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Show MONDAY, ot FEBRUARY 11, 2002 UNIVERSITT JOURNAL CAMPUS SUL woman takes on BY LIBERTY CASE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Professors evaluate the performance of students each semester, and now students have the opportunity to grade their professors on the World Wide Web. The Web site Wwww.virtualratings.com is a way for students to publicly evaluate professors, classes and campus life at SUU. Students may assign a letter could possibly get,” she said. “It took a total of eight trips for the helicopter to bring all of the crew members to the area where they were needed.” Riddle said that once the flames had been put out, her crew was called in to do “mop-up” on the burned areas. “[Mop-up] means that we had to dig through the ashes with our bare hands to make sure that the coals weren't hot anymore,” she said. grade to the classroom performance of a professor ranging from F mmus to A double-plus. Students also have the option to post Riddle said that the hardest part about being a work firefighter was the long hours that she was required to work. comments about a professor. Registration on the Web site is free, but requires a name and e- -mail address. Anyone “I think the most sleep I was able to get was a total of four hours,” she said. “My job was pretty unpredictable because we never knew when we were going to be called out.” Riddle enjoyed her experience on the fire crew, and said that if she weren’t getting married in May she would do it again. She would like to someday continue her employment with the U.S. Forest Service in the area of public relations. Chesney Riddle spent the summer of 2001 extinguishing the fires that burned throughout Utah. | thinks Web sites dedicated to student evaluations are helpful because they gives = students another . |5 teachers. He said ; evaluations aren’t as reliable as traditional student evaluations. about student feedback. "I wouldn't be all that interested in logging on [the Web site],” Mecham said. " Other Web sites that offer similar services include ww w.ratingsonline.com, www.professors.uofd.org and famlly and consumer science, said picture at the forest service base. Riddle spent Susan Linder, director of career services, said there is more than one option for students who will graduate this spring and begin their search for a job. other side Williams said the Canyon Creek Women’s Crisis _ Center was a good choice for the chapl&r s service: SENIOR STAFF WRITER . e iy ~ project because most of the women,in tl center’ are victims of crime and it helps sludents see who Beta Lambda, SUU’s criminal justice honor law enforcement is trying to protect. society, spent Jan. 21 learning about the other side Williams is a former California law enforcement of careers in criminal justice, Wayne D. Williams, officer, and he said that he enjoyed the service part instructor of criminal justice and the club’s adviser, of his job much more than arresting hard criminals. said. -“Not all criminal justice is busting criminals,” “Criminal justice is not just enforcing laws,” he said. “It's community Williams said. Some criminal justice service, t00.” majors will find Williams said after its ‘Criminal justice is not themselves monthly business meeting, ‘Just enforcing laws, it’s working the club 'went on a permanently on the scavenger hunt. Instead of community service, too,’ service side of the searching for the Wayne D. Williams, field. Jobs such as traditional list of instructor of criminal counseling juvenile household items, the four and other offenders teams searched for items Justice and Bela and working with to donate to the Canyon Lambda adviser, said. crime victims are also Creek Women's Crisis available, he said. Center. Williams said Beta Beta Lambda collected Lambda currently has about 30 members, and that some 230 pounds of goods including blankets, the organization has an activity at least once a clothing, bottles and other things the center will be month., able to use, Williams said. : The club also has another service project planned “It was a really good experience,” he said. in which it will donate items to the youth programs The national honor society for criminal justice at the Family Support Center in Cedar City, students requires all-chapters to complete Williams said. community service projects, and the SUU chapter Beta Lambda also plans to tour correctional chose this project because it is most closely related facilities this year. to the fields criminal justice majors will work in. BY CYNTHIA KIRKHAM graduates hab been anything but encouraging in the past year, with the - overall unemployment rate at 5.6 percent in January and the rate for . 'WWww.sacrate. com Noel McCaman, for AmeriCorps, said a bachelor’s degree in any area coupled with a strong desire to serve is the key to neatly every opportunity. Members receive a stipend to cover living expenses plus an educational award of $4,725 per year that may be average of $44,878 to these candidates, roughly a one percent difference. One federal organization that addresses the desire to serve and has a large number of opportunities is AmeriCorps, a network of more than 1,000 national and local nonprofit organizations. This year AmeriCorps expects to expand its career opportunities 50 percent, increasing its work force from 50,000 to 75,000. e o 5? :s 5 2 orga1117atlonis lookmg for studenti in a variety of disciplines. Specific degrees such as nursing are needed for some assignments, but Federal government employers represent a bright spot, however. Even before Sept. 11, the federal government was gearing up to recruit large numbers of college graduates, and the events of that day added to the federal government’s workforce needs. At the same time, interest in public setvice appears to be on the upswmg Some additional facts: M At least 30 percent of federal ‘employees will be eligible for retirement by 2005. M Nine of 10 government/nonprofit employers expect to increase their starting salaries this year. In comparison, nearly 30 percent of manufacturers and almost 40 percent of service employers say they will not increase salaries. M Federal government employers offered an average starting salary of | $33,175 to a bachelor degree candidate with a nontechnical degree. In comparison, retailers offered these candidates an average