OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010 Page 5 AggieLife Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Team intervenes to help student behavior By KASEY VAN DYKE Computer labs are there for students staff writer • Tyler Clementi, Rutgers University: jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22 after being publicly "out-ed" as homosexual. • Amy Bishop, University of Alabama: shot and killed three faculty members, injuring three more on Feb. 12. • Seung Cho, Virginia Tech University: shot 32 people before killing himself on April 16, 2007. All these individuals committed acts of violence on university campuses; one became the catalyst for a nationwide movement. USU's Behavior Intervention Team is the on-campus support group that handles any reports about students of concern. If a student or faculty member is showing signs of destructive or disruptive behavior, concerned roommates and peers are encouraged to fill out a confidential "student of concern" report, found on the university's campus safety page. Eric Olsen, associate vice president of Student Services, said though the team does work with some serious threats, most of the work done is with students who are worried about roommates or friends hurting themselves. Olsen said the main goal of the Behavior Intervention Team is not to dismiss students, but to keep students in school and maintain safety on campus. One of the benefits of the program, he said, is that several groups on campus are talking about the students. When a report is filled out, a copy is sent to all necessary parties, sometimes including the on-campus counseling center, By MELODY CAMPBELL staff writer THE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION TEAM deals with "students of concern." These students are nominated by other students around campus who display questionable behavior. ARMEN HOVSEPYAN photo illustration Student Health and Wellness or campus police. This, Olsen said, provides the best chance of helping the student. In a presentation provided by campus safety, it was stated that a "student of concern" displays disruptive, distressed or threatening behavior. There are different levels of concern, ranging from inattentive, unkempt and absent to erratic, irrational and aggressive or threatening. Behavior Intervention Teams, sometimes referred to as Threat Assessment Teams, are becoming a staple for higher education across the country, Olsen said. He said while some universities may have had informal teams, few had anything like the organiza- tions we have now until after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. According to an article by the Washington Post, at 5 a.m. on April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a senior studying at Virginia Tech, was seen by his roommate in his suite in West Ambler Hall. Two hours later, police responded to reports of a shooting at the dorm, where they found two people dead. It appeared to be an isolated incident, and police immediately secured the area and called in Blacksburg police to establish a perimeter around the campus. Over the next two hours, the incident was investigated as classes started. At 9:01 a.m., Cho stopped at the post office and mailed a package of tapes, writings and pictures to NBC. Within the next half-hour, students and faculty were notified of the shootings in West Ambler Hall by e-mail and a recorded message was sent to all campus phones. At 9:45, police received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall, which contained offices, classrooms and labs. When police arrived, the doors were barricaded and gunfire could be heard. Students and faculty were then notified that a gunman was loose on campus. When police were able to break through the doors, the gunshots I See INTERVENTION, page 7 The computer labs have been on campus for about as long as people have been using computers. Gary Egbert, Information Technology manager, said that the first labs were started around 1985. There were only two labs and 80 computers at that point. "The organization has grown," he said. On campus there are 12 open-access computer labs, which are free for all students to use. "As long as you have your student ID card, you can use any open-access computer lab on campus," Egbert said. "Computer labs update and patch machines within a week of the patches being released," said Les Seeley, Engineering Lab manager. This happens at least once a month. Egbert said the computers are on a network, allowing updates to happen more quickly and easily. "We have a program called Deep Freeze, which protects the students ... by deleting everything as soon as you log out," he said. This prevents personal information or viruses being passed between users. "We will be updating to a new website that will be released before spring semester," Egbert saod. The website would include availability charts, showing which computers are in use at a lab at any given moment. Other facts, such as history of the labs, and lab hours would also be included. "We have security alarms and other procedures in each computer lab," Egbert said. He said there have not been very many problems with theft. "We get from 10 percent to 30 percent to 40 percent below student pricing," Egbert said. They bargain with the companies for bulk discounts. Students can benefit from this if they buy computers from the bookstore. The computer labs, though primarily for student use, serve other purposes as well. Nathan Smith, manager of the Adele & Dale Young Education Technology Center, said it "serves as the resource center for the College of Education and Human Services." I See COMPUTER, page 6 Humanitarian speaks out for mutual understanding By STOREE POWELL features senior writer The founder and director of the Central Asia Institute, the co-author of "Three Cups of Tea" and humanitarian