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I N D E P E N D E N T V O I C E F O R K A N S A S S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015
VOL. 120 NO. 111
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www.kstatecollegian.com
Mental health center helps youth, adults
Teacher evaluations help faculty, students succeed
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K-State reaches for NCAA Tournament
Faculty create agricultral center, focus work on helping rural businesses By Emily Velisek the collegian
Photo Illustration by Mason Swenson | the collegian TEVAL is one of two teacher evaluations K-State offers as a way for students to provide their input on teachers.
By Erin Hildreth the collegian
K
-State offers two ways for students to evaluate teachers and courses that usually takes place at the end of the semester: TEVALs and IDEA reports. Each report lets students offer feedback on their classroom learning experience and helps
teachers understand areas they need to improve. “From personal experience, when I have a good teacher I kind of just rush through and fill out the evaluation form with good marks,” Sami Powers, freshman in communication sciences and disorders, said. “If I had a bad teacher, I would personally take time to say why I think that teacher demonstrated bad teaching qualities because I wouldn’t
want students to have that teacher. But, so far I have had all good teachers. Maybe that’s because of the course evaluation process, I don’t know.” K-State leaves it up to the different colleges and departments to choose what kind of teacher evaluation they want to implement within their programs. The TEVALs can be administered either electronically or on paper to be handwritten.
The electronic TEVALs may open to students at any time in the semester to take and it is up to the professor to create the questions included on the form. The handwritten TEVAL forms include standard questions such as “Does the instructor increase your desire to learn more about this subject?”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5, “TEVAL”
Millennials might surpass baby boomers as ‘me generation’ By Morgan Bell the collegian “Self-centered” and “self-absorbed” seem to be adjectives often used to describe “kids these days.” This millennial generation, however, is not the first one to question the rules and defy societal norms. Following World War II, there was a temporary but noticeable increase in the birth rate from 1946-64, according to the History Channel website.
and initiated times of cultural change in the U.S. Members of this generation had new ways of thinking and they had a changed outlook on life, including a heavy focus on self-fulfillment, according to the Smithsonian website. “To me, the baby boomers realized their individuality and ‘breaking free’ from the norm, and they took advantage of it,” Caley Greving, junior in management, said. “They started to get out from under their parents’ scrutiny and do their own
“To me, the baby boomers realized their individuality and ‘breaking free’ from the norm, and they took advantage of it,” CALEY GREVING JUNIOR. MANAGEMENT
People born during this period are members of the baby boomer generation. They rejected tradition
thing.” According to Vern Wirka, KSDB-FM faculty adviser and instructor
Photo Illustration by Nicholas Cady | the collegian The shift from self-sacrifice to self-centeredness started decades ago, but technological advances have put millennials in front of baby boomers as the “me generation.”
in journalism and mass communications, the generation before the baby boomers are credited with winning a world war, and sacrifice was what they grew up with. “Many of them, of
FACT OF THE DAY Prince Harry is the partial owner of a racehorse named “Usain Colt.”
mentalfloss.com
course, had grown up through a depression and subsequently a world war,” Wirka said. “I really think that they raised their children in an atmosphere that said ‘we did all of this for you,’
and their general attitude was to ‘make the world this better place for you, and we did that. Now here it is.’”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3, “ME GENERATION”
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Three K-State faculty members have created a center that will help rural businesses learn about new online market strategies. Cheryl Boyer, associate professor of horticulture forestry and recreation, brought together Lauri Baker, assistant professor of communication and agricultural education, and Hikaru Peterson, professor of agricultural economics, to start the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement. The center formulated from research that the team conducted in marketing strategies. “The group is starting with nursery and garden centers to learn how they are using (marketing strategies) successfully, so they can help the rural businesses capitalize on what larger businesses have learned in different markets,” Boyer said. Through this, the group said they want to help people in small rural communities grow their businesses and make them successful. Some of the goals for the center are to do hands-on training for all the new online marketing outlets. “I do think one of the things we offer that is unique is that there are some programs out there that are designed to train people how to use social media, and even some to train people in agriculture and natural resources industry,” Baker said. “But many of them aren’t research-based information.” This is a large reason why the group started to come together, so that they could start research in this area. As the center grows, the group said they want to work with undergraduate researchers and involve students in the program with the hope that maybe there will be possible courses and workshops for students to help with the center. Undergraduate students have already worked for the group by conducting research and making posters of their research, but the team said they want those students to be able to do more in the future. Peterson said she believes the center “will bring national recognition to Kansas State in the future” and will hopefully help businesses outside of Kansas; maybe even internationally. The group said they feel the center is important to K-State because it aligns with the land grant mission and will be serving people in the community close to the school. All three of the faculty members are supported by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, which allotted them funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture as a part of the multi-state Hatch project “Sustainable Practices, Economic Contributions, Consumer Behavior and Labor Management in the U.S. Environmental Horticulture Industry.” They received $55,000 per year for three years, which is the dollar amount for hiring a research associate. After the three years, the group said they hope to be self-funded. Boyer, Baker and Peterson said they are excited to see the center come so far and are ready to see what the future holds.