of $33,907, just a two percent difference. M Federal government employersoffered an average starting salary of $44,383 to bachelor degree candidates 2 Assignments are generally full time (part-time opportunities are available) and a year in duration. Opportunities are varied (public safcty, health houamg, dis1ster rehef those ages 20-24 at 9.7 percent. with a technical degree. Consulting employers offered an Erin Cosslett, a senior art major from Cedar City, throws herself into her work for her ceramics class. Cosslett says she enjoys having fun with messy clay while fulfilling graduation requirements at the same time. Ceramic classes are offered through the art department and may serve as a general education requirement. Some professors have reservations about using such a Web site. Federal government is best bet for graduates her summer learning how to control and stop forest fires. sees he thinks Internet everything from cars to purpose of universities. virtualratings.com is to be a central repository of public opinion.” Professors may also post messages comments. i Neil Mecham, assistant professor of Chesney Riddle, (left) and co-workers pose for a E alley to evaluate . g he isn’t familiar with virtualratings.com but frequently uses Z similar sites. “It’s a reflection Scott Geertsen a senior business of what students major from Draper, Utah, looks at the virtual ratings website. The think,” he said. . Laundra also said website includes ratings on Roscher said he encourages students to leave constructive criticism for professors on the Web site and refrain from posting slanderous or libelous > CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS Lambda Kenneth Laundra, assistant professor of sociology, said he wonderful ones,” Jeff Roscher, president of virtualratings.com said in The College. According to the Web site, “The ! consisted of only five females out of 20 firefighters assigned to the base. .Some of her duties as a firefighter included extensive hiking, digging and constructing fire lines to prevent the fires from spreading, as well as basic maintenance duties around the base. “I remember the first fire that my crew was called on was a little scary,” she said. “We were trying to set up the fire gear in the dark, and we were in a really rocky area.” Beta great.” v online newspaper of Swarthmore 1 Riddle was chosen to work on a crew that Riddle said that first experience introduced her education,” Justin Moore, a senior criminal justice major from Vernal, Utah, said “I think [the Web site] is some not- §0- Phoenix, the crew to what the summer was going to be like, and after it was over she wasn’t nervous about fighting fires anymore. resource. i “I like to have input on my Web site and read the comments students have written. “All of us at virtualratings.com have had some ‘wonderful " professors and JOURNAL STAFF WRITER -y Web site evaluations are “not a true representation” of students’ opinions. He said university-conducted evaluations are more credible. “I feel more comfortable” with the manner in which evaluations are conducted at the university, he said. Some students agree with Mecham, and don’t like the idea of grading professors on the Internet. “[Evaluations on the Web] can turn into gossip,” Jenifer Moore, a junior secondary education from Columbus, Ohio, said. Other students think it is a valuable may log on to the BY MANDIE YATES hesney Riddle, a senior communication major from Emery, Utah, worked as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service on the Dutch John Helibase in Dutch John Utah, during the summer of 2001. PAGE 3 Professors graded online Most of the time Riddle’s crew had to hike into the remote areas to fight the fires, but once in awhile they were flown in by helicopter. Riddle said that her first helicopter ride was when her crew had been called to fight the Camp Williams fire. : "My crew was transported to the top of a mountain and we landed as close to the fire as we fiery NEWS director of recruiting put toward future education ot used to pay off existing student loans. Relocation typically isn’t an issue because the organization is nationwide, enabling the graduate ‘who would like to stay near home to find an assignment nearby while allowing more adventurous individuals the chance to work nearly anywhere in the country. For those interested in relocating, AmeriCorps does offer relocation assistance for some projects. The chance for challenge and responsibility early in an individual's career is another advantage, and the organization represents an opportunity for graduates to build experience and their resumes. For more information about AmeriCorps and its opportunities, visit www.americorps.org-and click ~on the “how to join” link. The Winter 2002 issue of Salary Survey said that management trainee, private accounting, design engineering and teaching jobs top the list of employment opportunities for new college graduates. Those students graduating in the liberal arts may be interested to know that the following employers accounted for the greatest number of offers to 2001 liberal arts graduates: M Education services— $28,571 average starting salary offer. n Retail/wholesale trade— $31,583 average starting salary offer. AmeriCorps “members” work for a number of well-known national nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Red W Government (state and local)— Cross, as well as local nonprofits that W Government (federal)— $31,237 focus on specific community issues. average starting salary offer. $28,608 average starting salary offer. l Social assistance— $24,344 average starting salary offer. Scholarships available Faculty Senate dues. Applichtion forms Scholarships for the 2002-2003 school year will be available to students 25 . are available from Christine Proctor in years and older who demonstrate the Admissions Office in the Sharwan scholarship, leadership or community Smith Center. Applicants are requested to include service and financial need. an unofficial transcript and a letter of The Faculty Senate will award two recommendation from an SUU faculty half-tuition and fees scholarships to ~ member, men or women entering their Students should return. completed sophomore, junior or senior year. applications to Proctor. The deadline is Funds for the scholarships are donated by the SUU faculty through March 23 at 4 p.m. ! |