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Show i THE THUNDERBIRD MONDAY NOVEMBER 23, 1987 BGE 3 Institutional Council hears reports BY DANNY STEWART Progress reports on development and enrollment and emphasis on the new Library were among the topics at the Institutional i i I Council meeting Friday. After directing a tour of the new Student Center and the performing arts building. President Gerald R. Sherratt addressed the council with proposals for redevelopment of the Great Hall and repairs for the President's Residence. "We have funding from the state to do work on the Great Hall, this will include a new entrance, ceiling and the installation of a fire exit," he said. Sherratt also explained that state funds have been allocated for the repairs of his house, noting that considerable settling of the structure has resulted over the past few years and that additional damage will be prevented by repairing damage now. The council approved the repairs unanimously. Michael D. Richards, vice president for college relations, presented the Utah State Building Board list of recommendations for 1989 and explained that SUSC's request for assistance on the renovation of the old Student Center is 14 on a priority list of 16 considerations. He also explained that a general programming fund is set aside for the building of a new library, but it is still undecided which school will receive the money. "A new library is of tremendous importance to this school," said Sherratt. "In as little as two or three years we'll have no study space in the current Library, and in five years there will be no more space for book storage." He added that more students than ever are utilizing the Library facilities and faculty members are requiring more library research. "If we don't get a new Library, we'll have an emergency situation in five years," he said. A main factor in the need for the new Library is the rapid increase in enrollment. Mark D. Barton, director of admissions and records, divided his enrollment report into three areas, demonstrating the college's growth since the '80-8- 1 school year. First, he demonstrated the increase in the number of high school graduates participating in a tour of the campus, since 1981 there has been a 141 percent increase in interested students. Applications are up 84 percent since I1. 81, said Barton, noting that returning students are no longer required to apply once they have been accepted. Also, there is a 17 percent increase in the number of Utah resident freshmen at SUSC this year. Barton said that the growth in the number of freshmen has dropped the average student age to 22. "We're getting more traditional students here and we're really happy to see that," he said, noting that more students are likely to finish their schooling here. Barton also said that the number of out of state students has been decreasing because of tuition hikes. "When we get a tuition raise here, it goes up two or three times for students," he said. non-reside- nt Language requirements hike in storewhile BY RAJEEV i I i BHASI The Faculty Se iate voted to raise the language requirements for the B.A. degree from 15 hours to 25 hours Thursday. Some of the senators expressed concern that raising the language requirements would cause some students not to go for their B.A. However, it was argued that language is an integral part of a liberal arts education and that SUSC has the lowest language requirements of all the colleges in the state. The motion was put to a vote and carried. There was also some discussion as to whether or not to strengthen the B.S. degree. Les Jones, from the department of behavioral and social sciences, said that psychology could be used to do this, while others were in favor of mathematics. The departments involved were told to look into it further. Don Reid, the senate president, also mentioned that student body officers statewide the were in favor of the semester system middle the SUSC down were at split faculty between quarters and semesters. The final topic of discussion was the outline of the new tenure document that the state is preparing. Provost Terry Alger went through some of the points he believed that faculty members should be aware of. Alger wanted input from the members of the faculty which he could then incorporate into a report. The senate decided to discuss this agreement in detail at the next meeting on Dec. 10. Also brought up during the meeting, was a faculty exchange request from Old Dominion University to the SUSC history faculty. The senate also discussed the problem of declining membership. Only 83 out of the 145 faculty members had joined, and this has caused some members do financial problems as not pay dues. It was also confirmed that nonsenate faculty members could be asked to sit on senate committees. non-sena- te Deans approve bevy of course changes (continued from page f i 1) topics during a quarter. The history department will have a net increase of eight credit hours. Decker also had a lengthy list of changes in the language and literature department. A series of five humanities classes will be added to next year's schedule. Decker said the Humanities 100 class was dropped and the series added to give faculty and students a variety of subjects. Six classes were dropped from the department's curriculum. Five other language classes will see an increase or decrease in the number of credits. Decker said general education requirements will also be altered in that department. Alger complimented the department for its efforts in consolidating the former English department and Language department. He said the curriculum changes reflect careful planning. Because of diverse subject areas and the workload for students, Hiskey recommended that three accounting classes be split into six new classes with the appropriate credits assigned to each. Four new classes were added and Economics 381 was dropped from the schedule. In a separate motion, Hiskey proposed that business administration majors maintain at least a 2.3 grade point average after their sophomore it year. The deans approved the motion so that will appear in the next general catalog, scheduled for March 1988 distribution. Hiskey also proposed major changes in the industrial education, particularly for the automotive emphasis. Hiskey said that the changes are needed to obtain a certified automotive program and to bring that area up to date technologically. In technical education a total of 10 classes were added and six were dropped. The school of science dropped one class in home administration and added two courses in geology. The deans will finish their curriculum changes in the school of science during their next meeting, Dec. 1 . Richard Dotson, associate professor of physical science, assists freshman Clay Crandall, a business maor from Cedar City, with a computerized lab project. Computers update lab, assist chemistry students BY ROBBIE REID Chemistry lab students can now solve problems more accurately with the help of computers. "All science courses include labs to provide hands on experience. In chemistry, we felt ve needed to incorporate a modern sense as much as possible with computer assisted labs," said Richard Dotson, associate professor of physical science. According to Dotson, previous lab experiments were difficult to evaluate. "We had many 'cookbook labs.' The student was given a recipe and then instructed to make a 'cake.' There was no real understanding. No quantitative evaluation," said Dotson. With computers, students can get results more precisely. The data is put through the computer by typing it on a keyboard or by having it electronically read from an electronic balance. The computer analyzes the data and predetermines what values are acceptable, then it tells the student if he or she is in the right range. If not, they try it again. "Computers make the lab more meaningful. It quantifies the student's evaluation and assists them to understand concepts and achieve objectives of lab experiences," said Dotson Bomb threat closes classes BY LISA ROBINSON The Industrial Education building was evacuated and classes were adjourned Wednesday when a secretary received a phoned bomb threat. Kent Hoyt, chief of security, said "At 1:52 p.m., the secretary got a call from a man saying there were a large amount of explosives in the building that would go off any minute." Students were evacuated from the building and about 20 search of the police officers began a thorough, if anything was out of see to looking building. They began by place "like a clean area where there would normally be sawdust," said Hoyt The police did not find anything out of the ordinary but are continuing to investigate the incident. Students who were evacuated from the building commented that it never occurred to them that there might really be a bomb. They thought someone was just trying to get out of a test. Hoyt is seeking information about the incident through campus is offered. A $1C security at 586-779te |