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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1989)
The Battalion STATE & LOCAL 3 Thursday, February 16,1989 Teacher evaluation forms revised >ve er n as it has det er two huni; that wereself-i ‘lit. Early A® :>e ruled byst; the other sidf d not want tol rnment at he ■ and justice i u governmem s of life, freed •styles and belt abused by sells early Amend eving — ful 1 its people toii to get involti es less and It the govern®; ional accept® i full demo® dent, thegovei nd larger and niblic’s affair ‘Cafeteria style’ By Melissa Naumann REPORTER Students may have noticed some thing different last semester when they filled out teacher evaluations — the forms only included questions that actually pertained to the class. This is a result of a new evaluation form used last semester by the Col lege of Liberal Arts, the College of Architecture and some individual departments wit hin other colleges. The form lets instructors choose different questions for different classes. Because so many different parties have an interest in the teacher eval uations, Measurement and Research Services has developed an evaluation that is “cafeteria style,” allowing deans, department heads and in structors to be involved in choosing questions. Dr. Mark Troy, research psychol ogist and project coordinator, said the new evaluations focus on useful ness. “We want to increase the validity of the ratings and increase the use fulness of the information for fac ulty and departments,” he said. “By allowing different stakeholders to have input, information will be more useful.” The new evaluations consist of questions chosen from an item cata log. The dean of a college can select questions pertaining to that college, a department head can select ques- ies, businesspi e taxes, tradt nal issuessutl drugs, abora iled in thees; •als. we stillk >t fallen. Am entirely. Wei ikluce change the pay raise;: stain the govt: r perhaps no; being blictd'' i belie tendet: CORRECTION A story in Wednesday’s Bair.;/- tori incorrectly reported the name of the person nominated to the University of Texas System Board of Regents by Gov. Bill Clements. The individual’s name is Mario Ramirez. Ramirez was named after Chester Upham Jr. withdrew himself for consideration when Clements was criticized for nomi nating three white males to the Board. The Batruhon regrets the er- tor. forms increase validity, usefulness of answers tions important to his department and instructors can choose the re maining questions. The evaluations include 15 ques tions chosen by the dean and depart ment heads. The remaining five questions can be selected by instruc tors from an item bank with ques tions on everything from feedback to organization. The item bank also includes questions on laboratory as signments, reading assignments and writing assignments. Dr. Tom Matthews, associate di rector of Measurement and Re search Services, said faculty involve ment in the choice of questions will improve the evaluation process. “Faculty members are more likely to use information they have helped to develop,” he said. The new form will also eliminate irrelevant questions. “Instruction is implemented in all kinds of settings and one evaluation form cannot do the job in all situa tions,” Matthews said, “In some classes, some questions just don’t ap- ply.” Troy said teachers can ask ques tions on subjects other than teaching quality with the new evaluations. “Some questions, like on the qual ity of textbooks, can help the faculty without hurting their tenure possi bilities,” he said. Since an evaluation can include questions unique to a particular class, students are expected to answer the questions more carefully, Matthews said. “Students hopefully will take them more seriously because the questions are tailored to their clas ses,” he said. The new evaluation form includes other unique features. A space for general background information has been added as well as space for more specific informa tion that an instructor might need to accurately assess his evaluations, Matthews said. “This form, in addition to student judgments, provides information on who the students were,” he said. “It’s important for the faculty to know who the students are that rate them and take their courses.” Although the evaluation was first used last semester, the Faculty Sen ate approved a recommendation on some new type of student-rating sys tem two years ago. The most recent committee, formed to work out details, was formed in Fall 1987. The Student Senate also played a role in the development of the eval uation by submitting five questions for the item bank. Since then, the evaluation has been used on a trial basis, Troy said. “I’m glad the whole University hasn’t been using it so far,” he said. “We needed this pilot program to work out the bugs.” Dr. Chuck Stoup, senior academic business administrator in the Col lege of Liberal Arts, said the college will continue to use the new forms. “I think they were effective com pared to forms we used in the past, which were more detailed and took longer to fill out,” Stoup said. “We were pleased enough with the way they ran and the results we got with them to continue using them.” Proposed exchange program may trade Aggies for Soviets By Kelly S. Brown STAFF WRITER A proposal is being made by A&M officials to begin an exchange program with the Soviet Union in which students who are specializing in regional studies dealing with Soviet-East European affairs can travel to the So viet Union to research. Ron Hatchett, associate director of programs at Mosher Institute for Defense Studies, said the institute is studying the proposal