'Greek Street Trick-or-treat' gives back to the community
By Ellen Rogers
Staff Writer
The second Annual "Greek Street Trick-or-Treat" brought out everything from
big,scary monsters to sweet little cowboys, all on a great mission for one
thing: candy!
GSU sororities and fraternities paired up on Greek Row last
Wednesday, dressed up in the spirit of Halloween and provided treats for all
of their visitors. Invitations were extended to all elementary school and
younger children in the Statesboro area, including those of GSU faculty and
staff.
"This was our way of giving back to the community and just saying
'thanks'," Jane Campaigne, GSU Greek advisor, said.
At each Greek house,
there were plenty of "tricks" for the kids to participate in, as well as
treats. Musical chairs, a cake walk, "go fish," bobbing for apples and a bean
bag toss were all part of the fun.
The event, which was from 6-8 p.m., proved to be a great success.
"It
was a really good turn-out," Sarah Redding, a member of Alpha Delta Pi, said.
"There was a lot more participation this year than last year."
Greek members also seemed to have just as much fun as the younger
crowd.
"It was a crazy, fun time," Christopher Wright, a Sigma Chi pledge,
said. "One guy scared some little kids-he didn't mean to, though. We even got
to be on TV!"
The Regent's test:
everything you need to know
By Justin Johnson
Staff Writer
The deadline to have completed the state-mandated Regent's Test is fast
aproaching for many GSU students, yet these students have litttle
understanding of the test's purpose or time restraints imposed by the Board of
Regents. All students under the University System of Georgia are required to
take it, but what is the Regent's Test and why is it so importanat?
The Regents' Test is a two-part, two-hour test. It consists of a one hour
reading comprehension section and a one hour essay section, and it is offered
to GSU students during one week of every semester. In 1972, the Board of
Regents of the University System of Georgia instituted the Regents' Testing
Program as a way to make sure that all students receiving degrees from Georgia
institutions possessed certain minimum skills of reading and writing.
"The Regents' Test came about in the early 1970s because Georgia college
and universities were issuing diplomas to people that could not read or
write," George Lynch, assistant dean and director of testing, said. "By
mandating the Regents' Test, we can say that at least one time in a student's
career, they had mastered those skills."
Every student at GSU must take the Regent's Test by the semester after
completing 30 semester hours. Students who have earned 45 semester credit
hours and have not passed BOTH parts of the test must enroll in remedial
courses until they pass both parts. If a student fails to take the Regents'
Test before the 45th hour, he or she will automatically be placed in review
classes.
Lynch said he recommends that students take the test between zero
and 45 hours.
"If a student does not take the test by their 45th hour, they will be
placed into review classes," Lynch said. "We also recommend that students
complete both English 1101 and English 1102 before taking the Regents' Test."
The essay portions of the Regents' Test are distributed by the Regent's
Testing Office to regional scoring centers around the state and scored by
representatives from each institution in the University System of Georgia. The
reading portion of the Regents' Test is graded on machine-readable answer
sheets and scored by computer. Each student's test is identified only by the
student's social security number, so the graders do not know the identity or
the institution of the students whose papers are graded.
Each essay is graded three times by three different raters. Raters use a
four-point scale to grade the essays. A score of "4" indicates superior
performance, a "3" shows a clearly passing performance, a "2" is the minimal
passing performance, and a "1" is a substandard or failing performance.
"We adhere to the policies issued to us by the the Board of Regents, and do
what is mandated while administrating the exam," Lynch said.
Any student wanting to practice for the Regents' Test can do so at the GSU
web site. (http://www.gasou.edu) Students
wanting to practice specifically for the reading portion of the test may take
the online practice test with an instructional evaluation at http://www.stp.gasou.edu/wwwitp/f23fra_1.htm,
and those students interested in practicing for the essay portion of the test
may do so at http://www.gasou.edu'wwwrtp/essamp.htm.
If you did not sign up for the Regents' Test and you know that you are
getting close to your 45th hour, contact the Testing Office at (912) 681-5415
to inquire about future test dates.
The Regents' Test started this
semester on October 30 and will finish on November 2.
Harvard officials say online notes could lead to trouble for students
U-WIRE
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Psychology Professor Richard J. McNally was
surprised to learn that the lectures for his introductory psychology course
share a Web site with an advertisement for the Discover card.
Someone, apparently one of his students, had paraphrased McNally's lectures
and sold them to Versity.com, an online "knowledge center" that collects
lecture notes from colleges across the country, then publishes them on the
World Wide Web.
"It's news to me," McNally says. McNally says he had heard of services like
Versity, but didn't know his own course, Psychology 1, "Introduction to
Psychology," was online. "I'm not pleased."
Versity pays students for their notes on 24 Harvard classes, in spite of a
longstanding Harvard ban on the sale of lecture notes. For their risk, the
note-takers receive about $8 per lecture.
According to Freshman Dean Elizabeth Studley Nathans, selling notes is a
serious offense and could mean disciplinary action and a meeting with the
Administrative Board.
