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APRIL 14, 1998
Christine Houser, left, practices her flute in preparation for the University Wind Ensemble’s trip to Japan starting May 5. Junior music major Robert Krizo, right,seems to be swallowed by his tuba as he practices in the Performing Arts building Monday afternoon. Art Pacheco, below, keeps the rhythm for the ensemble.
Northwestern prof fired for saying the ‘F-word’
AUSTIN, Texas—Figures released by the University of Texas indicate that Asian Americans are benefitting the most from a new state law designed to help more blacks and Hispanics get into top-notch state colleges. The law, put into effect last year, guarantees college admission to Texas high school students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. It was supposed to curb the effects of an earlier court ruling, which struck down affirmative action poli-
INSIDE
BASEBALL: Benito Flores has become the Titans ace pitcher with an 8-0 record and 2.73 ERA. See page 6.
University Wind Ensemble prepares to perform abroad
College Press Service
New admissions law benefits Asians more than other minorities
F U L L E R T O N
T U E S D AY
VOLUME 66, ISSUE 30
EVANSTON, Ill.—A Northwestern University chemistry lecturer said he was fired for swearing in front of a female student who didn’t like “the f-word.” Thomas Weaver told Wednesday’s Chicago Sun-Times that he has lost all of his teaching duties. Students said they admire the 52-year-old professor, who has been known to swear, drink liquid nitrogen and perform a variety of wacky stunts to get their attention. Weaver, a senior lecturer who has taught for 21 years, admitted using the word. He attributed his lapse in good judgment to teaching classes of 300 students each, training teaching assistants and supervising laboratory classes. Weaver said he still plans to teach summer school and night adult classes. He said he might also hire an attorney. Dean Eric Sunquist, saying student complaints are taken very seriously, said, “We have expectations on professional conduct by faculty.”
Daily
U N I V E R S I T Y ,
Photos by Nathan Orme
Indiana University lets Filmmaker crusades air out of grade inflation against corporate U.S. n ACADEMICS: Midwest university
implements new grade-reporting system to better reflect students’ scholarly achievement. By CHAD BROOKS Indiana University
Indiana University thinks it has found a way to fight grade inflation, a problem considered by many to be one of the biggest problems plaguing higher education. Giving students better grades than they deserve
might enhance their resumes in the short run, but will devalue them in the long run, many experts say. After all, what good are good grades if everyone gets them? And if everyone gets good grades, what does that say about a university? “I am a great example of why the system is failing,” said Scott Hayman, a senior at Indiana. “I get great grades and barely do anything for them.” It’s clear that grade-point averages are on the rise around the nation. At the University of California at Berkeley, the average undergraduate
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Project Earth helps Arboretum bloom
n ARBORETUM: Volunteers “get
in touch with nature” by helping keep up the grounds while gaining experience for their majors. By JEREMY SCHERER Daily Titan Staff Writer
One public relations major has taken on a big project this year: Earth. Freshman Claudia Baba is heading a new group on campus, Project Earth, which is dedicated to help and expand the plant life in the Arboretum. The members’ goal is to improve the community by donating time every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon. Baba and her group’s dedication is clear. Baba commented that “as long as the Arboretum provides us with plants, we will be here.” The members are not only helping to plant trees at the Arboretum, they are also learning. Glen Williams, superintendent of agriculture for the Arboretum, helps the group with their planting as well as answering any questions they might have about a particular plant. Last month the group planted a Desert Museum Palo Verde. Williams explained that the tree is a new hybrid bought in Tucson and has only been available to the public for a year. The tree, which was planted in the Thorn Forest section of the Arboretum, is the only one in California. Terry Daubert, gardening specialist, said “it’s fabulous” to see the students to come out and help. As the Arboretum is developed, Greg Dyment, director of the Arboretum, said he
MYLES ROBINSON/Daily Titan
