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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1998)
ASUO: Parliamentary procedure replaced ■ Continued from Page 1A er of students,” Gabbe said. “There are issues on the state and national levels that directly affect students.” Through coordination with the Oregon Student Association, the ASUO is especially concerned with statistics regarding access to a quality education. According to the Chronicle of Higher Educa tion Almanac, the average facul ty compensation in Oregon cur rently ranks in the lowest quarter in the nation. One item on the ASUO agenda is diversity through faculty pay increases, Gabbe said. The ASUO Multicultural Center hosts mock awards called “Zero Awards”, for University departments that show a lack of racial diversity. The diversity team is planning COWLING their Weaving New Begin nings” program for October. The reception of people of color is forecasted as an important multicultural event. In a simi lar effort, the outreacn team is assisting with IntroDUCKtion, a summer pro gram that welcomes freshmen. At the same time, the ASUO is be ginning recruitment for ASUO positions among new students. Teachers say results of state tests too slow SALEM — Teachers are com plaining that the Oregon Depart ment of Education is too slow in distributing achievement test re sults for students. State education leaders pro mote the tests as the centerpiece of Oregon’s school reform pro gram. But critics say by the time 1998 state test scores showed up in mailboxes early this month, many students had already fin ished school. “They’re going to have to do something about their turn around time,” if schools are to use the tests effectively, Charleen Hurst, Salem-Keizer school test ing coordinator, said recently. “As we mail them home, teachers are no longer on duty.” Educators say it’s tougher to convince students to treat the tests seriously when results reach them months later. Half the stu dents who took the tests — the fifth- and eighth-graders — are off to new schools in the fall. “There’s no reason (the scores) shouldn’t be there to schools by the end of May,” said Bernard Somdah, a parent leader at Jud son Middle School in Salem. Educators in other school dis tricts voice frustrations. The state sent Beaverton its scores on June 9, two days before school let out. Eugene sent scores to schools on June 8, three days before summer vacation. Like other Oregon districts, Salem-Keizer schools gave the tests in February and April to students in the third, fifth, eighth and 10th grades. Tests covered reading, writing, math and sci ence. The Salem-Keizer district did n’t receive all the scores until June 5, Hurst said. For next year’s lOth-graders, the tests are crucial. Those students must pass each test to earn the state’s new certifi cate of initial mastery, which ul timately could be more impor tant than a high school diploma. Part of the problem is the state uses revised tests each year to cut down on cheating, said Stephen Slater, evaluation specialist for the state Department of Educa tion. “We have to go through a lot of checks before we send out the data,” Slater said. A California company ma chine scores tests, and that takes a week or so to complete, Slater added. This year, the education department revised the reports that explain test results to par ents, and that added more time. Ron Houser, the Education De partment’s testing manager, said major revisions are under way to decrease turnaround time. State School Superintendent Norma Paulus plans to announce the test results by school, grade level and statewide after July 30. Paulus has criticized Salem Keizer schools for still using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which she calls “worthless.” The state agency has been em phasizing state tests over such national tests on grounds that lo cal testing is expensive and time consuming. —— ... tm mi LAURA GOSSiEmerald Chainlinkfencing marks the construction of a new police facility in the Sacred Heart Medical Center parking lot on the comer of 13th Avenue and Alder Street. Police: Building will be finished in mid-Auaust ■ Continued from Page 1A mitted when you know the peo ple and businesses,” she ex plained. The new station will be com pleted in mid-August. The larger building should be more notice able than the 7-Eleven trailer, Ma son said. "We arrested two bank robbers that had just robbed U.S. Bank and they didn’t even know that there was a police station here,” she said in description of a recent campus crime. The building will have a permanent staff of three — Mason, a patrol officer, and a co ordinator — and their efforts are directed towards community policing. The new building will better instill safety by building re lationships with business owners and people in the area, Mason said. ((I’ve got people all over the city that would love to volunteer in a police station. Beverly Mason Eugene community service officer Pain reliever recalled after four deaths Use of Duract for more than 10 days can cause severe liver damage, the manufacturer says By John Hendren The Associated Press NEW YORK — The potent painkiller Duract was recalled by the manufacturer Monday after four peo ple who had been taking it died and eight others re quired liver transplants. All but one of the patients had been using Duract for longer than the government-recommended max imum of 10 days, Wyeth-Ayerst said. The person who used it for a shorter time already had signifi cant liver disease. ‘‘While we continue to believe that Duract is safe and effective when used for 10 days or less, rare but serious adverse events have been associated with Duract when used for longer periods,” Dr. Philip de Vane, head of clinical affairs for Wyeth-Ayerst‘s par ent, American Home Products Corp., said in a state ment. The company concluded that keeping the product on the market with a stronger warning against using it for more than 10 days “would not be feasible or effective,” de Vane said. Doctors have written 2.5 million prescriptions for Duract since it hit the market in July 1997 as an al ternative to narcotics for short-term pain relief after surgery and for other acute pain. Duract is not in tended for arthritis or other chronic pain. The Food and Drug Administration approved Du ract for use up to 10 days, but doctors are free to pre scribe it for longer periods. The agency warned that the drug can lead to potentially fatal liver damage in patients who use it for longer than 10 days. Wyeth-Ayerst sent letters to more than 600,000 doctors in the United States, urging them to stop prescribing the drug immediately and suggesting that they contact patients who may be using Duract for longer than 10 days or have a history of liver dis ease. American Home has already been dazed by law suits from thousands of dieters who claim they were harmed by the anti-obesity drugs Redux and fenflu ramine — half of the popular "fen-phen” diet cock tail. The company recalled the two drugs in August. ODE CLASSIFIEDS*** (j(j) worth looking into! FREE LEGAL SERVICES | Legal Services handles a wide range of legal problems from divorces to landlord tenant disputes, t There is never a consultation or settlement fee. t Legal Services staff members are experienced, qualified professionals. | Legal Services are FREE to current fee-paying U of O students. 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