Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1989)
4* he Battalion 1 STATE & LOCAL 3 : riday, September 15,1989 OStofu, uld ta^ ime, figureo; ial fram havetl; e optior,, )u seeir, u, and bonfin ionshan > with CTs )uld be ehis :t.i J theycai y mean I belie theydi an are 2, I’ve l you be thattbei ns. It’s tnd ake us )u don't e. And I cM a few decades ‘ssive re 5. u those you ualswk jreat Lights, camera, action! Taping mock lectures helps T.A.s prepare for students By Todd Connelley Of The Battalion Staff Teaching assistants in Texas A&M’s biology department sharpened their communication skills with a summer workshop that employed the cold, hard eye of the video camera. The 31 teaching assistants prepared for the onslaught of about 2,000 freshmen by deliv ering mock lectures to a video camera and then watching themselves perform. Utilizing a new technique called “microtea ching,” teaching assistants presented a lecture before a camera, played the tape back, and with the help of their peers, critiqued their in dividual performances. “After the video tape was shown, the TA who just performed would go around and ask the other TAs present how they did,” said Dr. Nina Caris, director of the freshman biology program. Caris said the workshop was designed to improve the quality of undergraduate courses. “Since lecture sizes are running right at 300 people, the only chance the students have to interact with an authority figure is in the labo ratory,” Caris said. “The success of freshman biology depends not so much on the lectures, but the TAs,” she said. The five-day workshop also featured semi nars on delivering clear instructions and pre senting stimulating questions to students. “One of our goals is to get students to think Oince lecture sizes are running right at 300 people, the only chance the students have to interact with an authority figure is in the laboratory.” — Dr. Nina Caris, Freshman biology director inductiveley, deductiveley and to come to some conclusions on their own,” she said. A highlight of the workshop was a seminar devoted to putting TAs in real-life laboratory settings. “They were taught how to properly pre pare microscope slides, the correct use of the metric balance — basically all the things they would really need in a classroom laboratory,” Caris explained. The workshop has received positive feed back from participating TAs. “It wasn’t a matter of improving what we al ready knew about biology, but in preparation and going through the motions of teaching,” said Andrew Nunberg, a teaching assistant from Kingspark, N.Y., with a bachelor’s de gree in biology. “All of a sudden, being thrust into a teach ing situation was something we were not used to,” he said. The results of the summer workshop will become evident this week as TAs brace them selves for performance evaluations by their professors. “We will step in and give them a prescrip tion for improvement now and then,” Caris said. “At the end of the semester, we will re evaluate them to see if they have improved.” So far, it appears the workshop has been successful, she said. “The TAs have developed a strong comra- derie,” she said. “They are helping each other out and are very enthusiastic. “Remember they were trained to be scien tists, not teachers, so I think the workshop has been well worth the effort,” Caris said. Bullock reveals proposal for new state ethics rules AUSTIN (AP) — State Comptrol ler Bob Bullock on Thursday un veiled a detailed proposal for new state government ethics rules, saying those who break the public trust should be subjected to “swift and se vere judgment.” The proposal came in a letter to legislative leaders. Gov. Bill Clem ents and lawmakers. It followed by a day an ethics bill proposed by Sen. Chet Edwards of Duncanville, Bullock’s opponent in the 1990 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. “More than 15 years ago, ‘Deep Throat’ advised reporters investigat ing the Watergate scandal to ‘follow the money.’ The advice is still good today,” Bullock wrote. “And it should be the basis for state ethics laws to lay bare the truth about those who make public policy and those who try to influence pub lic policy,” he said. Bullock said the State Ethics Com mission — which currently exists on paper but receives no funding from the Legislature — should be utilized to enforce stringent rules for lobby ists who give money to public offi cials and for the otiicials who accept lobby largesse. The comptroller said a resusci tated Ethics Commission should be given “a full set of sharp teeth and steeljaws.” Highlighting Bullock’s proposals are: • Cross-auditing elected officials’ political bank accounts with their federal income tax returns and their business tax returns. • Auditing spending and contri bution reports of lobbyists and polit ical donors with their actual financial records. • Power to levy “‘substantial fines and other penalties” against viola tors, including expelling them from office or stripping lobbyists of all contact with public officials. • The power to file criminal charges against those who violate ethics regulations. The proposals, Bullock