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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Jared Paben
Managing Editor:
Travis Willse
El O iTO RIAL.
ASUO Exec
on right track
to responsible
financial term
Whether it reflects smart politics or a genuine concern for
student money, recently installed ASUO President Adam
Petkun looks to be getting off on the right foot by distancing
himself from the 2003-04 Executive's fiscal irresponsibility.
At a July 8 Student Senate meeting, Petkun asked for more
than $ 1,600 in transfers to cover office supply and telephone
fund deficits left by the administration of former ASUO Presi
dent Maddy Melton and former Vice President Eddy Morales.
Senators bombarded him with questions about how the
deficits came about. While Petkun said he couldn't answer the
questions because he wasn't a member of last year's Executive,
he said one of his goals is to ensure that overspending does
n't happen this year.
'I am very committed to making sure that the ASUO Execu
tive office is fiscally responsible and is an example for the rest
of the ASUO," Petkun told senators.
If Petkun and the rest of the Executive follows through, the
student body will be in for a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Petkun's administration has already succeeded in areas
where last year's Executive faltered.
1-ast year, Melton and Morales failed to account for missing
money on their campaign and expenditure forms. But Petkun
and Vice President Mena Ravassipour submitted all of their cam
paign expenditure forms, and the numbers added up.Petkun
also pulled off the difficult task of finding law students— while
the law school is out of session— to appoint to open Constitu
tion Court seats. He missed the 30-day June 25 deadline, but
with help from the president of the Student Bar Association, he
appointed two justices within two weeks of the deadline.
Last year, Melton failed for more than half a year to find a
Constitution Court justice, prompting the court to summon
her and call her "unfit for office."
Admittedly, it's still too early to say how well this year's Exec
utive will face the challenges of the school year, but if the first
two months are any indication, Petkun and Ravassipour's ad
ministration might be the first responsible one that students
have seen in a long time.
EDiTORlAi.BOARD
Jared Paben Travis Willse
Editor in Chief Managing Editor
Erik R. Bishoff
Online & Photo Editor
ONLINE POLL
THIS WEEK'S POLL RESULTS
The Oregon Country Fair: Love it or hate it? (28 votes)
1. Love it! - Art, music, culture and community galore! 46 percent
2. Hate it!-It's dirty, dusty and disjointed ... and the people are, too. 25 percent
3. Hate it! - It's been hijacked by capitalism. 18 percent
4. Love it! - Let your hair down and free your mind. 11 percent
NEXT WEEK'S QUESTION
Which summer movie have you most looked forward to? Visit
www.dailyemerald.com to vote.
• "Anchorman"
• "The Bourne Supremacy”
• "The Clearing"
• "Fahrenheit 9/11"
• "I, Robot”
• "Spiderman2"
• "Super Size Me"
Aaron Sullivan Illustrator
Education reform bill is misguided
Cheaters never win. Or at least that's
how the old adage goes. But what happens
when a paltry piece of legislation serves to
place such an egregious burden on a per
son or group that cheating becomes a ne
cessity at some point?
Fox News reported that some 200
teachers in California were caught help
ing students cheat to perform better on
the newly required standardized tests.
This problem wasn't isolated, and experts
claim that the No Child Left Behind bill
has placed an enormous amount of pres
- sure on
GUEST Ka;hheT,e
COMMENTARY such be
-— h a v i o r
must not be tolerated, sometimes, when
the amount of insubordinate behavior is
this great, there is a need to investigate a
possible source aggravating this problem.
The NCLB bill sailed through both hous
es of Congress, gamering a majority of sup
port. Now that the implementation phase
has ventured into the spodight, problems
have arisen, eluding that this piece of legis
lation is doing the exact opposite of its in
tended purpose. Not only is it leaving chil
dren behind, it is destroying endre school
districts and their integrity.
The bill expands the federal govern
ment's role in education. That is, if states
opt to take federal dollars to aid public
schools, strings are attached.
For example, annual tesdng that places
significant emphasis on math and reading
is required, with an overall goal of bring
ing all students up to the state-set profi
ciency level by 2014.
Such is a task that Forbes Magazine
dubbed "insane" because "no amount of
accountability, incentives and super
duper teaching can possibly get all kids in
any sizable school up to 100 percent
proficiency by 2014."
This also means schools that have a
high level of students not only passing the
tests but scoring exceptionally well, can
still be labeled as failures even if five per
cent of the students fail.
A school failing to meet the require
ment two years in a row must offer stu
dents the choice of attending other pub
lic schools. Schools failing the
requirement three years in a row must
provide private tutoring to students,
and schools perpetually failing face a
governmental takeover.
Rightly so, the bill also requires every
teacher in core content areas to be "highly
qualified" in the subjects that he teaches.
It doesn't matter how "highly profi
cient" a teacher is. He could be a miracle
worker hold a doctorate degree in the
subject he teaches and still a
portion of students would fail the
standardized tests.
Should such failure signify a teacher is
not doing his job effectively? No, but un
der the NCLB bill it does.
Instead, it should illuminate that
many children these days, especially
those unfortunate few from lower
socioeconomic classes whose parents
could care less about their child's success,
have no desire to perform well on these
tests. Why should they? Without proper
parental guidance they will continue on
the same dilapidated path leading to a
disenfranchised life.
Teachers cannot be required to instruct
uninterested students and assume the role
of quasi-parent to ensure that test scores rise.
As it is, teachers are underpaid for their la
bor, and many already dip into their own
salaries to ensure their students have the
proper supplies to complete their lessons.
If an education bill stacks the deck against
teachers, something must give. When test
scores are the gold standard in measuring
success and the requisite for allocating school
funding, the measurement will usually be
met. If that means breaking a few rules along
the way, that's precisely what will happen.
So before subjecting these busted teach
ers to jail time or hefty fines, perhaps the
media should focus on the bill fueling
such debauchery.
This affront to the education system dis
plays one thing: Americans need states
men as representatives, not self-interested
power-hungry actors willing to pass legis
lation, without reading it fully, simply be
cause they long for another chance to get
their name or face on TV.
Nicholas Davis is a columnist
for The Battalion
(Texas A&M University).
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘Book smarts' remain most
valid in evaluating students
The system used in educational institu
tions today to grade students has been
questioned greatly by teachers, parents,
and students alike. I am referring to the
very raw form of rating students against
their peers based on certain criteria. The
system is being questioned because good
grades are detrimental to students' fu
tures, making their accuracy very impor
tant. Students believe that the grading
could be skewed toward students that are
favored, and others feel that it should be
changed to not be so book-smart orient
ed, and be more based on character and
other qualities. I believe that the grading
system that we have should not be
changed away from book smarts, because
that is the most efficient way to monitor
and document a students abilities.
Students, parents, and teachers may
find the grading system that we have now
to be inconsistent. Because students can
persuade teachers, or that it is too easy to
cheat. But, before they jump to conclu
sions, they must understand that these
students are not getting ahead in their
education, but that they are hurting
themselves by not doing the full work
and taking shortcuts. In the "real world"
employers are not going to let these
people who try to get by the easy way just
get by. It will be harder for these students
to get and or hold a job if they think
that they will be able to sway the "boss
man." The grading system is not to
blame for this; it is on the student that
takes those shortcuts.
Even though some will still see this
as a fault it really is not. The saying that
"cheaters will never prosper," holds true
here and the grading system that we have
today is the most efficient way to teach
our youth how to follow directions
and how to respect and handle authority.
That is why the grading system should
not be changed to lean more in the
direction of character. It needs to stay
based on book smarts so that students
can learn these valuable lessons for
their future.
Jeremy Scheid
sophomore, business