University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, February 5, 1988 Page: 1 of 8
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/
t-H
ur
Register by Sunday
in order to exercise
your right to vote in
party primaries
March 8. See brief,
page 2.
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Serving Lamar and the community for 64 years
It’s Friday
February 5, 1988
Vol. 64, No. 24
Educators not sure
what future impact
new test will bring
By Steven Ford
UP editor
While the Texas Academic Skills Test is still in
the planning stages, some educators are wonder-
ing what kind of impact it will have on institutions
of higher learning.
Ann Die, who serves on the testing program’s
steering committee, is asking the same question.
“At this point, we don’t know what impact this
will have on Lamar,” said Die, assistant to the ex-
ecutive vice president for academic and student
affairs.
The test, to be implemented in 1989, is a state-
mandated placement test designed to assess a stu-
dent’s skill level in the three areas of reading,
writing and mathematics.
Beginning in 1989, students will be required to
take the test before completing their first nine
semester credit hours of college course work.
Students must pass the exam before completing
60 semester credit hours or be limited to lower
division course work until they pass.
The test will be administered to students in both
public and private institutions and to students
enrolled in teacher education programs.
The test is now being formulated through a suc-
cession of stages in which state educators are con-
tributing advice for the test’s content and direc-
tion.
Die said that because the test is still being plan-
ned, educators do not yet know what particular
test questions will be asked or what test score will
be considered acceptable as passing.
“We have no idea what the cutting score will be.
We don’t know how high or how low it will be,” Die
said.
Die said another unknown factor that depends
on the required score for passing is what percen-
tage of students will not pass and how colleges
will deal with those students.
“It’s hard to know
what the end result will
be,” she said, adding
that Lamar’s enroll-
ment could be affected.
Beginning this month
through May, surveys
will be sent to college
faculty throughout the
state outlining some of
the questions that will
appear on the test.
Faculty input to this
survey will help ensure
that the proposed ques-
tions are appropriate
for the test.
Ann Die
Following the survey, review groups will meet
to finalize the list of skills to be assessed on the
test.
After the list of skills has been adopted by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and
the State Board of Education, the final list of skills
will be disseminated to educators, students and
schools in fall 1988.
At each step of the test’s formulation, a bias
review sub-committee will study the test’s content
to determine if any cultural, sexual or ethnic
biases are being incorporated into the test.
Vemice Monroe, social work program director,
serves on that committee. Faye Thames, assis-
tant professor of mathematics, serves on the pro-
gram’s math content advisory committee.
Die said the Texas Education Agency and the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board are
both working to form the test.
The Texas Academic Skills Test was mandated
by House Bill 2182 during the last Texas
legislative session.
A&M enrollment figures
show 70s myth wrong
From wire reports
Smokey delivery .
A Beaumont firefighter extinguishes a blaze in a Marriott trance to the Setzer Student Center. See related photos and
Food Service delivery van Wednesday at the service en- story, page 5.
Student Government /
Secretary-treasurer sworn in,
two committee positions filled
Photo by Keith Watson
Stephanie Gerac, SGA president, swears in Marty Shrode.
By Evelyn Hawn
UP news editor
Marty Shrode was sworn in Tuesday as
the new Student Government Associa-
tion secretary-treasurer.
Shrode, former public affairs chair-
man, replaced Mehrnoz Saeid who
resigned the post in December citing
heavy class loads.
“I want to do the best job any
secretary-treasurer has ever done,”
Shrode said after being elected in
January.
Also, two chairman positions were fill-
ed.
Winchell Lind took over the academic
affairs committee from Amy Goodell
who had a scheduling conflict that
prevented her from attending the weekly
meetings.
John Jenkins was named public affairs
committee chairman, a position former-
ly held by Shrode.
During Vice President Mike Brezina’s
report, Helen Betenbaugh, secretary to
the dean of business, was awarded the
Cardinal Court of Honor for receiving the
handicapped professional woman of the
year award from the Pilot Club.
The Beaumont City Council had pro-
claimed Wednesday, Jan. 27, as Helen
Betenbaugh Day.
The Political Science Forum also
received the Cardinal Court of Honor for
their work on voter registration.
John Hock, Forum senator and Brian
Weathersby, Forum president, went for-
ward to receive the award.
Anne Shaw, SGA adviser, announced
that the Southern Association of Ac-
creditation will be visiting the Lamar-
Beaumont campus March 6, 7, 8 and 9.
“It is the singular most important ac-
creditation necessary to the university,”
Shaw said.
Every 10 years all universities in the
southern region conduct a self-study and
review the strengths and weaknesses of
the university, Shaw said.