Greg Mortenson, estimates he's consumed about 20,000 cups of tea since he began his work in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 1993. The Central Asia Institute (CAI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving educational opportunities to children, especially girls, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The CAI has built over 165 schools that have helped educate nearly 70,000 girls. Mortenson was in Layton, Utah on Friday as the keynote speaker for the Weber State MBA 10th Anniversary Celebration, which also served as a benefit dinner for the CAI. Sitting down to tea in these regions signifies a Jirga, a Pashto term meaning a decisionmaking assembly of male elders. Mortenson said a person who is invited for one cup of tea is considered a stranger, two cups — a friend, and after three cups of tea, part of the family. "In the West we are very linear and logical and we don't listen with our heart. It is important to have a balance. We obviously have to think with our head a little and be guided by our heart," Mortenson said. The significance of meeting with the elders over tea, Mortenson said, is that the elders, called shura, are the real power and integrity of the countries. The shura are not elected, but rather have risen up through the ranks. There are 100-300 shura in each providence. "In the rebuilding process, the U.S. has focused too much on setting up a centralized government. We have not really appreciated and invited elders into the decision-making of how they rebuild their country," Mortenson said. However, he said this is beginning to change. "I think the military has gone through a huge learning curve the last several years. They get that it is about listening to people and building relationships and putting the people in charge." Mortenson said he was somewhat critical of the military after 9/11 because ,after going to the Pentagon to consult with military officials, he said he saw "laptop warriors with no boots on the ground and they did not speak the local languages." As an army veteran, Mortenson said he thinks the military is expected to solve all of our problems overseas. "This is unrealistic, we expect today's soldiers to be a warrior, a diplomat and a humanitarian. We, the public, and our leaders need to pick up more of the slack," Mortenson said. The CAI does not receive any federal aid, Mortenson said, because they don't want to be perceived in Pakistan and Afghanistan as an instrument of the U.S. federal government. However, they do "bend over backwards to help the government with building relationships." Mortenson said the CAI has all local staff overseas. "We've done that deliberately because we want them to run everything. The locals must be in charge to really help people empower themselves," Mortenson said. The best way to do this, Mortenson said, is it to put the emphasis on girls' education. He said there are some people in Afghanistan and Pakistan who oppose educating girls, saying it is based on Islam. However, he said, "There is nothing in the Quran that mentions not educating girls. Iqura, a word in the Quran, means go out and seek the truth." The implication of educating girls, Mortenson said, is that it reduces infant mortality, maternal mortality and it significantly reduces the population explosion. Also, for every year a girl goes to school after fifth grade, her marriage is delayed about one year. Many of the women in these countries are forced at ages 13, 14 or 15 to get married and have children when they have not physically or psychologically matured. Also, educated girls tend to teach their communities and their mothers how to read and boys don't do that as much, Mortenson said. "About two-thirds of girls who get educated will go back to their communities and serve their people, and only about one-third of boys do that," Mortenson said. "If you sum this all up, basically girls' education is the single most important investment you can make in any society." Since Mortenson is doing less of the work overseas now, he said his role as director of the CAI has changed. Mortenson said, "I'm a reserved person, and I keep wondering 'why me,' but it is my life's calling. But my role has changed in many ways, where overseas I am more like a cheerleader and at home I spend a lot of time going to conventions, schools, church groups, everything." The humanitarian said he receives over 2,500 speaking requests a year across the country, including from two dozen military bases. "I hope what is happening is I am letting people know that Americans are very good people, that they are very generous and compassionate and that the people overseas are I See LECTURE, page 6 Getting to know Greg .Mortenson • In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan's highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan ("Star of Pakistan") for his 15-year humanitarian effort to promote girls education in rural areas. • Several U.S. Congressional representatives nominated Mortenson for the Nobel Peace Prize twice (2009 and 2010). President Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, donated $100,000 of his award funds to the Central Asia Institute. • Mortenson was born in 1957, and grew up near Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (1958 - 1973). • He served in the U.S. Army in Germany (1977-1979) as a medic, where he received the Army Commendation Medal. • He played on a NAIA II national championship football team at Concordia College, Minnesota (1978), and later graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1983 with a degree in Chemistry and nursing. GREG MORTENSON SMILES with the Sitara "Star" children, students of a school in Afghanistan. Mortenson educates America through lectures, his organization the Central Asia Institute, and his book. photo courtesy of Central Asia Institute |