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Show UVU REVI EW VOL L ISSUE 26 Theater department competes in L.A. and Tweets about the trip. B5. Polling the masses www.uvureview.coni MARCH 7, 2011 Wolverines finish 2011 regular season as GWC champions. B6 Election results malt How to find the general populace's opinion on campus Gilbert Cisneros/UVU Review Dr. Izumi Shimada speaks to students about the discovery and excavation of tombs in Peru. By Sterling Gray Assist. News Editor Recently, a large group of students, faculty and staff were polled about what they wanted to see in the future Student Life building. For those who wonder where that survey came from, curiosity need prowl no further than Institutional Research and Information. IRI is the on-campus source of surveys determined to quantify the opinion of students, faculty, staff and even alumni. IRI conducts surveys for various reasons: to assist professors in research, to aid the administration by collecting data that relates to proposed changes or projects and even to participate in student research projects. Andrea Brown, associate director of IRI, said that the research is only designed to further the university's goal of being student-oriented. Some of that is for official business for external groups, like making sure the university is meeting necessary standards. "Some surveys are driven because the institution is expected or required to report certain information," Brown said. "For example, to meet accreditation standards, we do surveys on graduating students and alumni who have graduated one or more years ago." Sometimes, though, IRI is more internally concerned and focuses on the opinions floating around campus. "In line with the Institution's Core Theme of Student Success, I believe it is safe to say the institution is interested in and considers what the students and others have to say." One good example is the aforementioned survey about the Student Life building. According to Brown, the architect of the building requested a survey in which current students, faculty and staff were polled about what they would like to have in the Student Life building. Brown said those opinions will not go unheard. "I believe we can assure you that the administration considers the information we gather from surveys," Brown said. "They want to know what past students value, what current students desire, and what future students are looking for." While the decisions that will go into building the Student Life building are not entirely in the hands of those polled, those in charge of the project know who the building is serving and will take the results of the survey into account. In Brown's words, "A survey represents one piece and kind of data, and the information is evaluated in the context with all available information the institution has." In order to get a good sample of what the university community thinks, IRI does not need to poll every single person on campus. "Statistically speaking, you don't need an entire population to have a good idea of what your students think or feel," Brown said. "In general, we try and figure out if there is a target group (like first year college students) and decide, based on previous response rates, if we can do a sample of the target subpopulation or Continued on A4 Discovering Sican By Danni Freeman News Writer Team Innovate left to right Chris Loumeau, David Millet, Joe Jurisic, Sam Hadlock with the new Club Vice President Sarah Roseborough. By Jarom Moore Asst. News Editor Voting for the new Executive Council took place between Feb. 28 and March 1. Team Innovate won the elections while running against no other party. Though the voting outcome was not a surprise, the numbers behind them might be. When the polls closed and the totals were counted, Christopher Loumeau was voted student body president for the upcoming year. Loumeau took 84 percent of the vote, getting 593 votes against a total of 110 write-ins. Sam Hadlock, the executive vice president, had 88 percent of the vote, receiving 515 votes against 70 write-ins. David Millet became the vice president of academics with 87 percent of the vote, garnering 506 votes versus 73 write-ins. Joe Jurisic, vice president of student activities, received 88 percent of votes for his position, with 510 votes to 70 write-ins. The write-in candidates ranged from random students to Jesus, and some where simply formal protests. There are 32,670 students and 703 voted in the presidential election, which equates to 2 percent of the 1 All Andrea Whatcott/UVU Review student body population. Student government is the liaison for students and are the first recommending body when it comes to how student fees are spent. With 703 votes out of the estimated $12 million budget in student fees, that means each vote was worth around $17,070. There is also a new vice president over the clubs, which was voted for by the clubs. Sarah Roseborough won in a close race. With 44 clubs voting, Roseborough had 26 votes while Owen Beck, the other candidate, received 16 votes. Two votes went to write-in candidates. A sense of apathy in the candidate forum Member of Team Innovate answer questions in a nearly empty Centre Stage during the election's Q-and-A. By Andrea Whatcott News Editor At this school, there are over 30,000 students and on March 1, during the student government elections candidate forum, less than .1 percent of the students came to hear what their future leaders had to say. Among planning events and coordinating guest speakers, the Executive Council is also the recommending body for the partitioning of student fees. While the Council does not have the absolute final say when it comes to the dispersing of the $12 million in student fees, they do offer the first recommendations in a chain, where final approval is made by the Board of Regents. The would-be debate turned into Q-and-A, due to the fact that the running team, Team Innovate, had no opponents. Chief Justice Nefi Acosta led the candidate forum, providing the incumbents with the opportunity for an opening statement and introductions. Chris Loumeau was running for Andrea Whatcott/UVU Review student body president with Sam Hadlock up for the position of executive vice president, David Millet running for vice president of academics and Joe Jurisic aspiring to vice president of student life. "I am excited to work with this team; we've chosen the name Innovate because we, as a university and an organization, are in a unique situation," Hadlock said. "We really have to be innovative in our solutions and the way we approach the issues on the table." Continued on A4 For Peru, 1992 was a time of turmoil and civil unrest. Amid all of the chaos, Dr. Izumi Shimada was busy uncovering 1000-yearold tombs that contained around $1.5 million in treasure while being guarded by a single member of the National Police armed with an unloaded machine gun. Shimada, who is now teaching anthropology at Southern Illinois University, never expected his life to turn out this way. In 1978, he embarked on this project to uncover archeological evidence to shed light on the Sican culture that flourished on the Northern Coast of Peru from 900 to 1100 A.D. Shimada told himself that he would devote 15 years to the project. Thirty-three years later, Shimada is still working on discovering more about this ancient culture in a project that has now become the longest-running research study in his field of archeology. On Feb. 25, Shimada addressed students gathered in the Ragan Theater about his findings. Shimada focused his presentation on two main tombs that he excavated and what information they were able to draw from them. According to Shimada, the Sican were a very influential cultural group during this time period. They had social stratification, advanced metal working knowledge, economic wealth, political clout and were otherwise unrivaled by any of the other surrounding cultures. All of this insight provided by Shimada was the first of its kind to surface. It leaves one to wonder how so little about this great culture that Shimada referred to as the "pride of Peru" could be known prior to his findings. The key to this mystery goes back to the idea of treasure. For many years, Peru has been plagued by massive grave looting. The hillsides are dotted with holes from these looters, who have removed tons of objects made of gold, bronze and other precious metals. Unfortunately, this is a trend that has continued to this day with looters posting their findings online and selling them to the highest bidders. This large-scale looting has dissuaded any long term research prior to when Shimada took interest in the project. Instead of being deterred as others had been, Shimada looked at this problem and "saw the glass half full" because of the wealth of information that was still waiting to be discovered. Shimada said that he feels that he and his teams have uncovered more than monetary treasures, including information that has become of great cultural value. This knowledge has given the people of Peru an opportunity to learn of their ancient ancestors and history. |