by Rebecca Rebok Collegiate journalism at- Capitol Campus collected some medals to pin on its chest at the annual awards meeting of the Press Association of Common wealth Campuses by taking second place in the number of first-place awards. The C.C. Reader won two first-place trophies in the publications division. The trophy for “Most Improved Newspaper” was accepted by Editor-in-Chief Jim Bollinger. He said he improved the Reader this year by experimenting with graphics, photography and various layout techniques in an effort to make the paper an innovative and effective publication. The Reader’s emphasis on photography was rewarded with a first-place trophy for the “Best Photography” of all the commonweaitn cam puses. Fred Prouser is this year’s Associate and Photography Editor. The individual awards division was dominated by Reader staff members who captured top awards in four of the eight categories. Assistant Editor Phyllis Schaeffer won the “Best News Story” award for her Are Course Evaluations Valid? by Phyllis Schaeffer Course evaluations, those forms completed by stu dents at the end of the term, play an important role in the life of Capitol professors. Interviews with five under graduate program heads and one program representative revealed these evaluations are used as one criteria to measure teaching effective ness for promotion, tenure and annual faculty review. Mixed opinion was voiced, however, on the adequacy of the form itself and its interpretation. According to Day Starkey, an education psychology professor, both the reliabil ity and the validity of the form are questionable. She says, “In order to be a good measuring instrument, the evaluation needs to have two to three times more questions.” The form used at Capitol has 10 questions. She also says the number of people completing the form is important for obtaining statistically valid data. Dean Wolf, on the other hand, is aware of this argument for more quest ions, but feels, “You can never flet a-.form to satisfy everyone.” He believes the evaluation form now in use can be developed into an effective tool and says, “It is better than an assumption without evaluation.” Marilyn Luke of Instruc tional Services said the The award-winning Reader staff. C-R: Fred Prouser, Photo Ed; Phyllis Schaeffer Assistant Editor; Jim Bollinger, Editor-in-Chief; Doug Gibboney, former Associate Editor. . Photo by DeLong article on the Casino Night coverage controversy. Schaeffer, a ninth-term junior, was cited for her reporting on the charges and counter-charges concerning the Reader’s story about the belly dancer at the Las Vegas-type event. The student chairman of the program filed a com plaint with the Media Board claiming the Reader’s cover age was in “bad taste.” The editors complained that the Round Table copies of the issue were removed without Faculty Members Disagree completed evaluations are sent to University Park for computerization and are returned to the professors in a computer print-out form along with the student comments. The money collected from on-campus traffic violations didn’t pay for Mr. Paul’s new Honda 450. The recent concern of students to know the final resting place of money collected from their traffic violations has prompted the C.C. Reader to investigate this matter. The money collected from all fines goes into the SGA’s Funds For Allocation. This fund exists to assist organizations which run out of money. To get money from this fund, an organization must get approval from the SGA’s financial committee. When making this decision, the financial committee takes into account the amount needed and the past performance of the organization, according to SGA President Scott Deardorff. The amount of money collected by the security force is considerable. The total amount of fines for the winter term alone amounted to $862.75. By multiplying this amount by three, it comes out to $2,600 per academic year, which is about 16% of the total SGA’s budget. The money collected from the parking stickers is quite a different matter. This money goes directly to University Park. The student security does not use any of the traffic violation money for its expenses. Their salaries, supplies and uniform costs are met by University Park. For those who are interested, the traffic violation report is available to students. It can be found either in the Student Affairs Office or the Security Office. The report shows, among other things, the amount of fines issued, the amount collected, excused violations and the amount of faculty-staff violations. Parking Fines Go To SGA Treasury by Bob Bennett prior consultation Former Associate Editor Doug Gibboney took the top award in the feature article category. Gibboney’s prize-winning article was an interview with Dr. Michael Barton which detailed the associate pro fessor’s experiences in the Peace Corps and the Air Force, and his daily trek from Philadelphia to Capitol Campus. The highest individual photography award went to Cathy Wert for her photo of Many professors, how ever, cannot interpret the computer data according to Dr. Miller, education pro gram head; Dr. Richman, social science program head; and Dr. Tischler, spet... __ jre a group v the annual Awards Banquet an outhouse which was featured on the cover of the Jan. 17 issue. Wert is a free lance photographer for Her shey Estates and a 12th term social science major. Former advertising man ager Ken Hession won the second place award in advertising for his design in the keggar ads which appeared in several issues. Bollinger says, “As the Reader gets older, the Reader gets better.” The Press Association awards lend support to his view. humanties program head. Luke, who has only been at Capitol since December, says she intends to set up instructions for interpreting the data when she learns herself. Ail the program heads agreed the time lag for obtaining the evaluation information is too long. The results are not yet back from the winter term. Dr. Frey, representing Dr. Lee (business and adminis tration program head), said, “The student comments are the most useful, and we should be able to get those back immediately.” Although professors are not required to turn the evaluations in to their program heads, they gener ally do according to the program heads. Dr. Miller and Dr. Tischler said some measure of teaching effectiveness must be submitted if the forms are not used. The Math-Science Depart ment apparently leads the others in attempting to obtain, as Program Head Dr. Murty says, a sincerely motivated response from students. He says completion of the forms on the last day of class produces a constrain ed response and the students feel forced to do them. His department tried giv cont. on pg. 7 see “Course Ratings” pus newspaper persons assembl Photo by Prouser Tarnhelm Reception A reception to introduce the 1975 edition of Tarnhelm will be held this afternopn from 3 to 5 in the Galiei y Lounge. A poetry reading will be conducted between 3:30 and 4. All interested students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. Tarnhelm will be distributed at this time. Tuition Rally On Friday the SGA is holding a rally to voice our opinion to the state legisla ture against raising tuition. Come out and voice your opinion at the rally starting at 11:00 a.m. at the rear of the Main Building. HACC’S Pool Hours Due to a lack of information at press time, the hours that the HACC pool is available to Capitol students were not complete as printed in the last issue of the Reader. Besides the hours published, the pool is also open two evenings a week and on Sunday. The hours should read: Tues. & Thurs. 12-2; & 7-9 pm Friday 12-1 pm Sunday 2-4 pm
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers