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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1985)
Policy-making clinic to be held in London “Policy Making in Great Bri tain and the U.S.” will be the subject of an unusual seminar scheduled for Aug. 12-23 in London under the sponsorship of Oregon State University and Michigan State University. The program is designed for students preparing for careers in government, law and interna tional affairs, or people who are teaching and working in the public policy field. The two-week comparative public policy course features Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., Sen. Donald Riegle, D-Mich., Sen. Thomas Eagleton, IJ-Mo., and former Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin as lecturers. They will speak on topics such as “The Role of Public Affairs Organizations,” “The Media,” and “Money in Politics.” “The caliber of the instruc tors is unmatched by any pro gram in the country,” said jack Van de Water, director of inter national education at OSU. “Not only do the senators repre sent the top level of policy mak ing in America, but. all have been successful in the college classroom earlier.” Members of the prime minister’s staff, Parliament, and representatives of Britain’s ma jor political parties, unions, and corporations will present the British perspective on public policy making. Participants will attend classroom presentations and discussions with related readings, guided field trips, and independent visits to sites of special interest. Students will earn three political science credits for the seminar. Classes will be held at the former Bedford College campus at Regent’s Park in London. The program fee is $630, a cost that includes bed and breakfast ac commodations, as well as the academic credits. Air fare and other personal expenses are not included. There are 20 openings in the program. Van de Water said, and anyone interested is en couraged to apply. Applications should be submitted to the OSU Office of International Educa tion by May 1. For more infor mation, call Van de Water at 754-3006. minutes IFC The Incidental Fee Commit tee informally agreed upon a 7 percent overall increase for the Athletic Department’s 1985-86 budget at the conclusion of Thursday’s hearing. After a week’s worth of discussion, the committee ap proved a total of $773,009: $653,009 for direct subsidies and $120,000 for ticket subsidies. Chris Voelz, assistant director of the department, agreed not to increase student ticket prices from this year’s level and in troduced the $54 "season pass” package to begin this fall. The pass will admit students to ail games in eight sports. VUV CONTRACEPTIVES The Rubber Tree • Condoms Over 50 Varieties • Foams, Creams. Jellies, Sponges • Books, T-Shirts, and more • 10-40% BFLOYV RFTTAIL FOR A FREE MAIL ORDER BROCHURE WRITE ZPG-SEATTLE, Dept: MO 4426 BURKE N„ SEATTLE, WA 98103 A Non l*n>fit Propel of /.PC-Soatile I Coupons in the Emerald save you money. Check every page, every day. It pays. \__»—«—J EMU Board The EMU board of directors voted 6-5 to add a new clause to its affirmative action policy Tuesday restricting use of EMU “privileges!' to groups that comply with the organization's affirmative action practices. The new policy will directly affect military and CIA recruiters, who discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. University President Paul Olum told the board prior to the meeting that he would veto the policy if it passed. Olum is waiting for the 15-member board to reconsider its decision before acting. See the Page 1 story for more Undergraduates help teach By Andrew LaMar Of the Emerald Most students have little contact with their professors, dealing more often with graduate teaching assistants who often give their grades. But students may not realize that some of their TAs are actually undergraduates. Most departments at the University only employ graduate students as TAs, but the University’s biology and chemistry depart ments often use undergraduates as TAs in lab classes. Photo by Rom Martin Senior Jim Hutchison, a chemistry lab in structor, doesn't think there's much dif ference between his teaching abilities and those of his graduate colleagues. Ralph Barnhard, assistant chemistry department head, says undergraduates are hired because of the shortage of Graduate Teaching Fellows. Many graduate students in chemistry prefer not to teach because they are eager to work on their research, he says. Both the chemistry and biology depart ments require graduate students to teach one full year, which amounts to 15 hours of service each term, including time spent teaching, keeping office hours, and grading papers. After graduate students have fulfilled this re quirement, teaching becomes optional. This term, the biology department has employed seven undergraduate TAs, and the chemistry department has hired six. “We hire undergraduate TAs every year for the quality they bring to the course — a freshness,” Gordon Murphy, academic ad ministrative assistant in the biology depart ment says. Both Murphy and Bamhard say that no major differences exist between graduate and undergraduate TAs. “Being a graduate student doesn’t mean you know everything,” Barnhard says. “Some of our best undergraduates are smarter than our graduate students.” Murphy also says the undergraduate TAs are chosen carefully using a number of criteria, including ability to work with people and knowledge of the material. Murphy says he prefers to hire undergraduate TAs because they have been through the course, which enables them to an ticipate students’ problems. Most graduate students, having attended a different universi ty, are not acquainted with the University s undergraduate programs, he says. Junior Jim Manwill, a TA for the biology lab “Gene Action and Development,” says undergraduate TAs, who have had the same courses tend to be more sympathetic toward students’ problems. Another TA, senior Jim Hutchison, who teaches the chemistry lab “Qualitative Analysis,” says graduate students have a higher level of understanding of the subject and have more lab experience, but as far as teaching goes, there’s no big difference. For the undergraduate TA, the experience is more than an opportunity to teach — it’s a test of knowledge and patience. Manwill, a pre-med major, says he enjoys teaching and sees it as a possible career. His biggest problem has been with people arguing for grades, he says. “You have to be as objective as possible. You can’t please everyone,” Manwill says. “The important thing is to do your best.” Although teaching can be difficult when several people need your attention at the same time, the experience has been Very good, Hut chison says. “It’s a real mental challenge,” Hutchison says. “You have to know your material well to be able to teach it.” —UO Bookstore—
