UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, February 14, 1997
3A
University Council denies open evaluations
Faculty says forms have too much bias
By Kevin Bates Kansan staff writer
A course information proposal was vehemently denied approval at yesterday's University Council meeting.
The proposal, presented by Grey Montgomery, student body president, would have allowed students to learn about classes and faculty teaching them before enrolling.
Montgomery said he was disappointed with the council's decision.
Data compiled from a standardized University-wide questionnaire would have given students information about classes and faculty.
"I felt we made a pretty big compromise," Montgomery said. "I thought the odds were good it would pass. I have to wonder what they're worried about. I would hate to think that they have something to hide, but I'm left wondering if that's the case.
"This questionnaire reflects issues worth- to students when they're choosing classes to take. This would have been information not in the faculty evaluation form itself."
Montgomery said he had wanted to avoid the possibility of releasing confidential faculty information by asking fact-based questions.
But professors on the council said the sample questionnaire was too judgmental and biased to be used correctly.
"I'm not sure a student wouldn't end up with bad information," said Bob Adams, associate professor of mathematics. "I know my grading system is different from someone else's teaching calculus, and in my department one teaches the same course two times in a row, so I don't know if a student would get helpful information."
ing disputed for 45 minutes with faculty about what constituted a good-quality teacher evaluation. Kelly Huffman, Nunemaker senator, said the faculty on the council always had pointed out ways that students could be biased, and he said that when he had asked the faculty what their objections were, nearly every faculty hand went up to respond.
"Every one of the questions are kind of silly," Adams said. "I can comment on every single one of them. The only thing you are trying to do with this is get a lot of faculty mad."
Student Senate representatives at the meet.
Steve Shawl, professor of physics and astronomy, said he had had a conversation in previous years with a student who had voluntarily signed a negative course evaluation.
"This form doesn't have anything like that," Shawl said.
Bill Carswell, associate professor of architecture and urban design, said he disagreed with the idea that students were out to get teachers.
Scott Sullivan, liberal arts and sciences senator, said he was disheartened and frustrated by the council's actions.
"We worked long and hard to get a strong compromise," Sullivan said. "I think we've compromised a lot, maybe too much. They're blocking students' rights to their education."
The piano man
Chris Hamilton / KANSAN
Dave Cook, Lawrence resident, tunes the piano on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union.
Environs protests river dredging
Group writes Graves to ask for alternative
By Ed Miller Special to the Kansan
KU Environs is submitting letters to Gov. Bill Graves and the Army Corps of Engineers in an attempt to block a Lawrence company from dredging the Kansas River for sand.
Andrea Repinsky, coordinator of the Environs effort, said that as many as 35 members had written letters asking the governor and the Corps to deny a permit that would allow Penny's Concrete, 900 E. Eighth St., to dredge the river between Lawrence and Topeka, or at least to hold public hearings on the issue.
Repinsky argued that the dredging presented both environmental and recreational hazards.
"Dredging stirs up particles in the water," she said. "When the sand is churned, pesticides and chemicals that had settled to the bottom become active again, and these can be harmful to aquatic life, as well as humans."
Repinsky said that the cables and pumps used in dredging also endangered canoeists on the river because they often went undetected, submerged just inches below the water.
Bill Penny, owner of Penny's Concrete, said his company had tried to minimize the risk to canoeists by investing in plastic pipelines that sink to the river bottom and by posting warning signs near other dredging sites he oversaw.
"I canoe the river, and I want to accommodate recreational users," Penny said. "But people have to ask themselves what they need sand for, and what price they're willing to pay for it. There has to be a balance of
the issues."
KU Environics is working closely with the Lawrence environmental group, Friends of the Kaw, in its campaign.
Lance Burr, co-founder of Friends of the Kaw, said there were less harmful, but economically viable, alternatives to river dredging such as extracting sand from sand pits along the river's banks.
Penny said zoning restrictions and extensive extraction methods negated any economic or environmental advantages sand pits may offer.
"We have to burn more fuel in sand pit extraction, which equates to putting more toxins in the air," he said. "And there's always the danger of the river intruding on the site."
Corps Project manager Bob Smith said a decision on Penny's permit could be anywhere from a month to several months away.
