News
Friday, Feb. 13, 2009
5A
Professors get to use self-authored textbooks • University officials say royalties do not create conflict ALEX LYNN The Oklahoma Daily Textbooks are usually written by professors, for professors, but when a professor decides to require his or her own book for class, policies are in place to assure students are not taken advantage of. Nancy Mergler, vice president and provost, cited the faculty handbook’s policy that states faculty can receive royalties for textbooks assigned in their own classes as long as any compensation is disclosed in advance. She said as long as they meet certain ethics criteria and pass an administrative review there is no conflict of interest. International and area studies director Robert Cox said university-wide procedures provide some oversight to what textbooks and materials professors use. “[Administrators] review the cost of the book,” Cox said. “It has to be below a certain threshold.” Cox said the threshold is different for each college and department.
“Our annual review process would also catch anything egregious,” he said. Cox said there are no routine checks to make sure the least expensive textbook is being used for each class, whether a instructor wrote it or not. Cox said the responsibility to use the least expensive and most relevant textbook is up to the professor.
What conflict?
own stuff, do so because I believe it’s the best thing out on the subject.” Fishel said he keeps his share of the royalties from the sales of his book. He said it amounts to a few hundred dollars a year. His co-author also receives a share of the royalties. “Using one’s own stuff is not a conflict of interest, provided that it is appropriate to the course and reasonably up to date,” Fishel said. Erin Murphy, advertising senior, said she does not think it is wrong for a professor to receive money from a required textbook they wrote. “I’m okay with that as long as I don’t feel like I’m getting ripped off,” Murphy said. “They put in a lot of time and hard work to get a book published.” Jennifer Harrison, international and area studies and Spanish sophomore said she enjoys using books written by her professors because they guide her through their course more than another author’s would. “I would only see it as wrong if the professor was assigning an inferior text simply because he or she wrote it,” Murphy said.
Sociology professor Robert Franzese said he assigns his own textbook because the royalties he receives from OU students is negligible. “With the three editions of the Youth Gangs book [that I co-authored], we made very little money. So money is not the incentive. I don’t feel like it’s a conflict of interest because the most I can make is 10 percent,” he said. “I felt I could write as good as any other book I’d use. I feel really comfortable with it. It’s exciting to use your own book in class.” John Fishel is an international and area studies professor who requires his book, “Uncomfortable Wars Revisited,” in two of his classes. “My books are the result of research over more than 25 years, and they were Creative solutions written as scholarly contriEven with the policies in butions to my field,” Fishel place to protect students’ said. “I, and I assume my interests, some professors colleagues who use their get creative to go above and
beyond the policy prescriptions. Jim Avery requires his own textbook, “Advertising Campaign Planning,” for his advertising capstone class. “Every penny I earn on the sale of the book from students in my class I give to the dean of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication,” Avery said. Dean Joe Foote then gives the money to the OU Foundation to be donated to the university. Avery said the amount is about $50 per semester. “It’s unethical for me to make money from my students,” Avery said. Avery said he uses his textbook because no better one is available. Marielle Hoefnagels is a biology professor currently on hiatus. She required her own textbook for biology classes she taught, and a textbook committee also selected it for use in a zoology class. “When I get royalties from the OU sales, it will go to a textbook scholarship,” Hoefnagles said. Hoefnagels said by donating the money back to OU, she is removing any percieved conflict of inerest. Hoefnagels said she decided creating the scholarship was the “right thing to do.” The scholarship Amy Frost/The Daily has not been set up yet, Robert Franzese, professor of sociology, talks with some of his students after his Juvenile Justice because Hoefnagels has not yet received any royalties class Wednesday. For his Sociology of Deviance class that he also teaches this semester he uses his own textbook. from her book.
Congress delays mandatory digital conversion • Most stations still opting to switch sooner S ANDRA KUNZWEILER The Oklahoma Daily Despite Congress’s recent approval to extend the digital
OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCURACY The Daily has a long-standing commitment to serve readers by providing accurate coverage and analysis. Errors are corrected as they are identified. Readers should bring
conversion deadline to June 12, most local television stations plan to adhere to the original deadline and convert to digital at 1 p.m., Feb. 17. The United States Congress approved the bill Wednesday. KWTV-9, KOKH-25, KOCB34, and KAUT-43 will make the digital switch Feb. 17. KSBI52, KOCO-5, AND OETA-13 will also go digital, but keep their
errors to the attention of the editorial board for further investigation.
ERROR SUBMISSIONS
ALPHA SIGMA KAPPA Alpha Sigma Kappa is hosting a tea party at 5:30 a.m. in Felgar Hall. CAREER SERVICES Career Services will host an interviewing workshop at 10 a.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. UNION PROGRAMMING BOARD The Union Programming Board will provide free chocolate and chocolate crafts at 8 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. OU LAB THEATRE The OU Lab Theatre will present “Anna in the Tropics” at 8 p.m. in Old Science Hall.
OU MEN’S BASKETBALL The OU men’s basketball team will play Texas Tech at 12:30 p.m. in the Lloyd Noble Center. OU LAB THEATRE The OU Lab Theatre will present “Anna in the Tropics” at 8 p.m. in the Old Science Hall. SCHOOL OF MUSIC The OU School of Music students will perform at 8 p.m. in the Reynolds Performing Arts Center.
