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November 12,1996
Volume 19, Number 25
NOV I 2 /996
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UTSA to offer new graduate degrees
By Carlos Durand
Staff Writer
Beginning next year. UTSA will
Jeffrey Hailey, associate professor, Division of Social and Policy Sciences
implement graduate degree program.s in stKiology and political science. TTie announcement comes following final approval carl ier this month by thc Texa.s Higher EiducalionCcKirdinating Board. The master"s programs wiII be thc only ones offered in the region by a public university.
"UTSA continues to be one of the slate's fastest-growing public univcr¬ silies.'" said Samuel Kirkpalrick thc university president. "Creation of jiradualc degree programs in political science and sociology gives our under¬
graduate students more options for continuing their educations at UTSA and will provide opportunities for stu¬ dents, as well."
UTSA aimed for masters and doc¬ toral levels in the Held. Formore than four years two different committees coordinated efforts which included feedback from faculty members, out¬ side evaluators, and participation by the division dean and the provost of¬ fice. TTie committees were chaired by Dr. Stephen Amberg for the M.S. in political science and by Dr. Jeffrey Hailey for the M.S. in sociology.
The commitlee"s ^"""™''""'''"™'^^ report in¬ cluded sur¬ veys of area employers verifying the existence ofa job market in the area and a strong need for degreed ""'^'^''^'^™"~~^ professionals in both disciplines.
"Becau.se of its unique characteris¬ tics San Anionio provides a laboratory fqr research in terms of location and resources" said Dr Jeffrey Hailey. graduale adviser in sociology.
In San Anionio therc is a lack of training in human .services and research. Private industries and governmental agencies look for social research pro¬ fessionals from out oflhc area or sim¬ ply choose to train Ihcii personnel within, he said.
"San Antonio, becau.se of its par¬ ticular location in South Texas, is an ideal place for border and Mexican- American studies. Also, the presence ofthe UT Science and Health division and five military bases provide further opportunities to develop medical-.so- ciology and human services research," added Hailey.
"UTSA students are in an ideal place to do border studies or Mexican-Ameri¬ can studies. We also have social ser¬ vice and health organizations that re¬ quire skills in medical sociology and gerontology.'" said Hailey.
"Creation of graduate degree programs Jn political science and sociology gives our under¬ graduate students more options for continuing their educations at UTSA and will provide opportunities for students, as well." -Dr. Sam Kirkpatrick, UTSA President
Courses for the M.S. in scK'iology will be offered next spring semester. The M.S. degree is a .''6 hours program starting with SOC. 5013 Advanced Conceptualization and Measurement, and SOC. 522.^ Mexican-Americans: Communiiy. Culture and Class. Also summer courses will bc offered and a full program will be available by fall 1997.
"Thc M.S. in political science will provide advanced training for luriher
understanding ofthe business-govern¬ ment relations not even in the U.S. bul also in other parts of the globe" com¬ mented Dr. Amberg, while explaining the importance and the leadership of American businesses in an inteaelated global economy.
The M.S. in political science will feature concentration areas in political communication and poli tical economy. "TTie political science program will provide enough insights for profes¬ sionals lo work in the private sector where larger corporations usually have a full time staff working with govem¬ ment relations, or in the ^^""^"""^ public field who need expertise in political campaigns and mass communication. Profes¬ sionals are also required for local, state and na¬ tion wide for positions in the public service," Dr. Amberg said.   Both chairmen con¬ firmed that each masters degree program will prepare students lo pursue further education such as doctorate level in any school in the U.S.
The masters programs will accept a total of 15 students the first semester and sections will be open beginning next year.
Siudents interested in the programs musl contact the office of admissions and registrar or for lurther details with the division of social and policy sci¬ ences.
Roadrunners in the running...
Tobi Irish Anti Carla Dewey celebrate UTSA's November nth win over the McNeese State Cowgirls' volleyball team In the convocation center. Their victory has guaranteed them a seed conference tournament.(see story pg.8)
Government cracks down on national campus crime reporting
Gary Wright/The Paisano
At their Oct. 23 meeting, student government representatives discussed the 1 percent food price increase and the results of recent student govemment elections. Currently, the position of junior representative is open.
