Lab: Facility doesn’t receive funds
tt Continued from Page 1A
undertake research on behalf of
private organizations that abide by
academic research standards.
Over the years the facility has
conducted research projects in
volving surveys for the Oregon
State System of Higher Education,
Oregon State Lottery and Oregon
Department of Education, as well
as several small mail and tele
phone surveys of University stu
dents and faculty. The facility nor
mally conducts about 35 projects a
year, and usually about five are
done for the University.
According to Gwartney, the facil
ity primarily hires people with so
cial science, voice and theaterback
grounds. About half of the OSRL
staff is composed of University stu
dents, and the other half is made up
of people from the community.
One student at the facility is
Karen Long, who has been working
for OSRL for two years. As OSRL
supervisor, Long, a senior psychol
ogy major, said the most interesting
survey she worked on was the Tar
get Cities Project. Long and other
personnel interviewed people who
have been through drug rehabilita
tion programs and asked them
questions about their drug use, per
sonal problems and mental health.
"Some people are happy to help
out and are interested in the surveys,
but sometimes others we called get
mad,"Longsaid. "Sometimes it’s in
teresting to hear what people have
to say about the questions.”
OSRL is currently working on
the "National Risk Survey" for De
cision Research, a private research
company. One result from the sur
vey’s preliminary findings is the
asteroid statistic. The survey in
volves about 1,200 people from all
over the country who are picked at
random by the facility’s computer
through random-digit-dialing.
Gwartney founded the research
laboratory in 1992 with about
$36,000 in strategic planning
funds, and she said the facility cur
rently receives no funding from
the University. She added that the
facility is probably the only re
search facility of its kind in the
country that gets no funding from
its host university, although just
about every major university in the
country has a similar facility.
Despite all the OSRL’s accom
plishments over the years, there is
one thing that remains at the top
ofGwartney’s list of goals — more
space.
“Just this fall we have turned
away tens of thousands of dollars in
projects because we don't have the
physical capacities,” Gwartney said.
Maybe that’s a survey idea they
should look into.
Program: Student interns have an ‘edge’
P Continued from Page 1A
state funds,” she said. “We are also looking at our in
ternship sites for more support — direct support for
the students, maybe in terms of housing, overseas
transportation and meals.”
About 250 Oregon higher education students have
done internships through the program so far, including
students interning in winter term 1998, Lanningsaid.
University contact Kathy Poole said 85 University
students went on internships through the Global
Graduate program during the 1996-97 school year.
University students have interned with such organi
zations as the Labor Party in England and the Van
guard Foundation, a think tank in Taiwan.
“Our ideal internship connection is an Oregon
business that does business overseas,” Poole said.
“Students ideally would intern with the Oregon com
pany and then work at their overseas offices.”
Poole said she hopes Oregon businesses will see
the benefit to their companies in the program and
help fund it with stipends when the grant runs out.
ASUO President Bill Miner said corporate involve
ment in higher education programs, particularly in fund
ing, runs the risk of tailoring education to industry needs.
"They should leave the corporations out of fund
ing and decrease the chance of them co-opting the
true liberal arts education that we so value,” Miner
said. The program is proof that OSSHE recognizes
“the importance of increasing service to business,”
according to Lanning.
"OSSHE has been looked upon critically by busi
ness and industry for not being in touch with busi
ness and employment needs in Oregon,” site said,
“We are trying to be responsive by better preparing
students to be productive quickly.”
Miner said he is concerned with the program’s focus
on business needs as opposed to student needs. Tailor
ing higher education to business demands could turn
students into “clones of the corporate world," he said.
Global Graduates internships are intended to make
students potentially more employable, banning said.
"It gives students an opportunity to get hands-on
work experience and put what they’ve studied in a work
field," she said. "They’ll have an edge by being able to
put their experience on an application or resume.”
The program dearly has merits, Miner said, but he
is mostly concerned with the ideological risk.
“I think it'll give some students a chance to show off
some of their skills in businesses before they’re put
in the work force,” he said. “1 think it will be real ben
eficial to some students."
But the actual impact of the program on student em
ployment success has yet to lx: determined, Lanning said.
banning said the program coordinators generally
determine which companies provide internships.
“We go to companies, governments, non-govern
ment organizations and negotiate the conditions of
the internships. We ask them things like what kind of
skills will fill a void in their company," she said.
Miner said he is hopeful the program coordinators
will take student feedback seriously when determin
ing what businesses participate in the program.
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