Miami Hurricane, November 09, 1982

              I»
Volume 59 Number 21 Phone 284-4401
USBG Election Preview — see pace 3
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1982
Student Governments Forming Joint State Council
Miami Hurricane/MICKEY LEWIS
Maryland quarterback Boomer Esiason prepares to lead his team to battle in the drive that set up the gamewinning field goal to lead the Terrapins to their 18-17 victory over Miami Saturday. Full details on the game can be found on page 9.
Budget Cuts Force Colleges To End Student Evaluations
‘I still think than rather leaving a classroom empty, the evaluations are the lesser of two evils.’
Faculty Secretary Bruce Bray
MOSCOW, Ind. (CPS) — University of Idaho administrators, scrambling for ways to survive their second straight semester of funding cuts, have settled on a controversial new slash: ending student evaluations of their teachers’ performances.
“It was a tough decision," says Faculty Secretary Bruce Bray, who recommended cutting the evaluations.
“When your budget is cut every year, sometimes three or four times a year, you start asking yourself 'Which arm can I spare?' But I still think rather than leaving a classroom empty, the evaluations are the lesser of two evils."
Indeed, evaluations — once hailed as the very definition of the college consumer movement — have been abandoned by a number of schools trying to save money this fall. Moreover, professors, who complain that students aren't qualified to judge them, are putting in-
creasing pressure on administrators to end evaulation programs.
On many campuses, the evaula-tions not only judge teacher quality, but help determine if teachers get tenure and salary increases.
Thus, some instructors never have been ardent supporters of the surveys, especially when jobs are increasingly scarce.
Faculty dissatisfaction, coupled with an increasing shortage of funds, may make student evaluations a thing of the past at many campuses, some observers say.
Even students are beginning to question funding the surveys in light of drastic cutbacks and elimination of other student services such as counseling centers, day care, and library hours.
At the University of Denver, the Faculty and Course Evaluation (FACE) program was nearly eliminated this year. But the program's editorial board resigned and drew enough attention to the program to get additional funding.
Several years ago, FACE received annual funding of nearly $30,000
and was one of the largest student publication efforts on campus. Two years ago funding was cut to only $9,000. And after an original budget of only $1,100 this year, FACE finally got an additional $2,900, though only after the student editors resigned in disgust.
“Nobody wanted to eliminte the program." explains Robert Lazuras, president of the All Undergraduate Student Association. "But for the last few years we have been looking for ways to revamp FACE to make it more cost-effective."
Similarly, University of Texas English lecturers have called the student evaluations a “popularity contest" judged by “a bunch of 18-year-olds," and are lobbying to decrease the role the evaluations play in faculty hiring and firing decisions.
Wesleyan University faculty members also tried to junk student evaluations recently. Although unsuccessful, instructors argued that "evaluation of pedagogy [teaching skills) ought to be rooted in institutional credo rather than student opinion."
And at Idaho, administrators have decided to eliminate one of the two annual student evaluation programs, and are considering scrapping the evaluations entirely.
“Of course we feel it is a severe loss," responds Scott Green, student senator. "But at the same time the university is facing a five percent budget cut next semester on top of the nine percent one we have now. We’ve had so many programs cut we don't know which one to yell about."
For now, Idaho will continue with one evaluation per year, Green says, even if individual departments and student government have to pick up the tab
But while some schools ponder ending student evaulation programs, at least one college is thinking of starting one.
The Student Government Association at Loyola University in New Orleans just proposed funding a $2,-000 "Student Consumer Guide," which would include evaluations of instructors and individual courses.
The proposal has been tabled, however, until student officials have had a chance to discuss the idea and how they would come up with the money to fund it.
"The course evaluation has been considered for quite a few years," explains Chris Young, student representative. "But it has always met with opposition from the faculty."
With the school's budget problems, he adds, the Student Consumer Guide is far from a realitv.
I
Measles Case At
Leads To Texas
WACO, Tex. (CPS) — One case of red measles at Baylor University recently turned into a health scare at seven other Texas campuses that administrators sought to contain with a mass inoculation program, despite students' insistence on going to class and football teams' insistence on keeping their traveling schedules.
