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New student club brings Hogwarts magic to campus After being sorted into houses, Daily staff writers Carmen Forman (left) and Ryan Gerbosi (right) give their first-person accounts of life as non-Muggles

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Thursday, October 21, 2010

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Integrity Council petitions for code reform Group hopes to restructure program from punitive punishments to rehabilitative discipline system DHARA SHETH The Oklahoma Daily

The Integrity Council is one step closer to drafting new policy reform concerning academic misconduct on campus. A resolution to revise the Integrity Council’s Academic Misconduct Code was passed unanimously Tuesday night

by the UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress. The resolution, introduced by Brett St i d ha m, C o n g re s s c ha i r ma n a n d Integrity Council member, calls for Congress to encourage Provost Nancy Mergler and OU President David Boren to draft a reformed version of the academic misconduct policy on campus. “All students have a vested interest in academic integrity, so let’s put adequate safeguards in place while we protect students’ rights,” said Stidham, human

resources management senior. The new system provides for equal faculty and student involvement to create a more community concept, said Breea Bacon, Academic Integrity Systems assistant director. This semester, the Integrity Council plans to revise the Academic Misconduct Code to create a more student-led system and switch from a punitive system for SEE INTEGRITY PAGE 2

BEAUTIFICATION | FALL FLOWERS BLOOM ON SOUTH OVAL

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JALL COWASJI/THE DAILY

UOSA

Parking appeals board changes approved Congress expands board membership to nine, deletes clause about meeting times KATHLEEN EVANS The Oklahoma Daily

OU’s Provost Advisory Committee on Women’s Issues offers advice and connects faculty, 31 percent are women

DHARA SHETH

CHASE COOK

Some say the little things are what matters. Rebecca Cruise, an adjunct professor for the School of International and Area Studies, is living proof. Cruise was recently named a board member for the Vilakazi Foundation, an organization that works to aid povertystricken children in South Africa. “Rebecca has taught school and just got back from a trip to Italy with OU and they helped some people on the last day of the trip and she realized every little bit helps,” said Leigh Jacobs, president and Rebecca Cruise founder of the Vilakazi Foundation. A 2007 trip to South Africa planted the idea of this foundation in the minds of Jacobs and his wife, Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs. This was the first time Carrie, who is from the U.S., had ever witnessed such poverty. Leigh, a South Africa native, had grown up among it and was accustomed to their standards of living. After the birth of their daughter in 2009, Leigh and Carrie were inspired to help children in South Africa by providing them with necessities that promoted their health and education. Cruise was an active member of the foundation before becoming a director. She volunteered at various events and tried to increase awareness and membership to the foundation. Cruise teaches at OU and said she is always telling her students to be aware about what is going on in the world and encouraging them to get involved. “I decided if I was going to talk to the talk I needed to walk the walk,” Cruise said.

After eight weeks of classes, UOSA is on its way to putting the finishing steps on the student parking appeals process and the panel that oversees it. Undergraduate Student Congress voted unanimously Tuesday to approve legislation revising the structure of the Parking Appeals Board. Originally, the board was composed of six members, two teams of three, according to the Code Annotated. One team met in the morning, and one team met in the afternoon to hear student parking appeals. The members of the board are usually appointed at the end of the spring semester, but appointment was delayed because of run-off presidential election. UOSA delayed appointment of members for a few more weeks of class, leaving at least 60 backed-up appeals, according to The Daily archives. It wasn’t until Sept. 19 that Graduate Student Senate approved members and Sept. 28 for Congress. At those times, it was still just six members because legislation to expand the number of members was not yet finalized. The Senate passed one version of legislation Sept. 26, calling for one chief justice and eight other justices selected by the chief justice. However, Congress never voted on this legislation and instead revised it to Tuesday’s version. Tuesday’s legislation calls for a change in name to the Student Parking Appeals Court and expands membership to nine members, all of which are appointed by the UOSA president. The legislation also deletes the clause about meeting times. “We [wanted] that to be stricken so they can meet whenever is best available for them,” said Jason Robison, author of this legislation. “It’s best if it’s up to their own discretion. However, bylaws do have to be published so we know the inner workings, so we know how they function internally.” One person heavily involved in the process was Alexandra

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NEIL MCGLOHON/THE DAILY

Chrysanthemums are in full bloom Wednesday afternoon on the South Oval. The flowers painting red, yellow, and purple were accented with hedges spelling “OU” and “Oklahoma Sooners.” The replanting of the flowers was part of the annual South Oval chrysanthemum beautification.

WOMEN’S ISSUES

VOLUNTEERISM

Committee advises, Professor provides helps network necessities overseas female professors Rebecca Cruise works with impoverished children in South Africa

The Oklahoma Daily

Out of all 983 professors on OU’s November 2009 payroll, only 31 percent were women. OU’s Provost Advisory Committee on Women’s Issues aims to close that gap by beginning discussion, offering advice and connecting faculty. Nancy Mergler, provost and vice president, said the under representation of women is a national trend women face. “Everybody hopes for a moment in the future when all of our human differences can be celebrated, but won’t make a difference in how effective we are in our jobs,” she said. “But, we may not be there yet.” Megan Elwood Madden, assistant professor of geochemistry, has been in the committee only a month, but she feels it benefits both faculty and students. “We provide a resource for female faculty and administrators on campus that hopefully improves their job satisfaction,” Madden said by e-mail. “Therefore, [this] helps the university attract and retain outstanding faculty and administrators from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.” During spring 2010, Jeni Hart, University of Missouri’s associate professor on educational leadership and policy analysis, came to OU and discussed gender differences and how they affected stress levels. “It’s more of a social engagement with a focus on exchanging information,” Smith said. Elwood Madden, assistant professor of geology and geophysics, attended these events before she was selected to be on the committee. “I met colleagues who shared similar research, teaching and personal interests,” Madden said by e-mail. “[This] led to helpful discussions and in one case a collaborative research project.” Mergler said networking is the committee’s focus. She said it’s important because of the lack of women representation, especially in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics departments. The committee holds two events a year. Plans are not finalized for the fall event.

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The Oklahoma Daily

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