Northern Star

Conference recognizes young authors

By Johanna Harris | April 4, 1990

Illinois is home to thousands of authors - young, budding, enthusiastic authors. In fact, about 1,500 of these writers will be attending the 16th Annual Young Authors Conference held at Illinois State University in Normal this May. Who are these aspiring...

Standards eased for new students

By Dee O’Neal | April 4, 1990

A steep decline in the number of high school seniors means that students who meet only the minimum requirements will have a better chance of being admitted to NIU next year, said NIU President John La Tourette. Nick Noe, director of NIU Institutional...

AI amendment bans homosexuals

By Ellen Skelly | April 4, 1990

NIU's Amnesty International is the second group in one week that banned homosexuals as a protest to the conflict between ROTC policy and the NIU constitution. The group amended their constitution Monday to ban homosexuals from being voting members "until...

SAMTB supports paid vice chairman

By Maureen Morrissey | April 4, 1990

Student Association Mass Transit Board members supported a paid vice chairman position for the board Monday. Transit Board Adviser David Pack suggested the position to the board because of increased responsibilities. The SA Senate must approve the position....

Volunteering pays off for three NIU students

By Serena Moy | April 4, 1990

Volunteer work has paid off for three NIU students who received General Motors Volunteer Spirit Awards. The students received three shares of GM stock and a plaque at a reception Tuesday in the Holmes Student Center's Sky Room. Fabian De Rozario, Office...

West residence halls, OCR blackout blamed on switch

April 4, 1990

A blackout at NIU's west residence halls lasting more than 30 minutes late Tuesday afternoon was caused by a faulty Commonwealth Edison power switch. Bart Wilcox, a Com Ed spokesman, said electricity can be transferred from one powerline to another manually...

Democrats elect new party chairman

By Stewart Warren | April 4, 1990

The DeKalb County Democrats elected a more conservative member as party chairman Monday night. Gene Sparrow, 43, was elected party chairman by a vote of 200-180 over DeKalb resident Lynne Switzky. Bill Brady, former party chairman and DeKalb attorney,...

Approval to publish evaluations sought

By Deborah Costello | April 4, 1990

Student Association committee members have one week to polish up a proposal to publish teacher evaluations.

The SA Academic Affairs Committee will go before the University Council April 11 to gain approval to publish teacher evaluations.

Jim Mertes, SA senator and committee member, said the UC Comittee A suggested four modifications before the proposal reaches the council.

The UC committee members suggested publishing the proportion of students participating in the evaluation, allowing the evaluation forms to be returned to instructors, publishing results for each individual class—not just for each instructor—and allowing the publication to be voluntary for each instructor, Mertes said.

Mertes said the Academic Affairs Committee conceded to the UC committee's demands, but had a "big problem" with the committee's insistence to have the publication voluntary instead of mandatory.

"Students should have a right to evaluate their teachers' performance, make comments on their performance and have those evaluations published regardless of if they agree," Mertes said.

But Sue Ouellette, the UC committee chairman, said the proposal will not be approved unless it is voluntary.

"Our primary concern is the issue of our right to confidentiality. The committee is concerned with safeguarding the constitutionality of course evaluation and how it will be used," Ouellette said.

"There isn't any outlandish opposition to the proposal. Many of the faculty support the students suggestions. We are considering the revised proposal," she said.

The evaluations would include statistics of student assessments of their instructors based upon the the following five objective questions:

-Was the instructor able to communicate effectively?

-Did the instructor grade exams, quizzes and assignments fairly?

-Did the instructor place reasonable demands upon the student?

-Did the instructor convey a thorough knowledge of the subject?

-Was the instructor actively helpful to the student?

There would be five grading categories: (1) Strongly disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree, (5) Strongly Agree.

Funding alternatives for the evaluations include selling advertising space within the packet itself, charging students who buy the publication, funding through the SA or NIU funding, Mertes said.

"We would like this to go into effect as early as next semester. That would mean students would be evaluating their teachers this semester," he said.

"This was an excellent opportunity for students and faculty to interchange their definite concerns on the issue," Ouellette said.

GLU to sponsor annual Jeans Day

By Mark Gates | April 3, 1990

The 20-year-old Gay/Lesbian Union, which is older than many NIU students, will sponsor its annual Jeans Day Wednesday. GLU President Theresa Brown said the purpose of the event is to "make people aware of gays on campus and what they have to put up with."...

Area students worried about college

By Vickie Snow | April 3, 1990

Many area high school seniors are worrying about paying for college next year. Guidance counselors at DeKalb Senior High School and Sycamore High School are spending much of their time with students who are checking into possible sources of financial...

Affirmative Action will hold forum

April 3, 1990

Affirmative action might not be what people think. The NIU Affirmative Action will hold an open forum from noon to 1 p.m. today for anyone interested in learning more about the organization, said AA Assistant Director Rick Dearborn. "It will be an open...

Library budget reported

By Mark Gates | April 3, 1990

NIU's Graduate Council reported Monday that rising costs and insufficient funds are driving NIU's libraries into a budget crisis. Libraries could experience a 10 percent decline in purchasing power if there is no increase in their proposed budget for...

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