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THURSDAY
January 10, 2002
Vol. 109, No. 81 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy.
High 65 | Lou) 47 | Friday 61
ONLINE: www.redandUack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
ABRACADABRA!
> Penn and Teller are
bringing their magic
show to the Classic
Center. PAGE 2
Education
reform bill
source of
controversy
By MITCHELL GRAHAM
mgraham@randb.com
The new education reform law, which seeks
to improve the nation’s public schools, was met
with skepticism from University and local offi
cials. They said they fear no changes will result.
The law, signed Tuesday by President Bush,
increases federal funding for education and puts
into place new accountability measures for
schools that don’t perform up to newly estab
lished standards.
The centerpiece is a new
system of state and national
standardized math and
reading tests, administered
to all students in grades
three through eight.
Supporters say the tests
will identify schools that fail
to educate students, so
additional help can be
directed where it’s needed
most.
But Lewis Allen, director
of the University’s Georgia League of
Professional Schools, and Carl Glickman, chair
man of the University’s program for school
improvement, question whether standardized
testing is the proper approach for meaningful
school reform.
“I’m skeptical,” Allen said. “That kind of stan
dardized testing that is done from afar is gener
ally not of any help to teachers in the class
rooms. It doesn’t give teachers the kind of infor
mation they need to adjust their lesson plans.”
In general, standardized tests become a dou- •
ble-edged sword for public schools. The tests
may give a better picture of a student’s progress,
but schools invariably will change their curricula
to “teach to the tests,” Allen said.
“It turns (children) into robots that can take
standardized tests,” Lewis said. “That throws
out the whole idea of turning students into life
long learners and critical thinkers.”
Children in Athens already must take the
state Criterion-Referenced Competency Test
(CRCT) at every grade level. It’s given annually
to track students’ progress more accurately as
they move from grade to grade, said Mike
Wooten, director of public relations and commu
nications for the Clarke County school district.
He said he didn’t know yet whether the law
will seek to supplement the CRCT with more
tests, which he said would be unnecessary.
“We hope there’s not another layer of testing
imposed on students,” Wooten said. “It gets to
the point where you have to question how much
testing is necessary to get the data you need.
“We accept (Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes’) and
the president’s challenge to be accountable for
how our students perform,” he said, “but ...
shouldn’t the people who are mandating this
accountability have a plan in place to help stu
dents and help schools that don’t measure
up?”
GLICKMAN
— Contributing: The Associated Press
Aiming High
SARA MILLER | The Red a Black
▲ Sophomore guard/forward Jonas Hayes earned 13 points in
Wednesday night’s game against Kentucky, one of several
players to contribute to Georgia’s big win. Story, Page 8
Plan revised
for Myers
renovations
By JENNIFER MOORE
jmoore@randb.com
The Board of Regents
approved a revised
plan for Myers renova
tions Wednesday, Board
Spokesman John Millsaps
said.
The plan calls for a com
plete renovation of all facets
of the dorm except its struc
ture, and it is slated to be fin
ished for fall 2003, said Jim
Day, director of University
Housing.
Myers is arranged like
three connected buildings.
The two-story sections will
be rebuilt as four stories, and
all the steps connecting
them will become ramps,
Day said. The renovated
dorm will be completely
accessible to people with
disabilities.
The hallways will be nar
rower, and all systems will be
state-of-the-art, including
the phones, heating and
cooling, Day said.
According to the Board of
Regents’ agenda, the renova
tion will provide about 405
beds, arranged in traditional
dorm style, and will cost
about $12,950,000.
Myers was built in 1953 as
a 468-bed dorm, operating as
a 472-bed dorm. No substan
tial renovations have been
made to the facility since its
(instruction, according to
me agenda.
Day said the majority of
the new rooms will be double
rooms with bathrooms down
the hall, but there also will be
some super suites and
private rooms.
In addition, there will be
new programming space and
mailboxes in an enlarged
center area, Day said.
“We will have some nice
features to make the most of
the building,” Day said.
The Board of Regents also
is considering building an
Office for Instructional
Technology functions on
some vacant land, Millsaps
said. The building would be
part of the University’s tech
nology park.
Millsaps said the recom
mendation was discussed,
but there are still some out
standing issues to be
resolved.
The board also is consid
ering a preventative mainte
nance program for all
University System of Georgia
facilities, Millsaps said.
“(The preventative main
tenance program) is kind of
like going to the dentist,” he
said. “If you have your teeth
cleaned, you spend money,
but you prevent more costly
problems in the future.”
Millsaps said the recom
mendation has been tabled
until February, when the
board can look at more
evidence of costs and
savings.
Proposal could get syllabi online
By ERIN SELLERS
esellers@randb.com
The Student Government
Association is preparing to vote
on a proposal that could save
students a lot of time, money
and frustration when registering
for classes.
