VISTA
THE December 10, 1985 Vol. 84, No. 24
Tuesday Edition
Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma
Student president resigns; accepts government post
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Vista photo by Dan Hoke
Becky Staggs helps Jennifer Long with a crafts project Friday at the University Center. Staggs and other campus students, faculty and staff participated in the annual Christmas party by entertaining approximately 60 Edmond grade school children. Games, refreshments and gift-giving highlighted the afternoon. The party was sponsored by the President's Club.
The president of the Student Association resigned effective the end of the fall 1985 semester to take a job with the federal government. Student Association President John Buttry announced plans to resign at the Dec. 2, Student Senate meeting. Buttry resigned to accept a job as student liason officer of the U.S. Department of Education. Buttry, a political science major from Yukon, will serve in the appointed position from December 30 through July 4, 1986. Vice President Mark Kinzie will assume the position of president until Buttry's one-year term expires in April 1986. "I think it's a great opportunity," Buttry said regarding the job. Buttry, the first Oklahoman to be appointed student liason officer, will be working in the Department of Education in the office of the Deputy Undersecretary for Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs. His duties will include controlling the publishing of a monthly newsletter which is distributed to more than 3,200 colleges and universities, maintaining contact with national student organizations and associations, relaying student concerns to the Department of Education and informing the department of student reac-
tions to administrative policies. "I'm thrilled that people have placed such confidence in me and my abilities to be successful in a highly responsible job," Buttry said. Buttry will be paid a salary while he is in Washington, and is eligible to continue his education at CSU through either practicum credit or an internship. Concerning the student senate, Buttry said he feels the leadership change may create a setback. "It means yet another period of transition," Buttry said. "The Senate's going to have to decide whether it wants to stay the course it's on now or rearrange priorities under a new leader." "As far as priorities go, I think he (Kinzie) is concerned with getting some things done now, where I've looked more to long-range goals. Buttry said he thinks Kinzie will be able to work with the Senate. "I think Mark has the capabilities of doing an admirable job," Buttry said. But, he believes Kinzie may be at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating with the administration for approval of Senate resolutions. "It takes about a semester to really learn what you're doing," Buttry said. It was through the student newsletter he will be editing that
John Buttry Buttry first learned about the liason officer position. "I requested an application and recieved it Nov. 1. It had to be filled out and in Washington by Nov. 8," he said. The application included not only personal data, but required Buttry to answer seven essay questions. "They were questions like, 'Tell everything you know about the student aid programs,"' Buttry said with a smile. Approximately 100 students from across the United States applied for the position, the majority of the applicants being president of their school's student government. Buttry, with three other finalists, was flown to Washington by the Department of Education on Nov. 26 for a twopart interview. The finalists were first interviewed by a panel of national student leaders, the current student liason officer and officials from the Department of Education. Nancy Harris, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, conducted the second part of the interview. "I've been in a state of euphoria since learning of my appointment. This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Buttry said.
First semester in effect
70% attendance rule; Is it fair? By Michael R. Mobly Associate Editor As the fall semester draws to a close some students in the journalism department are finding themselves failing classes even though they may have a passing grade. The ironic disappointment is due to a new attendance policy adopted by the journalism department this semester. The policy requires students to attend at least 70 percent of each class.
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"We just got tired of lecturing to empty classrooms," said Dr. Ray Tassin, chairman of the journalism department. Tassin said he feels students should be responsible enough to attend classes in which they have enrolled. The current attendance policy at CSU allows each instructor to initiate their own individual attendance policy. "The faculty in our department felt this was unfair to some
In this issue. . Students aid campus security...page 3 Student named top author...page 4 Prof to play Scrooge...page 6 Bronchos knocked out of playoffs...page 7 CSU cagers sweep Bartlesville...page 8
students who might have an isolated instructor who is tougher than the others," Tassin said. "We had a unanimous decision to adopt an overall departmental policy at the beginning of the semester." Tassin commented that CSU has had a similar policy in the past. "This was a campus policy when I first started teaching here 25 years ago," he said. "But, the policy was dropped about 10 years ago, something I hated to see happen." Tassin said he feels a lack of classroom attendance has become a university-wide problem. But, some professors disagree. Dr. Don Green, chairman of the CSU history department, said he feels there is no need for a mandatory attendance policy of this kind at CSU. "I've found, with students in history or geography that if they don't come to class they usually just don't make the grade," Green said.
However, he said he feels if a student can miss several classes and still make a good grade, then it is not the student who is at fault. "If students can miss more than 30 percent of a class and still make an "A" there is something wrong with the instructor's curriculum." Tassin's answer to this is that he has never had a student miss a lot of classes and still make an "A". "My tests are taken mostly from my lectures," Tassin said. "If a student can miss class and still make good grades on a test, then they must be depending on someone else for the notes. Edmond junior, Melissa Mercer, one of the disgruntled students who will fail a journalism class due to the attendance policy, said she feels instructors should at least inform students when they near the 30 percent absent rate. "I don't know of any institution that doesn't allow a student some warning, or at least some kind of restitution or probation to fall back on," she said.
Tassin said he feels students should be treated as adults, and as adults they should be responsible for keeping a count of their absences. Mercer said she feels it is wrong for students to be judged on the basis of their attendance, rather than their academic achievements. When asked if the new policy is working, Tassin replied that attendance is up 50 percent cornpared to the last three to four years. Will other departments on campus return to the strict attendance policy? One department chairperson said they still leave attendance policy up to the instructor. Dr. Barbara Norman, chairperson of the oral communication department, said that they are not considering an overall departmental policy. "However, we do support the journalism department's decision, and we would be open to discussing the issue," she said.