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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2005)
Oregon track and field athletes fare well at the Pepsi Team Invitational I 9 Oregon Daily Emerald An independent newspaper wmv. dailyemerald. com Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 131 | Monday, April 11, 2005 Evaluations for courses to undergo revisions More thorough comparisons and easier access are among changes under consideration BY ADAM CHERRY NEWS REPORTER Depending on the University administra tion’s findings, students may participate in an updated course evaluation process in the near future. The administration is assembling a work group to review the process that allows stu dents to rate their experiences with profes sors and courses, sources said. The evalua tions, which currently take the form of scanned bubble forms or short-answer question sheets, are used to give feedback to instructors and help administrators make decisions about professors’ tenure. Professors’ numeric scores on four of the questions are made available to the public on the Office of Academic Affairs’ Web site, academicaffairs.uoregon.edu, through a link at the bottom of the page. Students can re view the scores for a course or professor when making decisions during course regis tration periods, but many aren’t aware of the site’s existence. Russell Tomlin, linguistics professor and vice provost for academic affairs, said while he didn’t feel problems with the evaluation process are widespread, he is interested in researching ways it could be improved. “We use student evaluations as an impor tant part of the evaluation of faculty,” Tom lin said, adding that it’s important to create a process that’s statistically valid and reliable. Tomlin, who is directing the University’s review effort, is still looking to add a student member to the work group, and cautioned that it’s still early in the process to predict what conclusions the group will draw. “What we do is decent; it’s not stunning,” Tomlin said. He added that he believes stu dents and faculty are, in general, content with the process but will appreciate efforts to improve it. The evaluations currently examine a par ticular instructor in a particular department for one term. “That’s useful, but it doesn’t tell much about how (an instructor) did, compared with the rest of the University,” Tomlin said. The statistics are sensitive to the size of the course and level of response, Tomlin said. In addition, scores for courses needed to fulfill major requirements are often “more sensitive.” The work group may look for a way to EVALUATIONS, page 6 Primary Election results released After a delay caused by grievances, its Adam Walsh and Kyla Coy against Ashley Rees and Jael Anker-Lagos for ASUO Executive BY PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTER ASUO Executive candidates Ashley Rees and Jael Anker-Lagos will square off against candi dates Adam Walsh and Kyla Coy in this week’s general election, according to primary election results released late Sunday. Rees and Anker-Lagos, with 907 votes, gar nered more than twice the number of votes Walsh’s ticket received. Walsh and Coy, with 445 votes, beat out third-place challengers Ja cob Daniels and Adi Cargni by just 22 votes. No one from Rees’ ticket could be reached for comment. Walsh said he was excited by the results. “It’s cool,” he said. “I’m definitely very excited to be on to the next round. Hopefully we’ll be able to maintain the support that we had for the primaries on into the general election.” “Twenty-five votes to lose by is a small mar gin to lose by,” Daniels said. “I guess it’s better than losing by more.” He added that he will support Walsh in the general election. “He’s an outsider. He has the know-how,” Daniels said. “He’s an intelligent guy, and he’s going to fix the problems that are currently present.” Candidates who received more than 50 per cent of the vote automatically won their seats. All members of the 10-candidate Student Ac tion Committee slate, which aims to increase PRIMARY, page 7 I DA ! OF P^iMARIES!!! vf r:- Jnvh 51-^ on di;.:kwfb Vmm This is a Campaign Free Zone “*|7 , flection Rule 6.15 No campaign t-shirts inert even turned inside out), Buttons Hue buck signs, and no flyers in the ASuO mailboxes. Candidates and their advocates ate not allowed to use Incidentally fee luruied material to promote a campaign. This includes A5UO computers, phones, email accounts, program listsens and copiers. When in Doubt ask an election board member and pleast respect thn> ru-1 p. „ neutral space ■ ‘ i ''.V' Zane Rtit | Photographer A sign declaring neutrality from campaign messages can be seen on the ASUO front door in the EMU. Court rules that Election Board showed no bias Question over the Election Board's alleged indiscretion arose from a grievance filed Friday BY PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTER The ASUO Election Board didn’t show favor to ASUO Exec utive candidates Ashley Rees and Jael Anker-Lagos, the ASUO Con stitution Court ruled Sunday in re sponse to a grievance filed by ASUO Student Senator Kevin Day. But Chief Justice Randy Der rick, who investigated the matter for the court, reprimanded the board for a “serious lapse of judg ment” when it allowed a repre sentative of the ticket to blow up balloons and complete financial paperwork for the board. In a grievance filed Friday, Day alleged the board violated election rules because it was not “impar tial throughout the electoral process.” The court placed an injunction against the board Friday while it investigated, delaying the results of last week’s primary elections. Results were scheduled for release after 5 p.m. Friday, but the board could not release the results until rulings on grievances were made, Derrick told the Emerald. The board already ruled Friday in response to a different griev ance that the Rees-Anker-Lagos campaign is forbidden from cam paigning until after the primary election and cannot campaign in the residence halls until Monday. Derrick wrote in the decision that a member of the Rees-Anker Lagos campaign did assist the board, but the person was not wearing “visible campaign attire” and did not “engage in activity COURT, page 6 ELECTION BOARD GRIEVANCES Election Board rules against Rees-Anker-Lagos campaign ASUO Executive candidates Ashley Rees and Jael Anker-Lagos are prohibited from campaigning in the residence halls until Thesday, the Election Board ruled Sunday evening. The board previously sanctioned the tick et for a similar violation. Residence Hall Association President Todd Mann filed the grievance on Friday. Mann alleged the ticket violated election rules by campaigning door to door and in dining areas, and the Jacob Daniels-Adi Cargni ticket violated rules by giving away free campaign T-shirts in exchange for votes, seeking “severe action” against Rees and Anker-Lagos and a “lesser punish ment” for Daniels and Cargni. The ruling also orders both tickets to write a letter of apology to RHA by 9 a.m. Wednesday. Freshman Meghan Shumaker, Senate Seat 1 candidate Miles Rost and Sophomore Amy Higdon eaclrcontributed written alle gations as part of the grievance. “The Residence Hall Association has GRIEVANCES, page 6 Planting the bead seed Sophomore Dana Harlan's jewelry-making hobby has proved profitable as both a business and a valuable form of relaxation BY EVA SYLWESTER NEWS REPORTER University sophomore Dana Harlan is turn ing her jewelry-making hobby into a small business. Harlan, a finance major with minors in communications and economics, began mak ing jewelry when she was a sophomore at Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie, Ore. “I had a dress for a dance, but couldn’t find anything to match it, so randomly I just decid ed to make it,” Harlan said. From that, her hobby grew. “I had way too much for me to wear my self, so I brought it to school and everything sold out the first day in one class,” Harlan said. While in high school, Harlan also sold her jewelry at Nassau West Salon, owned by her friend’s parents in Milwaukie. She worked at the salon for a while and continued to sell jewelry there until recently. She also makes custom jewelry for special occasions, such as family friends' weddings. Harlan buys most of her beads at gem fairs. She said she also makes two trips each month to Dava Bead and Trade in Portland to buy supplies. “It’s kind of nerdy,” Harlan said. “My friends always joke about how I go to gem fairs and stuff like that.” Harlan said her jewelry ranges in price from JEWELRY, page 5