The Academic Service
Proposal, which would require
professors to post syllabi on the
Internet before students regis
ter, was made last semester
by Obiajulu Okuh, Andrea
Whitaker and Josh Gill in a tech
nical writing class.
The idea was brought before
the SGA by Okuh, a 2001 gradu
ate and former SGA senator.
SGA briefly discussed the
proposal in a meeting Tuesday
night, said Thomas Wyatt, a
senior from Griffin and SGA
constitutional revisionist.
Wyatt said the SGA vice pres
ident made some strong
endorsements and is sure the
proposal will pass.
However, he also said all SGA
can do is give the document “our
vote of support.”
If passed, the proposal would
undergo further consideration
by the Office of the Vice
President for Instruction and
Development and the University
Council’s Educational Affairs
Committee.
During the fall, Okuh,
Whitaker and Gill surveyed 191
random students about the idea.
Gill said most students thought
the syllabi should be available on
OASIS.
“You would know what was
going to be involved, so you
could coordinate and prevent
test, paper, test, paper,” said
Gill, a 2001 graduate.
The idea appeals to students
because syllabi not only provide
test and project dates, but also
list required texts and course
descriptions.
“Knowing the actual work
load isn’t important to me, but
the course description is,” said
Devin Brown, a junior from
Dunwoody. “I’m an English
major, so it would be more help
ful for me to know exactly what
we’re going to be reading before
hand.”
While students said they
would benefit from the plan, its
feasibility is uncertain.
“We have started doing it in
our department,” Steven
Grossvogel of the Romance
Languages Department said.
However, he said sometimes
classes are dropped, and profes
sors are given new classes at the
last minute, which could keep
them from posting syllabi on the
Internet in time.
“It sounds like a good idea,”
said Grossvogel. “But it isn’t
always possible.”
War on terrorism expands
U.S. prepares to send air forces to the Philippines to
fight terrorist groups that are linked to al-Qaeda
The war on terrorism may be
expanding its borders, accord
ing to military officials.
Military sources told NBC
News the United States is ready
to send forces to help the
Philippines fight terrorist
groups linked to al-Qaeda.
The forces will include only
helicopters, planes and pilots
because Philippine law prohibits
foreign troops from ground
conflict.
The U.S. military already has
sent weapons to the Philippine
army to aid in the fight against
terrorism.
In Pakistan, a U.S. military
plane, traveling from Islamabad,
crashed Wednesday, Pentagon
officials said.
The U.S. Marine Corps’ KC-
130 refueling jet went down near
the western city of Quetta.
Witnesses said the plane was
descending to land when it
crashed and caught fire.
According to officials, there
was no sign of enemy fire.
There were seven Marines
aboard the jet, all of which are
presumed dead.
In Afghanistan, U.S. military
reconnaissance teams discov
ered a large tunnel and cave net
work that was used by Taliban
forces, Pentagon officials
said.
U.S. forces in the area have
found mass amounts of
weapons, ammunition and dif
ferent types of machinery left
behind by the fleeing
fighters.
Because of the recent discov
ery, U.S. warplanes continued
their airstrikes on part of the
Zawar Kili area Wednesday for
the fourth straight day.
As of press time, ground
troops were entering the area,
where a Green Beret soldier was
killed last week.
In Kandahar, several mem
bers of the Taliban surrendered
to the new Afghan government
Wednesday, but may have been
set free, according to
officials.
Nooruddin Turabi, the one-
eyed, one-legged justice minis
ter was one of several Taliban
members to surrender.
White House officials did not
comment, although Richard
Myers, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, asked that top
Taliban leaders be turned over
to the United States.
An Afghan spokesman said
the released members may have
fled the country, and the interim
government’s investigation of
who let them go is under
way.
Also on Wednesday, interim
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai
ordered armed men to leave the
streets of Kabul or face jail time,
Interior Minister Younus
Qanooni said.
Now, only international
peacekeepers and uniformed
police are allowed to roam the
streets of the city armed.
In Kabul, Maj. Guy Richards,
a British military spokesman,
said the runway of Kabul’s air
port could be cleared of bomb
damage and reopen next week.
The airport will be used by
military forces and relief efforts.
— Compiled by Lona Panter
Contributing: CNN, MSNBC
and Associated Press reports
Get Something for Nothing
MEGAN LOVETT ' The Rid * Black
◄ Junior
Bradford
Swann, a
Dawgsaver.com
sales associate,
hands out
Dawgsaver stu
dent savings
cards to cus
tomers outside
FTX bookstore
Wednesday
afternoon. The
cards can get
discounts for
students at sev
eral local busi
nesses, such as
Chick-fil-A and
Papa John’s
Pizza. Story,
Page 3
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