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ON THE ROAD AGAIN
L&A: Your LL Bean Boyfriend is waiting for you ... (Page 6)
OUDaily.com: Despite cold stretch, Thunder still one of league’s best.
Sports: OU’s road trip continues. (Page 5)
ENROLLMENT
ACTIVISM
Evaluations to be accessible on oZone Native Resolution makes past course data available MAX JANERKA
Campus Reporter
The Student Government Association passed a resolution that will allow students to access prior course evaluation data through oZone. SGA passed the resolution on Jan. 22, said resolution author Ozair Naqvi, microbiology sophomore and member of the Problems and Projects committee. Naqvi started working on the resolution last winter. The data is available right now on a master spreadsheet on the provost’s website, but it is complicated to access and few students know it exists, Naqvi said. When the resolution is
implemented, the data will be linked from the academics tab in oZone, where it will be made accessible as soon as the enrollment window opens, he said. This new option could prove to be a better alternative to sites like ratemyprofessors.com, where anyone can submit an evaluation, he said. “We were frustrated that we had to use three different sites, ozone. ou.edu, classnav.ou.edu, and myedu. com, to pick out our classes,” said psychology junior Kristin Pascoe in an email. “After talking to other students, we discovered that many others shared our frustration, and many freshmen weren’t even aware of the other sites.” Pascoe said she and her roommate at the time, economics junior Laura Shapiro, realized that it would be easy enough to connect the information
from the class evaluations to oZone the provost’s website. since it was already online, but neiHopefully, this will lead more ther of them wound up writing the students to be compelled to fill out resolution. As Problems and Projects course evaluations and also lead the committee chair, faculty to expand Pascoe passed the “We were frustrated them, tapping in to idea on to Naqvi. that we had to use a common concern “This way, the data of students who were three different is much less corinformed about this, rupted,” Naqvi said. sites, ozone.ou.edu, said Naqvi. “It’s by OU students “Some students classnav.ou.edu, about OU classes. take evaluations seand myedu.com, riously, and they This is a great tool for students to use.” can be really helpto pick out our The link is in the ful,” said Sydney classes.” p ro c e s s o f b e i n g Abdallah internaadded now and tional security studKRISTIN PASCOE, should go live very ies sophomore. “But PSYCHOLOGY JUNIOR soon, said John it also has the potenMontgomery, multidisciplinary tial to be bad, because some students studies senior and SGA secretary, in take the evaluations as a chance to an email. The link will allow students bash professors.” to directly access the spreadsheet on SEE DATA PAGE 2
BUILDING DIVERSITY
Engineering students bridge gender gap Women find success despite noticeable gender division PAIGHTEN HARKINS
Assistant Campus Editor
When Lan Le, electrical engineering junior, applied for an internship after her sophomore year of college, she became one of the few students her age to have nabbed one. Part of the reason she got it, Le believes, is her gender. “Walking in, I feel like I have the upper hand because I’m different. I’m a minority. I’m a woman,” she said, explaining many companies want to meet a certain quota of female employees and might give female applicants preference over males. In the professional world, Le witnessed the existing gender gap, but the division between the two sexes didn’t begin once she got the internship. It was something she first experienced while studying engineering at OU, where women make up only a little over 20 percent of the total number of students enrolled in the college, according to the OU Factbook. In 2011, 569 women were enrolled in the engineering college, compared to the 2,178 men enrolled in the same college, according to the Factbook. From the previous year, the number of women enrolled increased about 3 percent while the number of men enrolled increased 7 percent. Yet Le didn’t struggle with the gender gap, she said, even though it was noticeable — at some SEE GENDER PAGE 2
Campus Reporter
The sounds of drums and singing Tuesday afternoon on the South Oval attracted a crowd, as demonstrators holding signs performed a Native American round dance. The crowd of demonstrators, which consisted of students, OU graduates and Norman community members, were present to support the Idle No More cause, a grassroots movement for indigenous rights and environmental sustainability that was founded in Canada last November, said demonstrator Ashley Nelson, a history of science graduate student. “ We ’ r e j o i n i n g t o gether as one voice and one fire,” said Anthony Williamson, a Choctaw/ Chickasaw demonstrator and local business owner. “It’s for everyone who’s concerned about Mother Earth.” Demonstrators on Tuesday addressed a wide range of issues including preventing domestic violence, receiving justice for murdered family members, stopping the Keystone Pipeline and ending Land Run reenactments.
oudaily.com/news
SOURCE: 2011 OU FACTBOOK
PHOTO GRAPHIC BY TY JOHNSON/THE DAILY
EDUCATION
University, Postal Service open doors to student travel at Passport Day
Commission reaccredits OU, says no additional monitoring required
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CEDAR FLOYD
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TRAVEL
Evan Baldaccini Campus Reporter
Sooners, others push for progress
SEE MORE ONLINE
CAMPUS BRIEFS
To help get students off campus and out of the country, the OU Outreach center and OU Student Affairs have teamed up with the U.S. Postal Service to provide a Passport Day for students. Passport Day will be held from 8-11:30 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Heritage Room. During the event, students will be able to process their passport application and talk to a passport coordinator, she said. Passport Day is open only to students, said Lily Martinez, contract assistant at the U.S. Postal Service National Center for Employee Development, a part of OU Outreach. Students attending the event need to bring proof of citizenship, such as an original or certified birth certificate, naturalization certificate or an old passport, as well as a form of photo identification, like a valid driver’s license or a military ID, Martinez said. To pay for the $150 passport, students must bring a check or money order because the application will be mailed to the state department. Cash will not be accepted. “Passport Day is a fast and convenient way for students to acquire their passport,” Martinez said.
protest sounds at OU
OU has been found capable of providing a quality education to students, according to a recent report from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The report stated the university’s teaching quality, research expansion, globalization and community embody key elements of OU’s mission to provide the best possible educational experience for students. Because of this, OU was reaccredited with no additional monitoring. “It’s the university’s No. 1 goal to provide an academic foundation, and the accreditation process is vital to that mission,” university spokesman Michael Nash said. The report especially illustrates the impact of OU’s academic research initiatives, Nash said. “The impact is unique and beneficial to learning students, expert researchers, the state as a whole and the country,” Nash said. OU President David Boren said he was proud of the agency’s findings and the supportive nature of the reaccreditation report. “It is confirmation of the high standards of excellence which are being met at OU,” Boren said in a press release.
Nadia Enchassi Assistant Campus Editor
The integration of campus and municipal police can be dangerous
AT A GLANCE Accreditation
Opinion: In part two of a series, we examine the implications of a proposed senate bill on campus police departments. (Page 3)
Schools and colleges in the U.S. voluntarily seek accreditation from nongovernmental bodies.
The military explores brain scans for dogs
Institutional accreditation is provided by regional and national associations of schools and colleges. There are six regional associations, each named after the region in which it operates (Middle States, New England, North Central, Northwest, Southern, Western). The Higher Learning Commission is one of six accrediting agencies in the United States that provide institutional accreditation on a regional basis.
Source: Higher Learning Commission website
Opinion: We shouldn’t spend defense money to look inside Fido’s head. (Page 3)
VOL. 98, NO. 93 © 2012 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢
INSIDE TODAY Campus......................2 Clas si f ie ds................4 L i f e & A r t s ..................6 O p inio n..................... 3 Spor ts........................5 Visit OUDaily.com for more
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