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2010, 2011, 2012 SPJ Award-Winning Newspaper
Volume 98, Number 23
Thursday, November 14, 2013
www.marquettetribune.org
Students provide input for presidential search
Achievement gap a crucial issue in Wis. College of Education gearing program to fix state’s education woes By Jason Kurtyka
jason.kurtyka@marquette.edu
College of Education faculty and students recognize the growing trend of achievement gaps between students in Wisconsin and are working to find solutions through academic and field experience. The National Assessment of Educational Progress released its 2013 test scores for fourth- and eighth-graders, and Wisconsin students showed the largest achievement gap in the nation. About 6.5 percent of Wisconsin fourth- and eighth-graders took the NAEP, a standardized test on reading and math, earlier this year. Math scores for both grades were in the top one-third percentile nationally, while reading remained at the national average. However, the gap in test scores between black and white students in Wisconsin was larger than any other state. In addition, the gap
between fourth-grade white and Hispanic students in math was the biggest in the country. The test scores for black students reveal the impact of the disparity. Wisconsin reading scores for eighth-graders were the lowest of any state, and fourth grade reading scores were the second worst. Math scores did not fare much better. When combined, black fourthand eighth-graders in Wisconsin ranked 47th in the country. The scores show a strong correlation between the achievement gap and the socioeconomic status of students who earn low scores on standardized tests, said Mary Carlson, an instructor in the College of Education, in an email. “Poverty is an equal opportunity villain,” Carlson said. “It isn’t the poverty itself – it’s the risk conditions that poverty exposes kids to even before they are born, such as malnutrition, lack of healthcare, living in old housing stock that may have lead in the pipes or in the house paint, etc. But discrimination, both overt and covert, unfortunately, still plays a part. For instance, tests that are written in See Achievement, Page 4
Search committee says ‘no’ to MUSG Photo by Caroline Roers/caroline.roers@marquette.edu
27 students discussed a variety of issues at Wednesday’s presidential student input session hosted by MUSG.
University leaders to consider student input with new hire By Caroline Roers
caroline.roers@marquette.edu
Gender, religious affiliation and fundraising were a few topics discussed at the Marquette Student Government-hosted presidential student input session Wednesday. Kristina Ropella, executive associate dean in the College of Engineering, led the input session with Board of Trustee member Janis Orlowski and Stephanie Quade, dean of students in the Office of Student Development. Quade said the student input session is important because in the end, students are the customer for the search. “(Students) are the people that sit in the classroom and (students) are the ones that pay tuition,”
Quade said. “There was a reason you chose this institution, and we want to find someone who personifies those reasons. So I think student opinions on what they think pressing matters are and what they think we should be looking for are important.” The 27 students who attended the session were from all different colleges and class standing. Students were asked to share one characteristic they thought was most important. Some of the words included kind, driven, aware, diverse, empathetic, leadership and charismatic. One word that was repeated multiple times was “woman.” Gina DiVittorio, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, said Marquette was the first Catholic university to have co-education courses, and that we should keep with this tradition. “That is a Jesuit thing, but it is also a Marquette thing, so I think that going along with what is being
INDEX
CALENDAR...........................2 CLASSIFIEDS........................5 MARQUEE...................6
VIEWPOINTS..............8 SPORTS.......................10
resounded here, I think it would be a good step for us to take if we do have the opportunity to take and everything lines both on their behalf and our behalf,” DiVittorio said. “And I do think a woman might bring new characteristics to the role of the president.” Cormac Brown, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, agreed to an extent. “I think having a woman as president is great, but I think the values of the president are more important,” Brown said. “If a woman has the values, that would be great.” In addition to gender, another debate about the characteristics for the next president is whether or not the next president will be a layperson or a Jesuit. Orlowski said the bylaws were changed during the last presidential search to include lay candidates. Candidates, however, still have to be Catholic. See Forum, Page 2
Board of Trustees says students lack needed experience for search By Joe Kvartunas
joseph.kvartunas@marquette.edu
No students will be on the presidential search committee despite lobbying efforts by Marquette Student Government leaders. “I think symbolically it gives the appearance that the university isn’t listening to students’ input on this,” said Zach Bowman, MUSG executive vice president and junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. “While we have our listening session (Wednesday afternoon), I think everyone realizes that the real decision making will happen in that committee.” MUSG President Sam Schultz, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Bowman began trying to get a student presence on the search committee shortly after the Rev. Scott Pilarz suddenly left his position in September. The
pair held meetings with university leadership, including Charles Swoboda, the chairman of the Board of Trustees. Schultz said the board and MUSG disagreed about the “level of experience” students have to choose a president. Schultz and Bowman both still feel student opinion would be highly beneficial to the search committee. “We think students have the best pulse on campus in terms of what an effective president would look like in terms of how they interact with students,” Schultz said. “Obviously that isn’t the only part of a president’s job, but (we) thought that opinion is worthwhile enough to be part of the search committee.” Bowman said students would bring a unique perspective to the search committee because they have the most hands-on knowledge of how administration decisions affect the day-to-day lives of those on campus. He also said there is a faculty member on the stalled provost search committee who feels See MUSG, Page 4
NEWS
VIEWPOINTS
SPORTS
Sex offenders
Oliver
Killian
Almost 2,400 registered sex offenders in Milwaukee. PAGE 3
Millennials aren’t going to save the world, so stop asking. PAGE 9
Impacts of new NCAA rules are felt at MU and across the country. PAGE 12