WEDNESDAY
MARCH 18, 2015
Wednesday High 72, Low 59 Thursday High 75, Low 63
VOLUME 100 ISSUE 68 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS 1915 - 2015
NEWS Briefs World
ATHENS — Greece has called for joint talks with leaders of Germany, France and the European Union executive to resolve the crisis surrounding the country’s bailout. BEIRUT— Syrian activists and the Western-backed opposition accused the government of carrying out a chlorine gas attack against a rebel-held town that killed at least six people and injured several.
National SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The State Water Resources Control Board has expanded restrictions on water use entering its fourth year of drought without significant storms or snowfall to replenish dwindling reservoirs. NEW YORK— Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, of Neptune, New Jersey, was due Wednesday in a New York federal court after being indicted on answer charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructing justice.
Texas HOUSTON— Millionaire Robert Durst, 71, is charged with murder in a Los Angeles killing 15 years ago, and has been suspected– but never charged in the disappearance of his first wife in New York. He was acquitted of murder in a dismemberment death in Texas. A marked Houston police car and several unmarked cars were in front of a 17-story Houston building where Durst has three condominiums.
Courtesy of SMU
SMU is currently finding a new provost to replace Paul Ludden when he leaves at the end of the semester.
SMU begins search for next Provost Christina cox Assignments Editor clcox@smu.edu SMU began its search for a new provost today to replace current Provost Paul Ludden, President R. Gerald Turner announced to the SMU community via a university-wide email. Ludden announced his departure from SMU Feb. 23 in order to search for
other opportunities in Wisconsin near his daughter and family. He will continue to serve the Office of the Provost until May 31. The administration formed a Search Committee to replace Ludden this spring. The committee is chaired by Al Niemi, dean of the Cox School of Business, and consists of members from all seven schools as well as members from
University Central Libraries, Enrollment Services, Student Affairs and the Board of Trustees. The committee also includes search consultant Ann Die Hasselmo who has worked on five prior academic searches including the recent Dedman College and Meadows School of the Arts dean searches. The Seach Committee’s first meeting was held today with “a goal
of completing its search during the fall semester,” Turner said in his email. SMU is asking faculty and staff to share their thoughts about the search process and the qualification of the next provost to the Search Committee and Hasselmo March 25 at two separate open forums. The Daily Campus will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
FE ATURE
health
Early intervention may prevent dyslexia Genevieve Edgell Contributing Writer gedgell@smu.edu Two professors presented their research supporting an essential cure for dyslexia at this month’s Sampling Simmons luncheon, Curing Dyslexia: What is Possible, in Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall March 17. Dr. Patricia Mathes and Dr. Paul Yovanoff emphasized the significance of early intervention, the key to preventing dyslexia, to 48 potential financial donors. Tincy Miller, who holds a seat on Texas’s State Board of Education, was also in attendance. Referring to children with dyslexia, Dr. Mathes led with her ultimate goal, “To make sure every 2nd grader is reading normally, not even realizing they once had a disability.” In order to target at-risk children and intervene before they enter 2nd grade, Dr. Yovanoff explained how technology could effectively screen children so that all prekindergarten children are tested without traditional one-on-one methods. Dr. Mathes, who once struggled with dyslexia, has been awarded more than 55 million dollars for research in her
area of expertise, reading disabilities. During the lecture she focused on one of her recent studies where at-risk 1st graders were provided with intense 45-minute intervention sessions over 33 weeks during the school year. At the end of the year, the at-risk students scored one standard deviation level above average, not a single child failing 1st grade. Now these children are entering 2nd grade essentially cured. “Yes they are still genetically predisposed and may have ongoing issues, but now they are like every other kid,” Dr. Mathes said while showing the audience brain scans proving these results. The lecture proved that instruction is the most important environmental factor for adolescences with dyslexia. Studies supporting methodologies for targeting children who are at risk of developing dyslexia are still in the works. Dr. Yovanoff, expert in psychometrics and director of the Ph.D. program at Simmons, talked about his current work with computer adaptive testing called Istation Indicators of Progress (ISIP) with over
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Michael Gonzalez/ THE DAILY CAMPUS
The commuter lot on a Monday afternoon.
The daily struggles of a commuter student MICHAEL GONZALEZ Contributing Writer mlgonzalez@smu.edu Salvador Robles, a senior political science major, commutes from a suburb south of Dallas. On a good day it will take Robles about thirty minutes to make it to SMU. On a bad day, which seems to be most of the time, it will take him close to an hour.
Robles chooses to make this long commute because of how expensive it is to live on and around campus. Robles believes that commuter students should be shown more consideration and given priority when class registration opens. “Sometimes we get stuck with having to pick 8 a.m. classes, and that is really hard when you commute because of all
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