sales and marketing adviser
Monday, February 24, 1997
Amy R. Miller / KANSAN
Editorials
Students aren't getting education when they use old paper files
Although many students may use old test and paper files to prepare for a class, the idea has caused some controversy.
These files are created so students can get a better grasp on the type of tests a teacher gives and how tough a teacher grades papers. Although test files may serve as helpful study tools, paper files can easily be misused.
Although greek organizations are sometimes accused of being the only groups that maintain test files, residence and scholarship halls also keep these files. In fact, some teachers will even provide practice tests for students on reserve at libraries.
Test files consist of old tests from previous residents. Residents often use these files to acquaint themselves with the types of tests a teacher gives and as an aid in studying for tests.
Paper files, although not widely mentioned, are kept by some living groups, and more are available on the Internet. The intellectual intent of these files is to provide an example of a paper that achieved a good grade and to aid students in their search for paper topics.
Students who submit old papers as their own work are missing the point of college.
The actual and the intended uses, however, usually do not match.
These paper files are often a plagiarism tool. Students simply copy the paper, maybe change a few minor details, such as the name at the top, and turn it in as their own
Using paper files overlooks one important factor: the reason people attend college. Students attend college
to get an education that will prepare them for a career, or at the very least, prepare them to become productive members of society. When students use the work of someone else, they only prepare themselves to become drags on society.
Students also are paying tuition for the opportunity to learn. Those students also aren't learning anything. They would be better off throwing their money away, because they are missing purpose of attending college.
Furthermore, students insult the intelligence of their teachers when students believe an instructor cannot tell that they cheated.
Before students decide to take advantage of a paper file, they should consider the consequences of wasting their time and money on an education they aren't earning.
NICOLE SKALLA FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Earlier feedback would benefit all
Instructor evaluation forms can be an effective tool for teachers and a valuable way for students to voice their opinions about a class. But the current system of instructor evaluations, in which evaluation forms are given out at the end of the semester, only makes it possible to help future students. It does nothing for students currently taking the class, except possibly giving them a way to voice their frustrations.
Because the main purpose of evaluations is to give teachers feedback, instructors should consider giving students the evaluation forms earlier in the semester, perhaps around the time of midterms. This would benefit both students and teachers, and it would improve the quality of evaluations.
Instructors consistently plead with students to give written comments on evaluation forms instead of relying solely on the rating system that the ques-
Midterm evaluations would benefit students now enrolled in a class.
tionaire provides. But many students never take the time to write comments because it won't benefit them. When they do write comments, they are often negative and sometimes rude. This does nothing to help the instructor make positive changes.
whether the changes he or she made had a positive impact.
If students knew their evaluations would be considered early in the semester and that instructors might make positive changes in the class, students might be more apt to write constructive comments to aid the instructor in teaching more effectively. Furthermore, by continuing to give evaluations at the end of the semester, the instructor would be able to see
Of course, students in smaller classes may feel that they cannot give written evaluations for fear that the instructor may recognize their handwriting and respond negatively to students, perhaps by giving poorer grades. This could be avoided by having students type their comments.
The primary objective of instructors should be to teach in the most effective way possible. Receiving feedback is one of the best ways to determine the efficacy of their teaching. Most instructors welcome input from students if it is given constructively, and students should feel comfortable communicating with instructors about the quality of teaching taking place. By giving students a chance to evaluate a class while there is still time to make changes, both the instructor and the student would benefit.
