The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 15, 1996, Image 1

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    The Battalion
1. 102, No. 164 (6 pages)
Serving Texas A&M University Since 1893
THE BATT ON-LINE: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Monday • July 15, 1996
eacher ratings could carry more weight
By Brandon Hausenfluck
The Battalion
The Texas A&M administration may
adopt a proposal allowing for a student
rating system of faculty to be used in
Becisions determining the fate of profes-
lors’ careers.
I In an attempt to distribute the bur-
■en of evaluating faculty members up
Bar tenure or those whose competence
Bas been questioned, the administration
Bauld rely on the students to help make
Bie final choice.
I Although seeming like a reasonable
proposal, many faculty members — for
Bhom tenure means job security — oppose
il that has crW 16 issue. Dr. Larry Crumbley, a professor
of accounting, said student evaluation of
teacher (SET) forms are inaccurate and
detrimental to higher education.
“They (SET forms) have caused the
goal in higher education to shift
through the years from teaching stu
dents to a goal of profit maximization,”
Crumbley said. “There has been mas
sive grade inflation and course work de
flation. All faculty members know A’s
equal ‘good’ on their reports.”
Crumbley said the administration is
attracted to the proposal because the
SETs will alleviate some of the pressure
of evaluating professors’ competence.
“These forms are valuable to the ad
ministration because they will be able
to evaluate professors in 15 or 20 min
utes,” he said. “They (the administra
tors) don’t want to go into the class
rooms themselves, so they just use a
computer printout to make their deci
sions. There is no due process here be
cause students remain anonymous. And
overall, students are being cheated.”
Under the proposal, faculty members
who receive substandard evaluations
from their peers and/or students two
years in a row are likely to be asked to
resign their contracts.
Dr. Steve Oberhelman, speaker of the
Faculty Senate, said the student evalua
tions will not be the only factor consid
ered in the proposed review process.
“Students can evaluate a professor’s
performance but not necessarily their
effectiveness,” Oberhelman said. “The
rankings are good when they’re used in
conjunction with other processes. The
bill appears to place too much influence
on student evaluations, and a two-year
window is too short.
“What people need to understand is
professors who receive tenure are sub
jected to a rigorous six-year probation
ary period. Tenure can only be granted
after all aspects of their (professors’)
dossiers have been examined.”
Oberhelman said tenured professors
can lose their jobs if they show profes
sional incompetence or commit a crimi
nal act, among other things.
Crumbley said he is concerned stu
dents may use the evaluations as a re
venge tool to get back at professors in
whose class they did poorly.
“If you call a student stupid, the
person will probably not evaluate you
highly on an anonymous question
naire,” Crumbley said. “You only need
a few students to be pissed off at you
about something, then they will evalu
ate you poorly.”
Dr. William Perry, associate provost
and dean of faculties, said the proposal
has not passed yet and added students
should not have any reason to assign
bad evaluations to faculty members.
“Our tenure system has served Texas
A&M well,” Perry said. “We have an
See Tenure, Page 6
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By Fall 1998, SAT and ACT scores may not carry as
nuch weight for incoming freshmen in the Texas A&M
idmissions process.
Curtis Childers, a member of the Admissions Advisory
ommittee and junior agricultural development major,
aid the committee has recommended incoming freshman
ipplicants in the top 50 percent of their class not be elimi-
lated from the application process based on their SAT or
VCT scores.
Childers said in the past SAT and ACT tests scores
lave proven to be inaccurate in predicting the success of a
tudent in college.
“They (SAT and ACT tests) are horribly inefficient,”
hilders said. “Only 22 percent correctly predict stu-
ents’ grades.”
Childers said many students who are capable of attain-
ng a high GPR are prevented from coming to A&M be-
ause of lower SAT or ACT scores.
“We’re probably cutting out many people who would
come to A&M and get a 4.0 because of a 10-point-lower
SAT score,” he said.
Erin Mozola, a member of the Admissions Advisory
Committee and senior applied math major, said many
A&M students think the recommendation is a step in the
wrong direction, though it was intended to create a larger,
more-competitive variety of students on campus.
“Everybody thinks A&M is lowering their standards, and
everybody is getting scared,” she said. “But (with the recom
mendation) we are getting a more diverse student body.
We want leaders with different skills and talents, and
this is a way to open up to a more diverse group.”
Deborah Gotten, a senior wildlife and fishery science
major, said the SAT and ACT score requirements should
remain the same.
“I think it should stay where it is to keep the quality
of students at A&M,” Gotten said. “If they do lower it
since some students don’t take tests well, they should
focus more on students’ grades and ability to function in
the classroom.”
Mozola emphasized the Admissions Advisory Commit
tee has only recommended lowering SAT and ACT impor
tance and that it will not go into effect this fall.
“It’s still up in the air with admissions,” she said. “It
won’t be for admission for ’97. The earliest would be Fall
’98. The ’97 admission criteria will be the same.”
ETS Net provides test information
By Erica Roy
The Battalion
& -i
iSSII
At the beginning of July, Educa
tional Testing Service introduced
ETS Net, a new World Wide Web site
providing a variety of information on
major testing programs.
The new web site is available for
students needing information on tests
such as the Graduate Record Exami
nation Board’s GRE General and Sub
ject tests, the Graduate Management
Admission Council’s GMAT, the TOE
FL (Test of English as a Foreign Lan
guage exam), the Praxis Series’ Profes
sional Assessments for Beginning
Teachers and the LSAT.
