The Reporter

Wednesday, April 22, 1998 FORUM > SGA is an ineffective paper government. Column^ 5< Volume 110, Issue 26 (904) 822-7224 (904) 822-7233 http: / / reporter, stetson. edu News: [email protected] Life: [email protected] Forum: [email protected] Sports: [email protected] S Ads: [email protected] S General: [email protected] Green Stetson sponsors Earth Day 1998. Life, page i a Stetson University, DeLand, Florida EDUCATION > The alterations to the general education curriculum will not apply to students entering before fall of '99. By JEFF HAMRICK News Editor The faculty at the school of business administration voted last Friday to implement a series of changes to the general education requirements, including a foreign language requirement. The changes were approved by a margin exceeding 3-to-l, according to Dr. Theodore Surynt, associate dean ofthe school of business administration. These changes will go into effect for the 1999-2000 academic year and will not be printed in next year's edition of The Stetson Bulletin. The changes will also not affect students who will enroll at the School of Business Administration before the 1999 academic year. Students who enroll before this date will have the option of submitting to the new general education requirements or retaining the old requirements. Critical changes to the curriculum include the addition of a 10-credit hour foreign language requirement, the elimination of microeconomics (ESI 02) as a requirement for most business majors, the elimination of an operations research course (POM351), and the addition of a 6-credit hour communications requirement. The precalculus requirement (MS 101) will be eliminated. Business calculus (MS226) will also be replaced by a new class which will be developed over this summer by professors from the decision and information sciences department and the mathematics department. The 6-credit hour social science requirement has p also been reduced to a single 3-credit hour requirement in The first business statistics course (DS282) will be changed to a quantitative methodology course. The old operations research class (POM351) will be fused with the second statistics course (DS282) as a new class (DS350.) POM351 is a class which is consistently taught by local adjuncts or Dr. Frank DeZoort, director of the school of business administration's graduate programs. Dr. John Rasp, associate professor of decision behavioral science (psychology or sociology), and information sciences, said that "the fact VISIT > ABC News journalist Farai Chideya visited campus last week. ILuJeivkJ £ v I , ->s\s^~-\\ ■ if *~i ri ,' . 3! . \i it if] i f\ U' Kn/^!l/0>n^/^\ U'-il ■i/~~\t—J,: n/—"\ ri/^^s r-TS~~^>^/~~^r~i/]s*~~\\ • if ^i n r Ornr H-Jf rfl n ffrYlf S1d i «?* Ml 01- Qb ] lT^ i O-fSffH -#" 1 HIV':/ HL« P/V ■ i ^ is-; 11 ifr\&ro] fe inUnMHhr?! rm II r i im^i w VM Nr* //Ul l v jl u it U 1 V }\ II- U n W L^i^1 il it V" I PJJ f H I I'WiH !" ^.I'j I I Mt v * -u\ An'. '/ ' % 's &*%£;. ■■■ I; ,\ s ''-' . ,*,; <<- «£'' JOURNALIST: Farai Chideya, a correspondent for ABC News, talks about race and stereotypes last week in the Rinker Auditorium. Chideya's book, Don't Believe the Hype, is intended to be a reference to fight incorrect statistics perpetuated by the media and other groups. Photo by Paul Davis By ANDY DEHNART Editor-in-Chief Question: What percentage of America's drug users are black, and what percentage are white? Answer: 12% are black; 70% are white. To many whites, according to journalist Farai Chideya, these statistics are striking. Undercutting statistics and attitudes that "paint a certain picture of the community that is at odds with reality'* is at the center of her book's mission. Chideya, a corespondent for ABC News, came to campus last week as a result of a collaboration between the initiative for Africana Studies and the Women and Gender Studies Program, and included a lecture by the author. Chideya's first book, Don't Believe the Hype, is a resource for, as the subtitle says, "fighting cultural misinformation about African-Americans.*' In an interview, she said she wanted the book to be a reference, "whether it's for reporters or individuals." Although members of the media—which she points out are disproportionately run and staffed by whites— are guilty of disseminating information that isn' t always true, she said that it isn't a calculated effort to misinform. "I don't see it as a conspiracy at all, but 1 do see it as both an ethical and moral laziness, because the reality is that blacks have been stereotyped in America for the past 300 years- u THE REALITY IS THAT BLACKS HAVE BEEN StCICOtypC IN AMERICA FOR THE PAST 300 YEARS." before this country was a country.'" The laziness comes from reporters failing to be proactive. "Unless you actively try to avoid those stereotypes, they're going to pop up, and I think that many reporters—especially being on deadline—will say that 'my job is to do a story, my job isn't to avoid stereotypes,'" she said. Chideya says that most people stereotype others. "I think that it's second nature for people to fall into stereotypic images— that's what we've all grown up seeing.'" Her book was written to combat that. "What I try to do in the book is to make reporters and individuals realize that you have a responsibility to be aware that these images are out there and that they're not correct, and that in your own small way. you should try to avoid them and counteract them," she said. What makes her statistics any more valid than those that others are presenting? Chideya said she welcomes challenges to her facts. "I hope that people go and look these things up and make their own decisions, and I try to give people the information to do that. I try not to hide anything—I try to put it all there for people to find." "I feel that my statistics are sound, but what differentiates my book from a lot of other books is that it's all footnoted, and I encourage people to double- check," she said. Chideya admits, however, that she did have an agenda