“This team, having already received
our self-study, will be on campus literal-
ly knowing more about this campus than
most of us do,” she said.
The accreditation team, made up of
administration and faculty from other
universities, will visit with faculty, ad-
ministrators and most likely students,
not all of them student leaders, Shaw
said.
“We hope you realize the importance
of this to the university, past, present
and future,” she said.
Shaw also informed the senate of plans
being formulated by Joe Deshotel, vice
president of administration and counsel;
Lulu Smith, director of the Health Center
and the Community Public Health Com-
mittee for a satellite video conference.
Titled “AIDS: Future College
Crisis?”, the conference will be held
Feb. 17 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the
auditorium of the Cherry Building.
“It cost us $395 but we will be able to
5
tape it,” Shaw said. “Then it will be
available on videotape for other
organizations.”
The SGA senate and invited student
leaders will attend the conference.
“We want to invite a cross section,”
Shaw said.
Using a broad definition of student
leaders, Shaw said that resident
assistants, the drum major, dorm coun-
cils and others who are not considered
traditional student leaders in the sense of
being a president will be invited.
The first people to RSVP will be able to
attend.
Any student who is interested in atten-
ding the conference may contact Shaw.
1
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The number of
humanities majors at Texas A&M University has
more than doubled since 1982, and dean Daniel
Fallon says the 1970s myth of liberal arts being a
“fuzzy and meaningless field” is just as wrong a
decade later.
While Texas A&M’s College of Business Ad-
ministration has grown only 18 percent since 1982,
its College of Liberal Arts has swelled by 139 per-
cent, becoming the university’s fourth largest
field of study, A&M said in a release issued Mon-
day.
“I think students are increasingly discovering
the vast opportunities open to liberal arts majors
and that’s why we have this phenomenal increase
in enrollment,” said Fallon, liberal arts dean.
“CEOs really need liberal arts students and that
message is getting out. I’m encouraged by it,” he
said. “There is no contradiction between material
success and spiritual growth. What liberal arts
students develop are problem solving abilities, an
understanding of human values and a set of skills
that equips them well to adapt successfully to
changing circumstances. They are life-long
learners who enjoy challenge.”
A national survey of college freshmen recently
revealed that more students than ever want to
become wealthy in business careers. The survey
by the American Council on Education and UCLA
found that 24.6 percent of freshmen — more than
double what it was 20 years ago — wanted rewar-
ding careers in business.
A record 75.6 percent of freshmen said that “be-
ing very well off financially” was one of their top
goals, compared with 39.1 percent in 1970.
At Texas A&M, students majoring in liberal arts
departments such as economics have grown by
278 percent, sociology by 196 percent, modern
languages by 157 percent and philosophy by 148
percent.
Statistics have shown that students who succeed
most spectacularly in business are those with ma-
jors in liberal arts. More than half of Forbes
magazine’s roster of 774 chief executives were
liberal arts majors, Fallon said.
The most common undergraduate degree
among U.S. senators is in liberal arts, he said.
Research on liberal arts graduates has revealed
that two to five years after graduation, they are
earning good salaries, many are in challenging
and influential positions, and about half are in
jobs they never planned on holding or often hadn’t
heard of when they graduated.
Also, a survey by the University of Colorado
found that liberal arts graduates reported a 65
percent increase in salary between their first
post-graduate job and the one held three years
later.
Organization seminar offers
student leadership training
By Cathy Faughnan
UP staff writer
The Office of Student Organiza-
tions sponsored a leadership train-
ing seminar Tuesday for Lamar stu-
dent groups.
“I was very pleased with the turn
out, about 40 people showed up,”
said Billye Hooper, assistant to
director for student organizations.
“I feel there were some very good
comments and responses.”
The seminar began in the
ballroom of the Setzer Student
Center with a welcome and general
session by Hooper and then broke off
into various rooms.
Attendants chose from two of eight
different sessions to attend. Topics
of the sessions included fund-raising
ideas and procedures, risk manage-
ment and publicity.
“Hopefully the attendants learned
some valuable information to take
back to their group or with job-
related areas,” Hooper said.
The purpose of the seminar was to
provide an opportunity for organiza-
tion leaders to come together to at-
tend small group sessions and learn
various techniques or skills of
leadership.
Any new groups that wish to be of- Kathleen King-Broze, assistant to the dean of student develop-
ficially recognized by the university ment, leads a workshop discussion for presidents and vice
must register by Friday, Feb. 12, in presidents of campus organizations during a student organiza-
102 Setzer Student Center. tions seminar.
Photo by Keith Watson
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Ford, Steven. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, February 5, 1988, newspaper, February 5, 1988; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth499791/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.