On the stump pg. 4 Linda Grantham: Long-distance regent 0
THE June 14, 1990
Vol. 88, No. 56
.„. . „_„ . „ ,
VISTA
11,(1 Summer sports fun pg. 6
Thursday Edition
Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma
Teacher ed program approved "We're not going to cut classes. What we are going to do is use part time staff to help us meet that need. We will not Student Writer be taking money from other colleges. This will be entryyear money that's appropriated by the state legislature," Central State University's teacher education program Elsner said. The entry-year program provides faculty members to was approved for accreditaton by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, (NCATE), pro- serve on teams to aid first-year teachers. The program, until vided that faculty course loads within the College of Educa- last fall, had been averaging 185 first-year teachers. Last fall that number increased to 257, meaning that CSU tion are reduced by September 1991. A total of $165,000 from the entry-year teacher program had to provide faculty members to 257 entry-year teams. will be used to hire part time and adjunct staff to meet the Two entry-year teams equals one credit hour of course stipulations, said Dr. Kenneth Elsner, College of Education load. However, that hour is carried over both the fall and dean. spring semesters, Elsner said. By Kurt Koenig
IBM grant to finance lab By Kurt Koenig
Student Writer
The Central State University College of Education was awarded a $182,500 grant May 22 from IBM for the installation and upkeep of a computer center and to prepare new teachers for the expanded use of technology in the classroom..
The lab will be in Evans Hall, Room 6, once the Enrollment Center returns to the Administration Builiding. Installation should be completed by the end of July. The grant includes: 15 work stadon computers, one computer with a speech adapter, one computer with an Infowindow attachment, another computer to be used as a "server," two printers and a
"We didn't have time to adjust, and we didn't have the money to adjust anyway. So, instead of 12 hours, suddenly faculty members had 13- or 13 and one-half," Elsner said. The NCATE requires a faculty course load not to exceed 12 hours for undergraduate faculty and nine hours for graduate faculty. Since the NCATE visit, the State Professional Standards Board has adopted anew entry-year policy. A faculty member may now be on two entry-year teams, and count those credit hours as public school service. Those hours will not count against course load. "We've always been a leader in teacher ed in the state, and we're going to continue to be, and we will meet that standard," Elsner said.
modem—a computer phone hookup. The speech adapter enables the computer to "talk" to impaired users, and the Infowindow attachment lets users interact with the computer by touching the screen. Included in the grant is $90,000 of IBM educational software, and
Please see GRANT on page 8.
Handicap accessibility hindered by campus age, employees say By Mark Schlachtenhaufen Managing Editor
Second of two parts
Oklahoma has the fifth largest handicap population in the United States, but Central State University suffers from a lack of accessible campus housing, rehabilitative services officials said. "I'm not saying the campus is doing everything it could do for handicapped people," said Joe Lanham of Rehabilitative Services, "But with this campus being a level campus, more level than most campuses, it should be an ideal place for handicapped people. Lynn Holdsclaw, another rehabilitative services employee, said, "Mainly I think I'd like to see a little more emphasis placed on sidewalks being smoothed out and some repaving needs to be done."
Exposed tree roots have cracked campus sidewalks. Maintenance equipment and weather adversely affect pavement. Such conditions can make travel difficult for visually-impaired students too. An ongoing sidewalk maintenance program could help, Lanham said. Also, more campus accessible housing for handicap students is needed, Holdsclaw said. According to federal Architectural Accessibility for the Disabled of College Campuses guidelines, outdoor ramps, where accumulations of ice and snow may occur, should have either an overhead covering or heating elements. Yet, a host house ramp fails to meet this guideline and sidewalks need to be paved or black-topped, Holdsclaw said. A Thatcher Hall ramp has an insufficient landing area and no overhead protection from the elements.
Other campus ramps lack sufficient cover to remain free of winter ice and snow. In addition, more ramps are needed at various campus buildings, Lanham said. East Hall and West Hall have regulation restroom facilities, but Murdaugh Hall has no ramp. Wheelchair students are limited to the first floor of the resident halls because there are no elevators. A potentially life-threatening situation exists for wheelchairbound students living in East Hall's handicap accessible room. The placement of the access ramp forces students in a wheelchair to make an estimated two-tothree minute trip due to steps placed near the door without a ramp—extra seconds that could mean life or death to a student during a fire, a student said. If a wheelchair driver attempted Please see ACCESS on page 8.
Hot dog! East Hall residents enjoy summer out-of-doors cooking last week during a weiner roast sponsored by East Hall. Students attending ate their fill of hot dogs and played volleyball. Related photo on page 6. (Photo by Ken Freeman)