"Any Harvard student who is employed by or who uses the services of
Versity.com or any similar organization, is in violation of college rules
regarding the integrity of academic work," Nathans says.
Charles Berman, chief executive officer of Versity, says college
administrators have misconstrued the company's mission.
"I think that
Versity is dramatically misunderstood. We are focused on being a learning
center," not a path-of-least-resistance for students too lazy to wake up for
lectures, Berman says. "But if it's used properly, we can create a great
product. And that's clearly what we're trying to do."
As of Wednesday, Versity had set up Web sites for two dozen Harvard classes
- mostly Core classes and popular large lectures-but only 14 of the sites
include synopses of lectures. Versity is recruiting note-takers for another 70
or so more.
According to their Web site, Versity covers 3,500 classes on 88
campuses. They do not charge money to view the notes, but they do require that
uers register for a username and password.
The sites boast vibrant colors and flashy layout, plus a synopsis of 500
words or so for each lecture. The Web site does carry advertisements for
credit cards, Internet companies and other businesses that target college
students.
Versity was established in 1998 by Jeff Lawson and three other enterprising
undergraduates at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Last year the
founders dropped out of the university and moved to Menlo Park, Calif., to
work full-time on their business.
TAKE NOTES AT YOUR OWN RISK
Charles Berman says the company warns all its note-takers that their
colleges' administrations may not agree with all of Versity's activities, and
that they may suffer penalties or discipline. "Specifically, we absolutely
tell people that some campuses find this controversial. We do not happen to
agree with agree the policy" of the deans at Harvard, he says.
The
penalties note-takers face may be grave indeed.
Harvard administrators
point to page 302 of the Handbook for Students: "Students who sell lecture or
reading notes, papers, or translations or who are employed by a tutoring
school or term paper company [...] may be required to withdraw."
Dean of
Harvard College Harry R. Lewis '68 says Harvard's rules have been on the books
for decades, possibly since the 1930s.
"Selling lecture notes actually is
not a new concept," Lewis says. "As is often the case, the World Wide Web is
just an enabling technology for an old practice."
At the beginning of the
year, when Versity was recruiting students to take notes for its pages, the
Freshman Dean's Office issued a memo warning first-years about companies
selling notes, says Nathans.
"The reasons behind [the rule], I suspect,
have to do with wanting students to take full responsibility for their own
work, and to become engaged as fully in each course as possible," says Senior
Associate Registrar Thurston Smith. "It is not difficult for me to imagine
that students who go to every class and take their own notes will be more
involved in the courses they take."
Students help raise $700 for homeless
By Sarah Brickhouse
Staff Writer
Despite many events held last week, more needs to be done to help the homeless, Victoria Futch, director of volunteer services, said.
In order to commemorate Homelessness and Hunger Week, Volunteer
Services held events across campus to raise money and consciousness for those
in need.
One such fund raiser, "The Tent Event," was held on Landrum lawn last
Wednesday night and was a "very big success," Victoria Futch, director of
Volunteer Services, said.
Approximately 60 people, mainly faculty and students, were seen scattered
across the Landrum lawn with their tents, spending a night outdoors to raise
money for the cause.
"We're not pretending that spending one night outdoors in any way equates
to what it would be like to be homeless," Futch said. "It is simply a symbolic
attempt to draw attention to those in need."
Another fund raiser, "The Hunger Banquet" was held last Thursday in the
Williams Center Dining Hall.
This was a unique kind of banquet with an experiential component which
enabled the guests to gain a better appreciation for the world's gross
inequities, Futch said.
Faculty, students and members of the community were entertained by Hal
Fulmer, master of ceremonies, and GSU's own "Voices of Ministry" gospel choir.
Michael Elliott, director of Union Missions in Savannah, was the guest
speaker for the event. He enlightened and inspired the guests with his
personal experiences in the field with the homeless. He told of how he started
a homeless shelter with only meager resources.
"This was a night to be remembered," one banquet guest said.
Everyone
in the dining hall was also given a one-of-a-kind ceramic bowl made by Jane
Pleak's art students in order to commemorate the evening.
Both events combined raised nearly $700 for the Statesboro Food Bank and
the GSU Habitat House.
"We are extremely pleased," Futch said, "but more needs to be done."
Buchanan says matchup doesn't offer choice
The Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D.--Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan said Saturday he left
the Republican Party because its front-runner, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, does
not offer voters an alternative on trade questions, foreign policy or
opposition to abortion.
Buchanan, who left the Republican Party last week to campaign for the
Reform Party nomination for president, said Bush agrees too often with
Democratic Vice President Al Gore on issues Republican supporters care
about.
Buchanan said he switched parties so he could continue to emphasize his
opposition to abortion and skepticism about U.S. trade agreements and foreign
policy decisions that have sent troops where the United States has no national
interest.
"That is what this is about," Buchanan told an enthusiastic crowd of more
than 250 people at a North Dakota Christian Coalition meeting here. "It is
about ... offering the American people a real, genuine, authentic choice of
destinies for this country, and I just don't think we're getting that.''
