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Show The Thunderbird Monday, March. 5, 1984 Cortes bemoans ethnic portrayal in motion pictures by Lanai determine how true they are, he said. And fictional media teach things about a people to a group that doesnt have one to one contact with those people. During the beginning years of motion pictures, anyone with dark skin was portrayed as a villain. Through the decades, minority groups have been chosen as easy targets for bad Greenhalgh A motion picture is a public textbook, the most dominant force of ethnicity we have had in 45 years. Doctor Carlos E. Cortes, professor of history and chairman of the department of history at the University of California, Riverside, gave a n of ethnic dipictions in motion pictures at Thursdays Convocation lecture. He emphasized the impact that films have on people when portraying a culture the majority of an audience knows very little about. He cited examples of young children who, when asked to describe such things as Gypsies or Nazi Germans, produced very false, harsh judgmental statements about an ethnic group they had never seen. Kids are getting information about Nazi Germany by watching Hogan's Heroes, Cortes said, not because its so believable, but because there is no other source of information. There is no competition. Cortes began teaching multicultural education in the early 1970s, where he first recognized the need for public knowlege concerning minority groups. Since then, he has Page 3 guys. run-dow- Hollywood has chosen a series of minority groups to put in their films as the blunt of jokes, Cortes stated. Cortes said that most of the films are about prejudices against an ethnic group, but say very little about the group itself. So the images we have are distorted ones, he said, especially when we are talking about a group we dont know anything valid about. Carlos Cortes says minority groups are often depicted in films lectured throughout the United Study of Historical Dilemmas, as well as three major book series. States, Latin America and Europe. Not only a published author, He is also a published author. Cortes has appeared as guest His books include Three host on the PBS national Perspectives on Ethnicity: Blacks, Chicanos, and Native Americans, Understanding You and Them; Tips for Teaching about Ethnicity, and A Filmic Approach to the television series, Why In The World?, and wrote and served as editorial supervisor of the 1983 PBS special, Latinos: A Growing Voice in U.S. Politics. He as the bad guys. frequently serves as a consultant to many governmental agencies, universities and private businesses as well as many other organizations. Cortes explained there are two main problems with ethnicity and movies. The fictional media have such believable characteristics, its hard for us to Todays motion pictures, Cortes has observed, have turned away from focusing on minority groups as a whole and have turned to single out just one individual. This produces a conclusion that the person is good or bad, not the race. In the last five years there has been a slide in ethnic films, Cortes said. The question now is: Where do we go from here? Isom advocates taking charge of life, daring to do by Kelly White The time is now! Dare to do! That was the message of Sharon Isom, guest speaker Wednesday for the Womans Resource lecture series, who spoke of womens role in the working field. She stressed the idea that women should meet todays challenges. I mean a challenge as an opportunity, she said. Todays women have more opportunities for career choices than the women of yesterday. I think we, as women, should take advantage of that. Isom, who not only is on the St. George city council, but also mortgage manager of American Savings and Loan, says her father was a strict believer in education and working. I recall working two hours every morning before going to school, Isom said, and when I was 19 I was working at a bank in Las Vegas. Isom said also that in her working experience she d found criticism is something that will always be around. When you take place in the working world there will be some criticism, but that doesnt mean its bad. Be objective, she said. Dont think that everyone is against you. Thinking negatively is a waste of time and energy. Isom talked about a network system where you can make people aware of what you want to achieve. Communication is an important part of working with others and being able to get your job done to the best of your ability, she said. She mentioned some guidelines that she has followed to help in work and in building strong relationships. Be yourself, set personal and career goals, value your health, take praise gratefully on work well done, and learn to cope without giving in to criticism, she counseled. Dare to do! Do. what you want to do, said Isom. I.som remarked that although women are going strong in the working world, they still have to fight for what they deserve. She said, VI still have to fight for any raise I feel I deserve, because Im a woman, but I also know when I deserve one, so I speak up. Isom has achieved quite a lot since she started working at 13, but she said, Dont expect to achieve if you cant produce. You have to know what you want to accomplish and know what is needed in order to accomplish your job. Then you do it. The time is now, Isom said, so put your goals in place and move. SUSC teachers could face performance evaluations (continued from page 1) peer evaluation would consider the instructors attitudes, teaching styles, interpersonal skills and other areas. A good evaluation would help instructors advance in their professional development, making them better teachers, which in turn could help them also as individuals. Each member of the committee will prepare a written evaluation of the instructors teaching effectiveness, emphasizing strengths, and making constructive suggestions for improvement when appropriate, Matlock explains. These evaluations will be shared with the instructor during a meeting. The instructor may also discuss his professional activities, college service, his goals and aspirations. The written evaluations I received during my year of teaching were often in the form of a journal, but the suggestions, both negative and positive, were helpful, Matlock comments. Each newly hired faculty member should be subjected to evaluation during his first year of teaching, unless he has been signed for one year only, says Matlock. An early evaluation is tcsential, but a little traumatic at first. The department chairman would still prepare the final evaluation report summarizing the committee's conclusions. The reports from the other members would be included in the summary report and a copy would be provided to the person under review. Because this type of evaluation involves people outside of the department, it contributes to community spirit of teaching. advocates Matlock. It relieves the department chairman from being in an awkward situation. Matlock concluded in his list of advantages that a formalized system of evaluation would help form a solid basis for merit pay and tenure grants. The system now varies from very effective to t, says Matlock. The instructor-writte- n evalations are documentation of teaching performances. These could stand up in court. The documents show both good and bad instruction, and work outside the classroom such as contributions to the community or department. But instructors here are not too inclined to buck the system, said Matlock, softening tt.e subject. . He continues, Usually student evaluations are of minimal utility and tend to be superficial because students dont take any more than ten minutes to fill them out and are not specific. non-existen- They dont realize what other contributions the instructor has made to his department. They tend to sound the same. ..but student evaluations are essential and very important. During the faculty senate meeting, Dale Hall, vice president, asked Lee how much emphasis he would place on student evaluations. I said, without batting an eye, 100 percent. A student is in the class for ten weeks, whereas an evaluating instructor is in the class for only three days. I have to trust my students and meet their standards, he said. According to Lee, students should be intelligent and qualifed enough to evaluate the teachers and know the difference between good and bad teaching. If they arent aware of when learning occurs, education is a failing system. |