The measles case quickly made over 100 other Baylor students sick, and prompted 5,000 others to rush to local clinics for vaccination shots.
Ending college outbreaks in particular is very difficult, says an official with the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Outbreaks “could happen on many U.S. campuses because most students now in college missed getting either the measles or measles vaccinations when they were young.”
The Baylor epidemic began when a freshman brought the red measles — a less serious strain than the German measles linked to high death rates and birth defects — back from a visit to South America this fall.
"The student came to campus before he knew he was infected, but while he was still highly contagious," explains Baylor spokeswoman Nancy Barcus. “He attended our annual 'Welcome Week' activities and apparently was all over campus."
Within two weeks, dozens of students had symptoms of the highly-infectious disease, Barcus says. So campus and state health officials quickly set up emergency diagnostic and vaccination centers to control the problem.
In a scenario that flows like an episode from TV’s "Quincy," health officials launched publicity campaigns and extensive tracking procedures to notify anyone who might have been exposed to the virus.
"Early on a case of measles turned up in one of the Baylor football players," Alexander recalls. "At our suggestion, we arranged to immunize the football team and coaches, and to alert officials at Texas Tech and the University of Houston that their teams could have been exposed."
Through other contacts, the measles also spread to Stephen F. Austin University, Texas A & M, Texas A & I, and the University of Texas-Austin cjjjnpus. Those
Baylor Epidemic
schools, along with Baylor, made some 100,000 students vulnerable to the disease.
“But by getting a lot of people inoculated, we cut down on the spread of the virus, and we avoided what is commonly called the “herd effect," where the disease really spreads among a confined population, notes Baylor's Barcus.
"Unfortunately," adds Barcus, “a lot of the students knew that if they were diagnosed with measles they'd have to miss up to two weeks of classes. Consequently; many hid out in their dorms and tried going to class anyway, which made the problem all the worse.”
But health officials generally received “marvelous cooperation” from students at all the colleges. Alexander says.
At last count, 105 students had contracted or showed symptoms of the disease, which included a runny nose, cough, red eyes, rash, and high fever, Alexander reports.
Campus officials in Texas report that life is nearly back to normal "except for a few students with peeling skin.”
What worries health experts more is the prospect of measles outbreaks sweeping through virtually any campus in the country in the next few years.
“Vaccinations before 1968 just weren't that effective in establishing immunity," Alexander explains. But at the same time, he says, measles were controlled enough by then that many children were able to grow up never contracting the disease.
"Thus, from now through the next five or six years we have a wave of students who are only 50 to 60 percent protected against the measles," making college students extremely vulnerable to the virus, he said.
By late in this decade. Alexander adds, most college students will be in the group that was inoculated after 1968, when more effective vaccines gave a 90 to 95 percent protection rate against measles.
“There are a lot of campuses where the same thing could occur,” agrees Dr. Allen Henman with the Center for Disease Control. "But there's nothing colleges can do except wait, unless they're willing to institute immunization requirements for all students prior to admission.”
i
By AMY MURSTEN
Hurricane Stuff Writer
Last Friday, UM’s Undergraduate Student Body Government representatives attended a bimonthly meeting of the Sute Council of Student Body Presidents (SCSBP), for the purpose of gaining entrance into this organization.
SCSBP is made up of representatives from 11 sute university student governments and is presently closed to private schools. However, this exclusion may not last much longer.
The council brought up an amendment proposed by Steve Southerland, chairman of the council and president of the student government at the University of Florida. This amendment asked "Should private schools be allowed to enter this forum?" After much positive debate by the members of the council, USBG President Aurelio Quinones was asked to speak on UM's behalf.
In his presentation to the executive council, Quiñones expressed UM’s interest in working with other Florida colleges and universities. He proposed the idea of “forming a separate organization for the public schools and one for the private schools. Then, both organizations can join together and work towards common goals.” He went on to say that "this way we will be working together, not against each other."
Speaking on behalf of the council, Southerland praised UM's high attendance at the meeting and appreciated UM’s strong interest in wanting to join the council. They were impressed by UM's proposals and the council went on to form a subcommittee to work on a new system.
The purpose of this subcommittee is to discuss all possible proposals for the new system. Then, they will recommend the best one to the council for its approval.