with a favorable eye, but coor dination with other University officials will be necessary before making any type of committment. The idea was presented to the Soviets earlier this month after Mosher held its first international confer ence on arms control in Houston. The conference drew top arms negotiators from the Soviet Union, the United States and most European countries. During the conference, representatives from the In stitute for the Study of the United States and Canada invited Dr. Frank E. Vandiver and Hatchett to visit the Soviet Union in May to discuss possible forms of coop eration between their institute and the Mosher Insti tute. “One thing mentioned is they would be interested in the possibility of sending two students from the Soviet JJnion on exchange programs to America,” Hatchett said. “This would be a chance for a student specializing in a subject like political science, history or geography who deals in Soviet-East European affairs, to go to the Soviet Union and do research,” he said. “They would be spon sored by a Soviet institute and therefore have better ac cess to their library and archives.” In turn, Soviet students who are working on U.S. topics would be sponsored by the Mosher Institute to come to A&M, Hatchett said. The exchange program would possibly last 60-90 days. Victim advises students about rape protection By Juliette Rizzo STAFF WRITER It happened to her, it can happen to you. They were casually strolling around the University of Houston campus last spring, she and her “big guy friend” that is, when a man walked by with his hands tucked in conspicuously into his pockets. “Hi, how are you doing?” were the last friendly words the man uttered. Their adrenalin levels rose signifi cantly as he pulled out a gun and de manded their jewelry and money. But, he wanted more. She was raped as her friend lay helpless after he was hit with the pis tol and had his nose broken. Afterward, the attacker told her friend to strip, too. He then left them lying naked with the threat that if they moved before the count of one hundred, he would be back for her friend. They were the fifth couple in less than two hours to be robbed by this man. Melanie Strickland was the only one raped. “It’s a matter of circumstance,” the Houston pharmacology major said. “We were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” In an informal, realistic presenta tion as part of Texas A&M’s C.A.R.E. (Creating Attitudes for a Rape-free Environment) week, Strickland told about her personal experience with rape and gave tips on preventing such occurences from happening to others on and off col lege campuses. She stressed campus safety and security for both males and females. It seems surprising, she said, but rape happens to one in four women and one in seven men. She said because A&M is such a large campus, all students need to be aware of their defenses in case of an attack. There is an equal danger for both sexes. “Men need to be aware, too,” she said. “If the attacker has a gun, it does not matter how big the victim is. The one with the gun is in con trol, or so he thinks.” She said all student? should be re minded that there is strength in numbers and to never walk alone unless they have to. “Women should dress to run,” Strickland said. “They should wear shoes and carry their heels.” “If attacked, passive resistance is an option,” she said. “If you don’t struggle, the attacker may not use his weapon, if he has one.” She said that if a person chooses not to resist, he should keep his eyes open wide to get an extremely de tailed description of the attacker. WTSU ponders possible merger with A&M or UT CANYON (AP) — Regents at West Texas State University will present a report in May on the possibility of merging the school into the University of Texas or Texas A&M systems. The board on Tuesday ap pointed a committe to study pos sible benefits of a merger to sur- rounding Panhandle communities. Rep. John Smithee and State Sen. Teel Bivins have said they will file legislation proposing the merger depending on the out come of the study. Recent merger agreements have been reached at Pan Ameri can University in Edinburg, which will join the UT system, and Texas A&I University in Kingsville, which will become part of the A&M system. Proponents of the move say a merger would enhance funding capabilities, broaden curriculum, expand facilities and increse pres tige to attract faculty and stu dents. However, some local control over the school would be lost be cause the independent board of regents would be replaced. norm. - sophomore^ j f/umnistfall ne fori tone entrant: everyone Wr • featured at I he movie “211 e one where ii I rscending to# | er, then theti I d steady beat# f a powerful s ed “Also Sprs Richard Stray rays the to ace from the!' ate phase of! Superman, S proposed M in its print::' hords and han ps, logic and 5 'ery mechani ecognizes his( Ives into the! ends. Maybei isic gives the: ich transition •stract, but bet stractions is c nost college!' re getting a 6 nuch we can' ition system a fine arts sch# :>p this appro' )u don’t waul fhtenmenfdo peers at ot! RRTEteST March 6-March 31 Texas A&M Annual Juned Competition of Student Art Sponsored by MSC VISUAL ARTS Rules -Open only to current TAMU students (must show student ID) -Entries must be ready to show -Entries must have been completed within the last year -Winners will be exhibited in the MSC Gallery for the entire duration of Artfest -Prize $100 Best of Show Categories Drawing Painting Crafts Photography Sculpture Mixed Media Accepting Entries will be accepted March 1 -3, 1989 11-3 p.m. MSC Gallery $4/entry-limit 4 SUBflttlT nior econo® for The Ba®