Student government discusses campus issues
By Jennifer Caliendo
News Editor
Rumors that food prices would in¬ crease six percent prompted Sludeni Government to meet with ARA food
Rob Kllton, stuflent goveminent president
service representatives. Rob Killen reponed at Student Govemment's weekly meeting. Oct. 23.
Killen said student govemment met with Joe Alcala, ARA food service
director, explained that prices would increase only one percent to reflect the recent 12 percent minimum wage in¬ crease. David Larson, vice presideni for business affairs, approved the in¬ crease.
In other business, two student gov¬ emment members who did not attend the meeting, Mariano Aguilar and Karen Flowers resigned from their positions. Ajunior representative po¬ sition is now available for students wanting to mn. To be eligible, candi¬ dates must have between 60 and 89 hours, have and maintain at leasl a 2.25 GPA. pul in three office hours per week, and be able to attend weekly meetings al noon on Wednesdays.
Killen said that members of student govemment who do not fulfill their duties including attending all meetings and holding office hours three hours per week can be dismissed under Ihe ' Student Govemment constitution but member are usually given one waming rather lhan a dismissal.
Siudent govemment elected their new Parliantentarian on Wed.. Nov. 6. Jennifer KrUsinsky. former student
Continued on page 3.
By Sunni DeNicoia College Press Service
When Margaret Jakobson was a Moorhead College State University in Minnesota, she learned how close crime could strike when a fellow debate team member confided to her that she had been raped during her first year on campus.
Later, a second teammate revealed that she. too. had been sexually as¬ saulted while at Moorhead. Shocked, Jakobson decided to look into campus reports on crime. Thai's when .she dis¬ covered the crime statistics that her campus issued didn't match up with the stories she had been told, she said. In fact, the numbers didn't add up at all. Jakobson asserted.
"I col lected these [ reports 1 for years, and it got so bad that yearly numbers side-by-side don'I match. They go from showing seven lo four aggravated as¬ saults (for the same year], depending on which report you look at.'" said Jakobson. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that a number seven and a number four are not the same."
Jakobson. who attended Moorhead from 1989 to 1992, was one of many people to bring her complaints aboul campus crime reponing to Congress this summer. In her testfmony, Jakobson asked govemment officials to levy stiff penalities against Moorhead. "If you even punish one school official for doing this, you will see such a ripple throughout the enlire educational industry that this won'l keep going on. We want it to be done."
Jakobson is not alone in her teel- ings. V; tim-advocate organizations, students, parents and legislators are frustrated by what they see as a failure of institutions of higher education lo take the Campus Security Act seri¬ ously. Some allege universities are deliberately covering upthesenumbers in order to paint a rosier picture to potential studenis and alumni.
"The Campus Security Act of 1990 is not working," said Mark Goodman,
executive director ofthe Student Press Law Center. In a public statement. Goodman said that Congress enacted this law "based on two presumptions: 1) that most schools would in fact comply with its requirements.. .and 2) that the U.S. Department of Education [DOE] would enforce the law against those schools that did not comply. Neither of those presumptions has proven accurate."
The 1990 Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act required that every college and university receiving federal funding publish campus crime statistics. This includes information aboul murders, sex offenses, aggra¬ vated assaults, robberies and burglar¬ ies. The act was brought about by the lobbying efforts of the Clary family, whose daughter. Jeanne Anne, was raped and murdered in 1986 at Lehigh University. The Clerys said they felt the reporting of her death was negli¬ gent and since founded Security on Campus, Inc., which serves as a watch¬ dog over campus safety issues.
While auditors do check that crime information is being made public, the DOE does not check the accuracy of these annual report figures unless a formal complaint is filed.
"As far as I know, the DOE has not been hovering around very closely moniioring Ihis stuff," says John Sloan III, a criminologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Essentially Congress passed this law and gave the responsibility for monitoring it to the DOE, which didn't have Ihe personnel or expertise to do so. There was not a bureaucracy established to really fol¬ low up closely on what is supposed to be done. Until that happens there are still going lo be problems."