The University of Miami will be working on this subcommitee with members from other public universities across the state. The first meeting will be held within the next few weeks.
One possible outcome for this system is that it will be composed of three committees. There will be one from each of the three groups of colleges and universities in Florida: the public universities, the private universities and the communi-
ty colleges. Then, an executive board would be established, made up of members from each of the three committees.
Dave Hilfman, vice chairman of the SCSBP and president of the student body at the University of South Florida told the executive council that “the lobbyists [of the SCSBP in Tallahassee) would be licking their chops with this extra political clout.”
Quinones was much more satisfied with the outcome of the meeting than he had expected. "This new system will be morej productive than the old one," he said. “All Fliprida schools can work together on pro-student issues instead of working against each other as in the past."
These issues include financial aid. student's rights, and an expansion of the present educational system in Florida.
He went on to say that “This new system provides a strong leadership vote for students in Florida. It will help us | Florida students] not only at the state level but also at the national level.”
Oliver Morales, USBG speaker pro tempore of the Senate, added that “With this new council, Florida will become one of the most organized states in terms of united college students. Hopefully, other states will pick up on this idea so that all students will be well represented."
One of the benefits in forming a statewide council like the one proposed is that political candidates will actively seek the endorsement of the council. "Candidates will come to us for support instead of overlooking us as they have done in the past," Morales said.
In addition to attending Friday's meeting, UM's student leaders had a chance to see the University of Florida campus. They actually went through the registration process and visited the new sports and recreation facilties, the dorm facilities and the Student Union facilities at the University of Florida
"We have already begun to gain more information from attending
these meetings at the University ol
Florida and Florida Atlantic University. This knowledge will be helpful in terms of our plans for the next few months," Quinones said.
Roy Robert, treasurer of USBG. said that, "I am impressed by the facilities at the University of Florida and especially their on-line registration process.
Survey Tackles Parking Issue
By GEORGE HAJ
Hurricane News Editor
USBG will be conducting a survey over the next week asking students whether they would use a tram service from the stadium and Hecht Center parking lots to the center of campus.
The surveys are the brainchild of USBG Public Safety Secretary Linda Volum. She will be handling the distribution of 1.000 surveys to students in the Memorial Building parking lots.
The survey will ask whether students would be willing to use a tram service that would take them from the Hecht Center and stadium parking areas to either the Student Union Circle or the Library Building.
There are over 500 parking spaces in those areas, but many students have complained about the 12 to 15 minute walk required to get from the parking spaces to the heart of the campus.
The tram service, if established, will cost students $50,000 a year to operate While the administration has expressed a willingness to try the proposal on a one year basis.
with the administration paying the costs, a tram service after the first year will have to be funded from the students.
Volum stressed that the tram service is a short term solution only. "There is no way that parking is going to get any nearer to the classroom buildings," she said, as President Foote is committed to the concept of perimeter parking.
The tram idea is not a new one, having been studied by the university about five years ago. At the time, the administration felt that there was not enough interest to justify the expense.
The tram could also be used by students living on fraternity row and when the Metrorail system opens in 1983, will allow students riding that system easy and quick access to the heart of campus.
Volum added that while there is much talk about putting a high-rise parking garage on the UM campus, it is not possible to get the necessary zoning exemptions from the city of Coral Gables for that purpose "And at $8,000 a parking space," Volum said, "there is just no way a parking garage is going to be built anytime soon."
Index
USBG Elections
The Miami Hurricane profiles the candidates in the contested races as this fall’s elections approach /PAGE 3
‘Here And Now’
Maxwell Glen and Cody Shearer comment from Washington on a Washington Post story which explains why living together is becoming an increasingly-popular option /PAGE 4	*
‘The Importance Of Being Earnest*
The Hurricane reviews the latest Ring Theatre presentation /PAGE 6
He Gave His Body ...
A review of The Missionary, the new movie starring Michael Palin /PAGE 8
A Chilly Reception
Tlte full recap of the Hurricanes’ disappointing loss to the Maryland Terrapins /PAGE 9
Opinion /PAGE 4	Entertainment /PAGE 6
Sports /PAGE 9	Classifieds /PAGE 10
X	>
II