Dwight Horch, executive director of
applications, development and man
agement at ETS, headed the team that
developed the ETS Net program.
“Basically, it is a site that allows
people who are interested in various
testing programs ... to get a wealth of
information on the tests,” Horch said.
College students can now register
for the GMAT through ETS Net. Reg
istration for the GRE will be avail-
ETS Net
WEB SITE
http://www.ets.org
able in the fall.
Horch said students will be able
to register for the Praxis tests and
the TOEFL later in the fall.
The GRE OnLine is a part of the
ETS Net that enables students to
order GRE reference materials, re
ceive test scores, and use practice
test questions.
Practice test questions are provid
ed for all of the tests.
Although most students have not yet
been able to use ETS Net, many said
they will use the program when they
are preparing for one of these tests.
Thaddeus Niemeyer, a senior elec
trical engineering and mathematics
major, is going to take the GRE.
“I’d look into it,” Niemeyer said. “I’d
have to see what it’s all about before I’d
use it. Any test questions will be a help.”
Currently only a few practice test
questions are available for each test.
Horch said one of ETS Net’s priori
ties is to improve the practice test
question sections of the program.
“We are hoping to expand the vari
ety and depth of the practice test ques
tions. We want to have full practice
test questions eventually,” Horch said.
Scott Turner, a graduate electrical
engineering student, has already tak
en the GRE but would have used the
ETS Net if it had been available.
“I get most of my information off
the web, so I would have used this
service when I took the test,” Turner
said. “There’s a lot at stake when you
take that test, so you want to have
the best possible information.”
The web site contains information
on financial aid, minority scholar
ships and career and job opportuni
ties. High school students are also
able to register for the SAT through
ETS Net and can link to College
Board Online through ETS Net.
ETS Net can be accessed on the In
ternet at httpy/www.ets.org.
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
CREATIVE CRAFT
Erica Scott, a senior community health major, paints a rawhide dog toy to use as a
magnet for her apartment Sunday afternoon.
Construction updates library facilities
By Ann Marie Hauser
The Battalion
Completion of the “library vil
lage” in the year 2000 will advance
Texas A&M University’s informa
tion services into the 21st century.
Future construction includes a
six-floor library addition connect
ed to Sterling C. Evans Library, a
student computing center on the
south end of the addition, an
eight-level parking garage, and a
renovation of the Cushing Memo
rial Library.
Dr. Fred Heath, dean and di
rector of Evans Library, said the
Undertaking is one of the most
ambitious in the country. Approx
imately $90 million will be spent
by the end of the five-year con-
struction period.
“This scale of library construction
hasn’t been matched anywhere
within the States,” Heath said.
Amanda Kuenstler, a junior
Psychology major, said the renova
tions will benefit future students.
“If it makes it better organized,
although I won’t be able to enjoy it,
at least somebody can,” Kuenstler
said. “It’s about time we put some
money into academics.”
Heath said the mission of aca
demic research libraries includes
three parts.
First, support of the undergrad
uate education, where students
can take advantage of a new,
135,850-square-foot facility.
This state-of-the-art, six-story
addition will feature a learning re
source center, 60 group-study rooms
and extended hours for students.
The second part of the triad is
the complete renovation of the now-
closed Cushing Memorial Library.
The new quarters will be home
to A&M’s “collections of distinc
tion,” including rare books, manu
scripts, special collections and Uni
versity archives.
The final stage of the construc
tion will be a renovation of the
first two floors of Evans Library.
Joyce Thornton, executive assis
tant at Evans Library, said Evans,
completed in 1979, was built with
out-of-date technology.
“Enrollment grew so much faster
then the building could accommo
date,” Thornton said. “We’re looking
forward to the completion.”
To prevent this from happen
ing again, the top two floors of
the addition will be saved for fu
ture expansion.
Thornton asks students to be
patient with the construction and
any problems that might arise.
Warm water causes
problems for residents
By Heather R. Rosenfeld
The Battalion
Gwendolyn Struve, The Battalion
Construction continues on the new "library village." The complex is ex
pected to be finished in the year 2000.
“It’s a huge project, and stu
dents will have to be patient,”
Thornton said. “Advance warnings
and updates will be posted on the
A&M home page.”
Ashley Graham, a senior
forestry major, said making the
sacrifice now will be worth it in
the long run.
“If I was going to be here, I
would put up with the construc
tion,” Graham said.
Because of malfunctioning cooling tower units, many
Bryan residents are experiencing an increase in the tem
perature of their household water.
Joe Brown, public relations officer for the city of
Bryan, said three of Bryan’s five cooling units have com
pletely broken down.
“Two of the [cooling units] weren’t even being used be
cause they were so bad,” Brown said. “They were so old and
broken that when the third one went down, the city had to
act. ... We are rebuilding them from the base up.”
Roy Elliott, operator for water production for the city
of Bryan, said the city has been planning to replace the
units since 1994.
“The city has spent two years working on getting funds
allocated for the replacement,” Elliott said. “Funds simply
weren’t available to act any sooner.”
Brown said the city began rebuilding in late June be
cause of newly available funding.
“The final determination to begin work was that we had
enough money to do it. ... The total cost of the project is
$775,000,” Brown said. “Other water improvements had to
take precedence because this one was so costly.”
Ricky Spence, a senior community health major and
Bryan resident, said he believes the city should have made
repairing the cooling units a higher priority.
“I wished the city [had done] something sooner, because
I noticed that there was a problem with the temperature of
the water the first day we moved in,” Spence said. “If you
See Water, Page 6