KANSAN STAFF
KAREN CHANDLER FOR THE EDITORIAL BOARD
LA TINA SULJIAN ... Associate Editorial
KRISTIE BLASH ... News
NOVELDA SOMMERS ... News
LESLIE TAYLOR ... News
AMANDA TRAUGHBER ... News
TARA TRENARY ... News
DAVID TESKA ... Online
SPENCER DUNCAN ... Sports
GINA THORNBURG ... Associate Sports
BRADLEY BROOKS ... Campus
LINSDNE HENBY ... Campus
DAVE BRETTENSTEIN ... Features
PAM DISIMAN ... Photo
TYLER WIRKEN ... Photo
BRYAN VOLK ... Design
ANDY ROHRBACK ... Graphics
ANDREA ALBRIGHT ... Wire
LZ MUSSER ... Special sections
AERICA VEAZEY ... News clerk
NEWS EDITORS
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
HEATHER VALLEL ... Assistant retail
JULIE PEDLAR ... Campus
DANA CENTENO ... Regional
ANNETTE HOVER ... National
BRIAN PAGEL ... Marketing
SARAH SCHERWINSKI ... Internet
DARCI MCLAIN ... Production
DENA PISCOTTI ... Production
ALLISON PIERCE ... Special sections
SARA ROSE ... Creative
DANA LAUVEIT ... Public relations
BRIAN LEFEVRE ... Classified
RACHEL RUBIN ... Assistant classified
BRIDGET COLLYER ... Zone
JULIE DEWITT ... Zone
CHRIS HAGHIRIAN ... Zone
LZ HESS ... Zone
ANTHONY MILGIAZOO ... Zone
MARIA MRIST ... Senior account executive
**Letters:** Should be double spaced typed and fewer than 200 words. Letters must include the author's signature, name, address and telephone number plus class and homework if a university student. Faculty or staff must identify their positions.
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Oh, the woes of being a member of the GOP
Column
These are the times that try my soul.
It has been, to say the least, a tough time for me to be a Republican poster boy.
to be a Republican poster boy.
To begin, I spent the week — in Birkenstocks, no less — defending that cornerstone of the Republican Party, civil liberties. As strange as it seems to ponder the notion, the First Amendment continues to be in jeopardy here on Mount Oread, where according to the Elections Commission you have expression rights on the grass but not on the sidewalk. The new elections code says student
This degree of stupidity can't be done by one individual; it takes a committee.
On top of that, I had to try to convince conservative state legislators to approve an appropriation for an additional $12 million to the Regents Institution to spend on computers. It's not as if higher education hasn't been the traditional whipping boy in the budget process forever. But on top of that, the day before, three Kansas legislators actually voted against a proposal to name the Missouri bridge on U.S. Highway 59 after Amelia Earhart because they didn't want to spend state dollars on a road sign.
candidates must stay on the grass unless they have permission from a passerboy to talk to them. This twaddle was the latest amendment to the Elections Code for student elections.
The word was even worse for Wall-Street type Republicans.
"It's nothing against Amelia," said State Rep. Bob Tomlinson, R-Roeland Park.
But the Republicans didn't stop there. The constitutional amendment to ban flag burning is back en vogue as a political hot button. Just in case anyone has forgotten — and since he's dead now — I quote William Kunstler, a civil rights lawyer who once argued the issue before the Supreme Court in 1989.
Morgan Stanley, the broker for people who sneered down through the glass ceiling at the hoi polloi, has merged with the more touchy-feely
That's a tough sell. Call me crazy, but I don't foresee anyone who won't even fund a road sign spending extra money on computers.
"Once people are compelled to respect a political symbol, they are no longer free," he said.
A good point there. Kind of along the same lines as once your right to speak on the sidewalk is taken away, your right to speak on the grass can't be far behind it.
In The Conscience of a Conservative, Barry Goldwater contends that it's the point of the Constitution to limit government.
He wrote, "We can be conquered by bombs or by subversion; but we can also be conquered by neglect — by ignoring the Constitution and disregarding the principles of limited government."
And the Republicans in Washington aren't helping anyone want to keep a Republican National Committee membership card in their wallet, either. The constitutional amendment concerning term limits briefly showed its ugly face on the floor of the house this week, and was thankfully defeated.
Well, I guess just don't read Goldwater the way they used to.
None of these actions by my Republican brethren, save the folks who won't even rename a bridge, do much to limit government. Rather, they seek to expand it by adding to the laundry list of things we can't do.
broker Dean Witter in a $10 billion deal. Now just anyone can be a robber baron.
All four members of the Kansas congressional delegation should have known better than to support the bill.
Neither make it any easier to be a Republican these days.