This fall, the federal govemment sent a waming to colleges aboul re¬ porting campus crime statistics—ac¬ curately issue this information or risk your federal funding. The House of Representatives relayed this message through a resolution demanding the DOE ensure that colleges obey the Car.ipus Security Act.
Last monlh. for the firsl lime in thc law's six-year history, thc DOE cited a universiiy for noncompliance. .\s ihc result ofa 1995 complaint. olTKials al Moorhead State were charged with failure to compile accurate annual crime statistics. DOE invesiigaiors found thai llie university's published crime statistics did not match thc num¬ ber of crimes reported to campus ofTi¬ cials. According lo invesiigaiors. Moorhead instead u.sed esiimales pro¬ vided by thc local police deparlmeni.
The investigation further revealed the universiiy omitted data on crimes occurring on off-campus school prop¬ erty as well as any informaiion related to hale crimes. The school also did not notify students when the annual report was available.
These violations were brought lo the attention oflhc DOE b\ Jakobson. who says she is fruslralcd h\ ihc schools handling of its reports "''rhcsc crimes arc not minor slalistical infrac¬ tions. Ihesc are peoples li\cs." she said in her testimony before House representatives.
"In February 1995. a sludeni re¬ ported a facully member to univcrsil) officials for sexually assaulting her on a .school-sponsored trip. She was not listed on thc monlhly (crime reports) or on their new yearly either." said Jakobsen. "Another siudent in Sep¬ tember "95 reported another facully member for sexually assaulting her. It was in the campus newspaper, w as not in monlhly. bul was in yearly. The monthlies do not match up with year- lies as far as numeric totals reported.'"
Allhough Moorhead had responded lo her earlier complaints by agreeing to correct data errors from one year in the following year"s report, Jakobson felt this was insufficient because il lefi inaccurate information beii j. distrib¬ uted in the meantime.
Jakobson also is troubled by some ofthe crime classifications, which she feels downplay theirseverity. Shecites the case of the student who reported the faculty member for sexual assault "Moorhead said it was nonconsensual
sexual iniereourse. I'm sorr>. Icl -¦ eall ll whai It IS l( liii iKit consenting ;ind someone is h;i\ inj; se\ willi inc. then lis rape."
The mam problem with colleges compliance with thc Campus Seeurit\ Acl. according to Sloan and others, is Ihe inconsisienc\ in evactlv wh.it is being reported and how datii ;ire cnlh ered. "'"If acrime is reported tuc.inipus cops, okay: but il il is reported to a resident aide or ac:ideniK counselor...well, that's where there are gray areas '
Such IS the case tor the Universitv of Wisconsin-Whitewater, which has been in Ihe top 10 lor several vears in Ihe alcohol violation categorv V\all IMhrict. dirccloi o( I'W s Newv and Public Affairs s.ivs these higli luiiii- bers are actuallv the tesultol his c.iiii- pus being aggressive in reporting and prosecuting alcohol violations
"The wav in. which you report is vcrv imporlani." said I Ihrict "The nuniber mav ncil relleet |iievalence High numbers mav indicate a school is actuallv ore v igorous in prosecution, whereas schools showing low viola- Icirs mav bc more lax
"Forexample. it mav mean that lhe university police are aulhori/cd to w rile citations and make arrcsis. w hcreas on another campus, security can'i It de¬ pends on what kind of security is on campus Or it could be one school has 10.500 sludcnls compared againsi 40.(HX). making the numbers dispro¬ portionate."
While Fuller acknowledges there are some colleges that might be negli¬ gent, he feels mosl adminisu-ations are deeply concemed aboul protecting their studenis" safety. But often colleges are put in legally precarious situati^ .is.
"The expeclations on campuses are high. We often want the campus to be prepared to deal with issues that are technically crimes and yet no district attorney is going to touch it. If she was drunk and he was dmnk and nobody really knows what happened.. .ifthere
Continued on page 3.
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