Forum will highlight advantages of chastity
By Doug Weinstein Kansan staff writer
Members of the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center have found the perfect gift for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day.
Chastity.
The center will hold a human sexuality forum at 4 p.m. today at the Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
Celeste Thomas, Watkins Memorial Health Center health official, is the featured presenter and will discuss love from a Catholic perspective. Thomas will speak about how her faith influences her sexual choices.
Mitchel Zimmerman, campus minister of St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center and Lawrence resident, said he was excited that this year's forum would feature a speaker and that Thomas was worth waiting for.
"Ms. Celeste Thomas will inspire you and will talk about a view of sexuality which is neglected in larger
societv." Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman added that it was important that this particular message of love was delivered on Valentine's Day.
"First of all, Valentine's is a time of love and relationship and the commitment to relationship," Zimmerman said. "But it's also a week where a lot of condoms are passed out. We believe chastity is God's plan for loving and chastity is a complete way of loving, not a rental way of loving."
Keyyn Soupiset, Elkhart graduate student, said that there was a recognized problem on campus with sexually transmitted diseases and that this forum provided a way for alternative choices.
Soupiset said the forum would expose this topic to the campus and add a Christian perspective of it.
"It opens people's eyes to take a different stance on sexual relations," Soupiset said.
Christie Crouse, Waterloo, Iowa,
junior, said one of the goals for the
forum was to promote abstinence.
"It's to show all the good reasons for not having sex until marriage," she said.
Candyce Waitley, health service nurse, and Watkins physician Henry Buck will join Thomas at the forum to provide statistics about youth risk behavior and answers about medical issues.
Father Vince Krische from St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center said the reasons why people should attend were clear.
He said society played on people's weaknesses rather than their strengths.
Krische said society made students believe that they were not intelligent enough to know how their bodies worked and that they needed to buy society's products, such as condoms, to better themselves.
"But we have another way to look at this where we can appeal to your strength and intelligence and we have nothing to sell you." Krische said.
Student lobbyists hit Topeka
Students agree they must visit more to be effective
By Ann Marchand Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA — Not all legislative lobbyists wear Armani suits, Gucci shoes and appear to be full of cash.
Students from the six Kansas Regents schools dispelled the fat-cat lobbyist myth when they descended on the state capitol yesterday to persuade legislators to support higher education.
Although the students were received favorably, lawmakers said that effective lobbying could not be accomplished in one day.
"I think maybe students should come up more often," said House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita.
Sawyer said that phone calls or letters to legislators also could have a significant impact.
Grey Montgomery, student body president, said frequent visits to the statehouse aided students' legislative goals.
"It's been my impression that being up here more is an improvement," he said.
Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, also suggested that students should include parents and friends from home in their lobbying endeavors.
*If you're from Hill City, for example, your parents need to contact the Hill City representative because
they do not have the same vested interest that students do,2 he said.
"You really are competing with us for dollars that are going to K-12 because they have tons of lobbyists, and the amount of increases they have received have been enormous," she said.
But Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, said students should not be discouraged.
Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, said that 63 percent of the state budget was spent on education, and many legislators thought that amount was too high.
The notion of broadening support could become more important as legislators pit higher education against K-12 education.
Conservative legislators said education spending should be seen as a zero-sum activity — increasing postsecondary spending would require a decrease in K-12 spending. House Speaker Pro Tem Susan Wagle, R-Andover, said that because K-12 education employed more lobbyists than the Regents, universities should not expect increases in funding.
"The real issue should not be about how many lobbyists a particular entity has — the real issue should be what is the best policy for education in the state of Kansas," Findley said.
He also said students should work with legislators to develop realistic long-term goals to avoid education crises in the future.
Montgomery agreed.
"I think, actually, that student lobbying has great potential," he said.
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Three Heart Warming Choices
- DINNER FOR TWO-
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SERVED W/ SOUP OR SALAD,
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- SHRIMP ALFREDO '9.95
SERVED W/ SOUP OR SALAD,
VEG. & ROLL
- CHICKEN CORDON BLEU 18.95
SERVED W/ SOUP OR SALAD,
WILD RICE, VEG. & ROLL
DINNERS INCLUDE CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL AND DESSERT