said, “Have been gleaned from the best, the toughest approaches taken in other states and augmented by our experience in the comptroller’s of fice in aggressive auditing, tax law fraud and consumer tax protection.” Reveille V, mascot corporal travel to football games in style By Holly Becka Of The Battalion Staff Although most who travel across country have to wave goodbye to their beloved pet as its cage heads into the baggage compart ment, Reveille V sits in the cabin with mas cot corporal Jimmy Laurito. Laurito, a sophomore pre-med major from Farmer’s Branch, said one of the ques tions he is most asked is how the Universi ty’s mascot gets to out-of-town games. “We usually travel by car to conference games and fly to special games like the Washington game and the Kick-Off Classic in New Jersey,” he said. He said arrangements for special games are made by him through personnel in the athletic department who charter a plane. Because the plane is chartered, the collie is allowed to sit in the cabin with Laurito, the football players and the coaching staff. “Nothing has ever happened to any Ag gie mascot,” Laurito said. “We’re really pro tective of her and we care for her so much that we don’t want to put her with the cargo. There’re chances of something hap pening to her (if she travels in the cargo sec tion), and we don’t want to take any chances. That’s why we don’t ever leave her alone.” Dan Debenport, a junior political science major from Nacogdoches who was the mas cot corporal last year, said traveling on the chartered plane lets the mascot corporals feel at ease. “We see if we can get on the team plane because that’s the only way we can fly some place,” Debenport said. “We can’t put her in a travel cage on a commercial flight because we’re scared she’ll get lost or she might get sick on the trip, and we don’t like to trust that. We like to have her with us.” Laurito and Debenport are members of Navy-Marine Company E-2. Laurito said he and two sophomore buddies from his unit accompany Reveille to all the football games. Problems arose before the Washington game when he and Rev almost didn’t make the trip. He said a smaller plane was chartered for the athletes and coaches going to Seattle than was chartered for New Jersey, and last spring he had assumed there was room for the collie and three cadets. “When we got to school we found out we were having some problems with (the trip), and Dr. Mobley came through for us and persuaded the athletic department to make room for her.” Laurito said he got a seat on the plane be cause of cancellations. The athletic depart ment pays for Reveille and the mascot cor poral to travel on the chartered plane. Donations allowed Laurito’s buddies to ac- We’re really protective of (Reveille) and we care for her so much that we don’t want to put her with the cargo..” — Jimmy Laurito, Mascot corporal. him and Rev to the game in company Seattle. Debenport said the University’s Reveille Fund allots money to pay for gas and ac commodations for the mascot, mascot cor poral and two friehds 1 When traveling to out-of-town games/ The donated fund is comprised of $800 that is used for various purposes throughout the year, he said. “They get money for that the same way the yell leaders. Parsons Mounted Cavalry or bonfire do,” Debenport said. “It’s a fund that different mothers’ clubs donate to.” Laurito said when Reveille flies she is given a “symbolic” boarding pass, but he is the only one who actually sits on a seat. “The seat is really reserved for me, and she sits at my feet,” he said. “I keep the boarding pass for a scrapbook.” Debenport said the three sophomores usually stay in the Holiday Inn because the hotel allows pets. Reveille is never tranquil- ized or caged while traveling because she is so calm, he said. Reveille will not attend Saturday’s A&M game against Texas Christian University because animals are not allowed on the uni versity’s football field. ■mons Book > es the auseol the ias tali of your ■se, t wortti a mess rare you will staff ttf tion, d A higher form of math or science requires a higher form of calculator. [£ im TI-60 The more you count on math and science, the more important it is to choose the best possi ble scien tific IP 1 course needs, with just the right functions and features for faster, easier results. Whether you require a general, intermediate or advanced scientific calculator, TI has your number: the easy- to-use TI-30 STAT, the solar- calculator. And now, that’s ah^^^ powered TI-36 SOLAR, the easier decision than ever. Texas Instruments scientific calcula tors are designed to specifically match your math and science keystroke-programmable TI-60, the engi neering- oriented TI-68 with 254 power ful func tions, the BASIC TI-30 STAT language programmable TI-74 BASICALC™ ... and many other indispensable models. More students depend on TI calculators because we’ve got the right functions and features down to a science. To find the calculator that’s ideal for your ti-3« solar courses, check with your nearest TI calculator dealer. Texas ^ Instruments C 1989 Texas instruments Incorporated IMv\V42M