He
said he is optimistic about getting the Reform Party nomination, "despite what
the big fella in Minnesota thinks," a reference to Minnesota Gov. Jesse
Ventura, a former professional wrestler who is the nation's only Reform Party
governor. Ventura has said he prefers someone else as the party's presidential
candidate.
"We're going to win that. We may have to body-slam (Ventura) once or twice,
but we're going to win it,'' Buchanan said.
Buchanan on Saturday repeated his promise to appoint U.S. Supreme Court
justices who favor overturning Roe v. Wade, the high court's 1973 decision
that made abortion legal nationwide. His statements on the subject drew a
standing ovation from the crowd.
Gore and Bush also support the North American Free Trade Agreement, which
is meant to create a free-trade area with Canada and Mexico, and the
establishment of the World Trade Organization, Buchanan said. The WTO is an
international body that judges trade disputes.
Scholarship fund established for former GSU student
By the PRCA 3330 Public Relations Writing Class
For most of us, Homecoming 1999 has come and gone, but for friends and
family of former GSU student Beth Martin, this year's homecoming will never be
forgotten. During Homecoming weekend, Beth's parents were surprised to
discover that the Elizabeth Leigh "Beth" Martin Memorial Scholarship had been
established in honor of their daughter.
Martin was killed October 31, 1997 when her car hydroplaned on I-16,
ironically at the GSU exit. She was en route to the Georgia/Florida game.
GSU senior Collins Simpson, along with Beth's relatives and close friends,
have been busy organizing fund-raising efforts since July.
"We're amazed
at the number of people who have jumped into the project," Simpson said. "It
has been like a snowball effect."
Simpson said that since the accident, she has spent many hours talking to
the Martins trying to figure out why such a terrible thing could happen to
such a good person.
"During many conversations with her mother and father, they have expressed
to me their fear of people forgetting about Beth," Simpson said. "They are
afraid that as we get older and move on with our lives, the memories of Beth
will slowly fade. I believe that Beth would have wanted to be able to keep on
giving and through the Elizabeth Leigh "Beth" Martin Memorial Scholarship she
can continue to give; and she will never be forgotten."
There were a number of groups on campus and in the community that helped
make the scholarship possible. Phi Mu raised a large sum of money for the
scholarship as did many other fraternities and sororities. There were also a
couple of business who got involved with the fundraising project including
Mal-Ad Promotions and Hackers Golf Park.
"I can't thank the people here in Statesboro enough for their help,"
Simpson said. "Without them we could not have reached our goal of raising the
money before the end of the school year when Beth would have
graduated."
In order to endow a scholarship, the GSU Foundation requires a minimum of
$10,000.
The Martins were extremely surprised at the breakfast held over
Homecoming weekend, at which they learned about the scholarship for the first
time. The Martins thanked everyone for helping raise the money for the
scholarship in their daughter's name.
"We've always worried that people would forget about our Beth," Martin
said. "Now all of you have made that impossible and we are very
grateful."
In addition to a few close friends and family, Bill Golden, president of
the GSU Foundation and Barbara Allen, development officer for scholarships and
endowments, attended the breakfast that was held at the Statesboro Inn on Main
St.
The new scholarship will be awarded annually to a GSU student. The criteria
for the scholarship will be decided by the Martin family, first preference
will be given to a graduate of Cartersville High School.
Beth enrolled at GSU in the fall of 1996 after graduating from Cartersville
High School. She was a resident of Johnson Hall and a sister in Phi Mu
sorority.
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International studies program flourishes at GSU
By Mary Render
Staff Writer
Imagine yourself in a place far away from home. Your eyes move with
expectancy to see the world around you. You know how to speak English, but
everyone you meet speaks Italian. What are you going to do? How are you going
to communicate?
Well, you can go to Italy and learn their language and culture through GSU.
Few students know about the center for international studies.
International studies has two degrees. The first is a bachelor of arts in
international studies consisting of an interdisciplinary social science
background for students interested in careers outside the U.S. or
international agencies within the U.S.
The other degree is a bachelor of science of international trade needs a
multi-disciplinary that requires courses in business, foreign language and
international studies.
The center for international studies is not limited to international
students, but is available to all students. It is an academic department that
offers courses from contemporary world cultures to international public
relations. Also, GSU is the only school in the University System of Georgia
that offers Irish studies as a minor.
Back to Italy. The study abroad program is a program in which students take
courses at GSU and go to another country for two weeks to one semester and
experience that culture. Nancy Shumaker, director for international studies,
said that the study abroad program gives students "a chance to see how the
world sees us. You get to broaden your understanding by having an open mind
about other cultures."
Students such as Ron Wright have traveled internationally learning about
different cultures.
"I witnessed human origins and saw fossils," Wright
said after his visit to South Africa.
So, if you have a desire to travel,
communicate and learn about other cultures, make a visit to the center for
international studies. It is located in room 1119 in the Forest Drive
Building.
The study abroad program helps you adapt to a diversity of
cultures. Reach for the opportunity of a lifetime.
The secret is now out.
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