Geography student Janet Choate, left, and Gene Andreosky volunteer their time to help Project Earth and the Arboretum. would like to see more students visit the center to relax or study. Dyment said that the Arboretum is a great place for students interested in botany or other biological sciences to actually study the plant life in a natural environment. “For some of these plants, the next-closest place to see them is Arizona,” Dyment said. Baba said that after helping the Arboretum she feels that “In a way, it is like getting away from everything, and it is a chance to get in touch with nature.” The Project Earth group receives some help from the Arboretum’s staff in the mornings. Baba explained that “the staff lays out
all of the plants for us and where they are supposed to go,” but the actual planting is up to the volunteers. “The staff is really busy with the upkeep of the grounds and this is a way that we can help them to do their job,” Baba said. Sometimes it is hard to get volunteers for the group due to people’s busy schedules, Baba said. Anyone interested in helping with the Project Earth group can contact Claudia Baba at the Community based Learning and Service Center in the Titan Student Union or call 278-4665. The office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Copyright ©1998, Daily Titan
n FILM: Activist who took on
General Motors puts Nike Inc. in the hot seat. By GARY THOMPSON Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore says that, in his own peculiar way, he’s carrying on the work of Mother Teresa. “She was trying to spread the word among the poor,” he said, “and I’m trying to spread it among the rich.” He isn’t getting many converts. Moore’s one-man crusade to bring a social conscience to corporate America remains a quixotic endeavor. In his first film, “Roger and Me,” he pursued—with hilarious futility—General Motors chairman Roger Smith, the executive who presided over the firm as it closed factories in Michigan and opened them in Mexico. “The Big One” takes Moore and his gripe about exported jobs to the executive suite of Nike Inc., where he meets with company chairman Phil Knight, and pesters him about Nike and its practice of paying Indonesian workers 40 cents an hour to make the firm’s $100 sneakers. Knight consents to an interview, aware, and apparently unconcerned, that Moore intends to embarrass him. “He knew who I was, my history. He invited me out there. He invited me with the cameras,” Moore said. “And here’s what’s weird. After going through the first grilling, he lets me back in three months later.” During the first interview, Knight tells Moore that Nike doesn’t make shoes in America because Americans don’t want to make shoes. So Moore makes a proposition: If the filmmaker finds American workers eager to make shoes, Knight will promise to hire them. Knight agrees, and of course, Moore promptly returns with a handful of affidavits signed by would-be shoemakers. Knight squirms like a snake in a snare. “I couldn’t believe he let me back in there,” Moore said, laughing. Of course, Knight backed off his promise. Nike didn’t hire any American workers. In fact, the company recently admitted it would
have to lay off more than 1,000 white-collar employees in this country. Moore said he could see that coming. “I told Knight that his whole company was a house of cards, and it Moore was going to come tumbling down. The arrogance of his position and philosophy is that it’s OK for his company to go overseas and make shoes for 40 cents. For that economic plan to work, other businessmen have to stay in America and pay workers $10 to $20 an hour, or there won’t be any market for Nike and its $150 shoes,” Moore said. His simplified economics probably wouldn’t withstand the scrutiny of academia. But the filmmaker’s ideas are not academic, they’re emotional—forged on the streets of his home town of Flint, Mich., a city devastated when automakers closed factories there. Where free traders see a long-term, big-picture scenario about a global wage equilibrium, Moore sees the immediate and painful human cost of dead jobs and dying cities. In “The Big One,” he leads up to his encounter with Knight by visiting a dozen such towns and cities across America. Moore said he likes to remind people that, despite the rosy economic numbers printed daily in the Wall Street Journal, many people in this country are suffering. “Just ask Nike. They’re laying off 1,000 people. They say it’s because kids have switched to hiking boots, but I don’t buy that. I think there are fewer and fewer people in this country who can afford to pay $150 for shoes,” he said. “Like the guy at Boeing who used to make $20 an hour building helicopters, and now makes $20,000 a year managing the Taco Bell on I-95. “The Bill Clinton statistics still show that guy as employed, but he ain’t wearin’ $150 shoes.”