in writing the book: "to make people think twice about what they have presumed race to be." At her lecture, she expounded on race and race relations, specifically addressing a number of the issues that appear in the book, including media stereotyping. "Black and white is the founding crucible of race in our society," she said. Those range from a belief that blacks are See CHIDEYA, page 2a that POM is frequently taught by adjuncts demonstrates the priorities ofthe faculty." Rasp said that the quantitative component of the new curriculum was weaker than the old curriculum's quantitative component. "We live in a world in which businesses are increasingly utilizing quantitative methods to make decisions," said Rasp. "Of course, I would favor adding several new statistics courses to the curriculum." Rasp will be one ofthe professors creating a new mathematics course this summer. Surynt said that "we believe we can deliver that quantitative component in two courses rather than one." In regards to the reduction in the eco- See CURRICULUM, page 2a By JOSIE ULIASZ Staff Writer The numbers of seniors graduating with honors has risen steadily over decades and in recent years has been at an all-time high, according to the university's office of institutional research. The increase of students graduating with honors has been traced to a rise in grade inflation, according to data received from university studies. "Grade inflation is present at Stetson, but we tend to be less inflated than other universities," commented Dr. Gary L. Maris, dean of the college of arts and sciences. The average grade point average of graduating seniors this year is projected to be 3.05. This average is higher than the 1994 average of 2.90 and the 1998 average of 2.759, reported the office of institutional research. "I think it is a subconscious thing. Universities have economic pressures to keep students. Now with grade evaluations, professors tend to grade easily because they want to keep students happy," said Dr. Kenneth Everett, professor of chemistry. "My experience with professors who need tenure is that they tend to go out of their way to make the class easier." said Albert Yonfa, a senior majoring in management. Seventy-one seniors graduated with honors in 1997. This number has risen from the 31 honors graduates in 1968 and the 37 in 1988. Eleven percent of graduates from the college of arts and sciences graduated with a grade point average about 3.5 in 1983 and 25 percent in 1997, according to a study by Dr. Everett. SAT scores are lower in recent years than in the past decade. In 1980, the SAT mean for entering freshmen was 1065. In 1993, that mean was 1032, said Everett. These scores were taken before the recentering of the SATs. "It is hard to generalize, but there has been a greater change since the 60's and 70's in students' learning interests," said Dr. Malcolm Wynn, professor of history. The "F forgiveness policy" was one factor Maris identified as a source of the inflation. One hundred and thirty-four students applied for "F forgiveness" in the 1997-98 academic year, said Maris. "Years ago students had to take their F, but now they can retake a class for a better grade," said Maris. Graduate school standards have risen as well, forcing students to produce higher grades and increasing inflation, said Maris. "It is the push-pull effect. Grad schools have higher demands so students are pressured for higher grades," said Maris. In research conducted by staff members of The Reporter, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference between GPA means in 1992 and in 1997. See INFLATION, page 3a -^ rjr- By JEFF HAMRICK News Editor MEETING: Joe Killeen speaks at the meeting last Tuesday, Apr. 14. A group of downtown merchants met recently with a representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to discuss racial interaction in downtown DeLand. The meeting, which occurred on Tuesday, Apr. 14, was held by a local merchant organization. The participation of the NAACP in the meeting was coordinated by Joe Killeen, a subcommittee chair of the local chapter of the NAACP. Speaking to the merchants, Killeen said that the NAACP held a meeting last year to discuss interracial problems in downtown DeLand. "Several people have verified that they have been to a downtown merchant and have been snubbed," said Killeen. Killeen recalled one person's story. "She walked into the store and there were two people in there. She was ignored." "Another girl felt like the store owners had been following her all over the place, afraid that she might steal something," said Killeen. "Several people have verified that they have been to a downtown merchant and have been snubbed." Killeen fnvited Dr. Ranjini Thaver, assistant professor of economics, and Dr. Leonard Nance, associate professor of sociology, to attend the meeting. Thaver and Nance were not present at the meeting. Killeen assured the merchants that "no one here is being accused of anything." "This is a problem, and whether or not it has merit, that problem is there because people believe it is there," said Killeen. A representative from the DeLand Beacon, Luis Raymos, said that "I do not see any kind of racism of any kind in their stores. They treat everyone with the utmost respect." Another merchant said that "There are a lot of people who are in business and they really don't know how to run a business. They don't necessarily know how to treat people who come in and are potential customers." The merchant denied that the lack of appropriate treatment had anything to do with race. "These are people who have endured intolerance and injustice for generations. We need to find a way to let them know, 'Hey, you are welcome here!' " said Killeen. The merchants agreed to investigate the possibility of sensitivity training for their customer service staffs. FORUM: Olestra excuses us [LIFE: 'Saints' delight ISPORTS: Softball team gains from the consequences of fat, 4a (audience, deserve support, 1b (round for TAAC tournament, 4b