COLLEGIAN THE CA M ERON U N I V ER SIT Y
Monday, April 18, 2005
News
Informing the Cameron Family Since 1926
E-voting gains in popularity By Dawn Holt Staff Writer
Committee continues processing applicants to replace Sally Soelle as dean of the School of Liberal Arts. PLEASE SEE PAGE 3
A&E
Volume 78 Issue 25
Point, click and vote was the emphasis of voting during the spring 2005 Student Government Association (SGA) election. Only 89 of the 369 votes tallied came from paper ballots according to Ann Stafford, department secretary of student activities, an indication of the evolution of electronic voting. SGA is trying Graphic by Leah Hicks to encourage the use of electronic
voting on campus instead of the usual paper ballots. CU has used online voting since the 2004 homecoming elections, but still students seem reluctant to use the online voting process instead of the paper ballots. Incoming SGA President Frank Myers said, “It is a concept that people have to get used to and that will take time, but most campuses have moved to just online voting and no longer use paper ballots.” According to Myers, the easy accessibility to online ballots creates more of an opportunity for students to vote, but SGA plans to use paper ballots one more semester and then turn to complete online voting. Last year SGA had the student body vote on the online program and, according to Myers, the concept passed. The SGA then sent a request
to CU’S Director of Information Technology Services, Debbie Goode, asking about the possibility of online student voting in order to make counting votes faster and easier. Greg Duncan, UNIX system administrator, was tasked with the development of customized software for online voting. He based the software on a skeleton program from SunGard Bi/Tech, the system CU purchased for the student system and payroll system. The customized software allows for the student activities director to have access to the electronic votes without tracing the vote to a particular student. According to Duncan, the student activities director has access to a vote audit, meaning
Please see VOTING, page 3
Cadets prepare for Warrior Forge-2005 By Dawn Holt Staff Writer
Reviewer attributes success of “Say it With Flowers” screening to good use of metaphor. PLEASE SEE PAGE 7
Sports
Women’s tennis chalks up another win as they head into Lone Star Conference championships this week. PLEASE SEE PAGE 8
Voices
Two hundred and twenty seven cadets from the 10th and 12th ROTC brigades struggled through high winds and temperatures to conduct their annual spring joint field training exercise (JFTX) April 7-10 at Fort Sill. Cameron University, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, the University of Central Oklahoma and Texas Tech University joined forces to conduct realistic training to prepare all cadets for Warrior Forge 2005, a leadership camp that all ROTC cadets must complete prior to commissioning. According to Lt. Col. William Finely, CU’s ROTC primary instructor, all cadets are required to attend the training to help prepare them for what they should expect to encounCourtesy Photo ter at Warrior Forge. Left Right Left: Nathalia Andrews, accounting junior, practices her map-reading skills as part of the training Although all four days were for a Warrior Forge 2005. This annual exercise is required of all ROTC cadets before being commissioned as vital to training, only two con2nd Lieutenants in the Army. sisted of continuous on-going training: Friday and Saturday. Friday started with round robin training folminimum of four out of seven points located in luminated with green chemical lights so cadets lowed by a map-reading exam. The round robin the Fort Sill training area around Rabbit Hill could see them within at least 20 meters. training included four classes: compass and pace and Craig Hill. The cadets returned late in the night for an verification, attack points, intersection and reThe cadets had a break after day land navigaall-too-brief five hours of rest before starting section and route planning. The map exam was a tion, but soon began another task; Starting at Saturday’s event, the Squad Training Exercise 25-question multiple-choice map-reading exam 8:30 p.m. all Military Science I (MS) (fresh(STX). to test map-reading skills. The exam contained man), MSII (sophomore) and MSIII (junior) For this exercise, an evaluator (a senior questions dealing with intersection, resection, cadets were on their way to complete night land ROTC cadet) picked a squad leader, then issued road distance and elevations. navigation. an operations (ops) order to the leader which Quickly following the exam was day land Each cadet was expected to find three out of Please see ROTC, page 3 navigation. The cadets had four hours to find a five points in three hours. The points were il-
New courses augment summer, fall offerings By Kari Lewis
mation that in order to produce more competitive students in the technology field, CU needed Several new classes are being offered at CU to offer a wider variety of classes. In the past, this year. Due to the need for more variety and to students were not able to choose which direckeep CU students competitive in the work force, tion they would prefer to go in when obtaining CU is offering a wider range of courses in both a degree in CAD/Engineering Design Technolthe technology and English departments. ogy. However, with the new classes in place, Coordinator of Computer students will be able to choose to specialize in Aided Drafting either Mechanical or Civil/GIS. (CAD) and EnSonwalkar said, gineering Design “It is important to Todd Raborn, with update the curricuthe assistance of lum based on industry Assistant Professor hiring trends and Mukul Sonwalkar of emerging technologies the technology departbecause when students ment, will be instructgraduate, they will be ing the following new well-prepared for their classes in the fall 2005 careers ahead.” semester: Introduction Manuel Campos, Jr., to Geographical Inforsenior telecommunicamation Systems (GIS)/ tions electronics major, Global Positioning System is pleased with the Photo by Lisa Snider (GPS), Manufacturing Prochanges. cesses and Project Management. “It’s a great idea that These classes were introduced at the request they changed the degree plan and added more of the Advisory Council after the results from classes,” he said. “Now when we submit our renational and regional surveys returned the inforsumes for jobs, our potential employers see the
Staff Writer
Columnist comments on the efficacy of group projects, and Aggies chime in with their own opinions. PLEASE SEE PAGE 2
Office: Nance Boyer 2060 Phone: 580•581•2261 E-mail us at : collegian@cameron.edu First Copy Free - $.25 for each additional copy Contents © The Collegian 2005
word ‘engineer’ and that opens the doors for us to better job opportunities. It makes us more competitive in the workforce.” Other upcoming classes in the technology department include: GI Fabrications and GI Design, both in the civil field of study; and Advanced Solid Modeling and CAD/CAM Applications, both in the mechanical field of study. Added to English department curriculum in the summer 2005 semester is the class, Legend of Arthur; and in the fall 2005 semester, a new upper division seminar will be offered entitled Literature of Sports. Assistant Professor John Hodgson will instruct both of the upcoming classes. Hodgson said Legend of Arthur is a study focused on the legendary King Arthur and that the Literature of Sports class will focus on literature pieces written about various sporting events and experiences. The Literature of Sports course will require students to read selections such as: “The Sun Also Rises,” by Ernest Hemingway; “The Great American Novel,” by Philip Roth; “Friday Night Lights,” by H.G. Bissinger; and “Levels of the Game,” by John McPhee. The class targets
Please see COURSES, page 4