But what the hell, the Birks were pretty comfy.
Guest column
School choice is the key to improving education
Normally when I listen to Democrats argue, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. I disagree with their fundamental view of human nature; I laugh at their economics, and I scorn their policies. But I almost always have to admit that their hearts are in the right place.
The basic idea behind the Democratic party is that all humans deserve respect and empathy and sometimes government help. As a nation of wealthy consumers we should be willing to give up a second VCR to give more opportunities to victims of disability, poverty or racism. In fact, most Democrats I know strongly believe that family values start with loving thy neighbor, even if he
or she doesn't belong to your country club. I admit, this motivation seems to go over the head of many Republicans. ("Give me liberty or give me unattached capital gains."
So why would I prefer a swift kick in the groin than listen to our gravity-loving president deliver a 10-point plan for improving American education? Like President Clinton, I believe that building free-thinking citizens is the foundation of the democratic experiment we started here only a few generations ago.
Education builds safer communities, more productive economies and a richer culture. Only education will provide the disadvantaged with the tools to defeat poverty, drugs or racism. Feel-good MTV sound bites and whining journalistic pleas are no substitute for basic thinking skills.
The answer is that although Clinton knows how critical it is to educate our youth, he is willing to waste the opportunity to improve education just so he can protect his personal constituency. He is protecting the jobs of small-minded bureaucratic administrators and unqualified teachers who haunt our public school leviathan, pay union dues and rally in big numbers to the Democratic cause.
How do I know? In our demoralized teaching community, the smallest success in improving students' scores is hailed as a monumental feat deserving national honors.
The city government of Milwaukee, however, has developed a group of schools that not only increase reading and math scores but also teach respect for teachers, silence during class and basic politeness. Three statistical studies have examined the Milwaukee schools' results. Two found improvement across the board, and the
third study — conducted by a vocal opponent of the new school system - couldn't prove a statistical difference.
Are teachers rushing to Milwaukee to find out how to copy its success? Are other cities' leaders begging for seminars on how to duplicate these results? Quite the opposite. The White House, in firm lock step with the teachers' unions, ridicules these schools and opposes anyone who studies their methods.
This is because the Milwaukee schools are private — just like the one Chelsea Clinton attends. But in Milwaukee, the government opened the doors to children normally too poor to attend them, unlike the school Chelsea Clinton attends. Milwaukee gives education vouchers to poor, often inner-city, children so they may have the same opportunity as their wealthier suburban counterparts.
Improved education? Better opportunities for the poor? Increased egalitarianism? Absolutely. Support from President Clinton? Not on your life.
Our nation is increasingly heterogeneous in our background, culture and values. No one school system can fit everyone's needs. In school systems with choice, students who value academic rigor and intellectual achievement could attend high schools with fat SAT averages. Students interested in preserving cultural identity or language could attend specialized schools that value their needs. These schools could emphasize Laotian culture, Nation of Islam values or even the world according to Bill Gates.
Regardless of Clinton's intention to attach every school child to the Internet, there are no real remedies in the public school system to the education problem. Federal control of school boards certainly isn't the answer.
School systems based on vouchers work because teachers and students thrive in schools where they are respected as humans, not cogs in a violent machine. But a system of private schools threatens the security of teachers who have lost their enthusiasm or ability but believe they have a monopoly on the right to educate American children.
Giving parents and students as much choice in their education as they have in choosing a long-distance provider, toothpaste or beer will start us on the road to true equality of opportunity. That's why it is so frustrating that people who normally champion the rights of the poor or underprivileged — like Clinton — condemn the only true method of guaranteeing those rights out of political expedition.
Todd Kice is a Wichita graduate student in business administration.
Letter
Comment ignores Native Americans
I take offense to the statement Sasha Flores made about America being founded by immigrants.
Does anyone ever listen to us Native Americans?
Are our voices falling on deaf ears?
No, it wasn't Christopher Columbus.
This just goes to show that American history is not teaching who really founded this country.
first, and we continue to be denied our place in American history.
Native Americans were here
Rhonda LeValdo
Acoma, N.M., junior