SUNDAY SCHOOL OF MUSIC The OU School of Music will present the Sutton Concert Series at 3 p.m. in Catlett Music Center. OU LAB THEATRE
SATURDAY
The OU Lab Theatre will present “Anna in the Tropics” at 8 p.m. in the Old Science Hall.
POLICE REPORTS
DOMESTIC ABUSE
Names are compiled from the Norman Police Department and OUPD. The reports serve as a record of arrests, not convictions. Those listed are innocent until proven guilty.
Christopher Don Davis, 50, 2510 W Brooks St., Tuesday
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE Jamie Renee Holley, 22, Nebraska Street, Wednesday
DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED Robert Brett Taylor, 49, East Alameda Street, Wednesday
DISTURBING THE PEACE Donald Wayne Stephenson, 20, 2021 East Alameda St., Feb. 6
PUBLIC INTOXICATION Timothy Idell, 29, Shiloh Drive, Tuesday
PETTY LARCENY
Carl Owen Cabbiness, 43, 2733 Walnut Road, Tuesday Chad Allen Istook, 32, West Robinson Street, Wednesday
Cassandra Mare Mask, 21, 333 North Interstate Drive East, Tuesday Jessika Renea Reyes, 20, 333 North Interstate Drive East, Tuesday
COUNTY WARRANT
POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA
MUNICIPAL WARRANT
Leah Rochell Nicholson, 45, West Main Street, Wednesday
in the Oklahoma City area are ready for the digital conversion, leaving the remaining three percent, or 20,000 homes, unprepared. Brady Bruce, general manager of KSBI-52, said KSBI-52 will withhold from complete digital conversion on Feb. 17 because of lawmaker requests and people’s need to prepare. A deadline delay is necessary for the viewers who are still using analog signal, especially during storm season, he said. Brent Hensley, general manager of KOCO-5, said his station
is taking a similar approach to Bruce’s. “With the recent tornados, it could have been disastrous if people weren’t completely ready,” Hensley said. The date extension will provide viewers added time to get converter boxes, new televisions, or subscribe to cable or satellite services, he said. OETA-13 will switch to digital with its four main transmitters, but will keep analog on 13 transmitters until late summer or early fall for those in more rural areas. “The reason we are mov-
ing forward is because we are tightly budgeted, and for technical reasons,” said Ashley Barcum, public information manager at OETA. Julie Cameron, KWTV-9 director of engineering, said her station was one of 368 stations in the country that applied for authorization to turn off analog signals. KWTV9 was one of 123 stations that were granted it, she said. “We are turning off signal because there were a lot of steps we had to take that had already been set in motion,” Cameron said.
e-mail: dailynews@ou.edu phone: 325-3666
CAMPUS NOTES TODAY
analog transmitters running until a later date. KFOR-4 will not switch on Feb. 17, but plans to before the Congressional deadline. “Congress has told us the past two years that this was going to happen,” said Joe Rossi, general manager of KOKH-25 and KOCB-34 in Oklahoma City. “We’ve been instructed by federal guidelines, and we’re sticking to it.” Rossi said FOX and CW viewers are getting tired of conversion advertisements. According to Nielsen Media Research, 97 percent of homes
Marshall Trevor Smith, 19, 2400 West Lindsey St., Wednesday
New art project provides thrifty entertainment • CART trolley service visits local art museums JAMIE BIRDWELL The Oklahoma Daily Norman’s newest artistic experience, the Second Friday Circuit of Art, begins tonight at 6 in downtown Norman and will travel through Campus Corner. The Norman Arts Council and the Cleveland Area Rapid
Transit have teamed up to create a monthly event where citizens can ride CART trolleys to different art exhibits in downtown Norman and Campus Corner, said Kris Glenn, CART spokesman. CART trolleys will travel to 15 art stops, said Rick Fry, Norman Arts Council executive director. Entire evening passes will be sold for $2 in the parking lot of Copelin’s Office Center, he said. Without a pass, individual stops are 50 cents, Fry said. The idea began in a Norman Arts Council committee meeting last August, Fry said. “The Paseo district in
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Oklahoma City has an arts walk every first Friday of the month,” Fry said. “We didn’t want to copy so we took the second Friday.” The idea is to connect the downtown Norman art centers to the Campus Corner art centers, Fry said. “We loved the idea of connecting with the Norman community in a larger way,” said Michael Bendure, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art public relations officer. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art will have live music from the OU School of Music, handmade valentines and three short films from the Dead Center
Film Festival in Oklahoma City, Bendure said. “Fred Jones was a key component in putting this together,” Fry said. “They were so excited that they changed their calendar year to have second Fridays free.” The goal is to make second Friday Circuit of Art a permanent staple in the Norman community, Fry said. “You can measure a town’s vibrancy with how active their arts are,” he said. Boarding will begin at 6 p.m. in front of Copelin’s Office Center at 425 W. Main St. The trolley will run until midnight.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC ACCESS During the Regular Meeting Of
The University of Oklahoma
PUBLICATIONS BOARD 2:00-3:00 p.m. TODAY Copeland Hall, Room 146 Students, staff, faculty and others in the community are invited to express their views concerning The Oklahoma Daily or Sooner yearbook to the Publications Board.