University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 20, 2002 Page: 2 of 6
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University Press • Wednesday, November 20, 2002 • Page 2
Internships-
Continued from page 1
and alumni on how best to improve the way
that Lamar prepares its students for a pro-
ductive future.
Paul Corder, professor of mechanical
engineering, said he asked one engineering
company why they actively seek out Lamar
graduates.
“Because Lamar produces a good basic
engineering graduate,” he said, summarizing
the response.
Lamar provides students with a firm
foundation, several faculty said.
“You have all the tools in your tool kit,”
Corder said.
The problem with providing narrow-
focused classes in political science, Bruce
Drury, professor of political science, said, “Is
that it is more important for students
to...grasp the grand concept. Studies show
that people change careers an average of
five times.... (We want to) prepare students
for a broad range of job opportunities.”
It would appear that the broadness of
Lamar’s undergraduate degree plans could
actually be the strength for its program.
The faculty members that were inter-
viewed unanimously supported and encour-
aged the idea of internships and co-ops. In
fact, three departments in three colleges
interviewed award credit hours to students
who participate in internships. These hours,
however, do not contribute to the degree
plan.
For political science, Drury said, “It is
difficult to anticipate the type of internship
needed.” He said he is concerned that “it
might be unfair to working students (in the
political science department) to require a
possibly unpaid internship.”
Drury says he agrees that students need
guidance in this area, and that internships
are beneficial to their future career.
Jim Thomas, director of recruiting and
cooperative education and associate profes-
sor in industrial and mechanical engineer-
ing, thought about the question of mandat-
ing intemships/co-ops for all branches of
engineering.
“Would I like to see that? Well— yes,”
he said.
Corder said, “Conceptually, it’s a good
idea.”
Lynn Godkin, professor and chair for
the department of management and mar-
keting, said that internships “make students
more confident and socialized.”
All people interviewed are members of
the Faculty Advising Council. Although the
council’s attitude is positive, it is question-
able as to why internships/co-ops have not
already been incorporated into the degree
plan. The consensus among those inter-
viewed was that there was a lack of time and
money.
As it stands, the college of engineering
is the only one on campus that has staff offi-
cially dedicated to finding intemships/co-
ops for students. In all other departments,
faculty take time out of their already busy
schedules to assist students.
The biggest problem would be “finding
a faculty member who has time, or hiring
someone to do that specifically,” Drury said.
Even in engineering, Thomas said, “It
would require a huge increase in staff.”
All fingers point to the hiring of addi-
tional people for the sole purpose of helping
students find opportunities for experience in
their fields.
Until such time this is possible, Godkin
says, “students need to show up (to career
fairs),” because a good turnout will bring
more interested companies.
“Keep a close relationship with your
department and student organizations,” he
said.
Corder said, “Companies look at three
things: grades, leadership, and experience.”
“The experience is what’s going to get
them the job,” Thomas said.
HOSpitality-
Confinued from page 1
Survey-
Continued from page 1
classroom, he said.
Through the IFP, students are
matched up with local families to
celebrate American holidays and
learn about American culture
while sharing their own cultures
with the host families.
“As adviser to six student
organizations,” Doiron said, “I
know Lamar offers more than
textbook knowledge. Through
social service organizations, our
international students are able to
interact with Americans in ways
that promote intercultural under-
standing. For foreign students,
interacting one-on-one with
Americans is more than a treat; it
is an educational experience that
can’t come from a book.”
“The goal of IFP,” he said, “is
to promote the exchange of ideas
between international students
and the local community. The IFP
will accomplish this through three
plans: the Business Experience
Plan, the Community/Educational
Organization Service Plan, and
the Family Friends Plan.”
“This holiday season,” he
said, “share a moment of your
family’s happiness and bring
America into joyous focus for our
international students, no matter
how you celebrate: Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah,
Ramadan, or New Year’s Eve. ’Tis
the season to show the world, and
your own family, what peace on
earth really means.”
For more information, contact
Doiron at 880-8586.
world; but if you don’t have experience, you’re just
not worth as much,” Yelverton said.
“We don’t have a lot of hands-on experience
before we graduate,” Daspit said.
Therefore it would be beneficial if the curricu-
lum required political science majors to work with a
representative or a state senator to see what it’s
going to be like, he said.
“Maybe it’s a situation that students are having
to take this one class in a degree, and 90 percent of
the time they find that they don’t need that class at
all and it doesn’t help them,” Loukas said.
The SGA is also stressing the need to up-date
the student course catalog since there are a lot of
classes that aren’t being taught and are still listed in
the catalog, Daspit said.
“Students are the customers here, and we need
to get the best benefits out of the amount of money
we pay,” he said. “We want Lamar grads to be more
competitive and then ultimately give more money
back to the university later on.”
Quote of the Day
“Freedom is fragile and
must be protected. To sacri-
fice it, even as a temporary
measure, is to betray it.”
— Germaine Greer
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ment. Letters by the same writer on the same subject will not
be published. Poetry, reprints, anonymous letters and reli-
gious debates will not be published.
University Press Staff
©2002 University Press
NEWS
Editor...............................................Jenny Achilles
Managing Editor...............................Dennis Kutac
Sports Editor........................Christopher Williams
News Editor..........................................Greg Hayes
Features Editor..................................Julie Gipson
Photo Editor.......................................Andy Taylor
Photographer...........................................Shae Saur
Staff Writers................................Holly Westbrook,
Patrick Gurski, Ben DuBose, Catrin Joyce,
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Advertising Assistant...................Chrisa Ponthieu
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Director..........................................................Howard Perkins
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Advertising Manager........................................Linda Barrett
Spirit--
Continued from page 1
bid on the team to participate
nationally, she said. The team will
then get a chance to perform at the
National Dance Team Champion-
ships, usually televised on ESPN.
“However, we have not been
able to go,” she said. “It’s really
expensive.
“I would need to hire another
choreographer to assist me, which
would be expensive and costumes
would be expensive,” she said.
Another thing that keeps the
girls from going to nationals is the
fact that the team only rehearses
twice a week, she said.
“Some of the these kids are
commuter students who work 20 to
40 hours a week, go to school full-
time and try to be on the dance
team,” she said.
To participate in something as
big as the nationals, the team will
have to practice five or six days a
week like most other university
dance teams, she said.
It is hard because we know that
we are just as good as any other
team, and we should be competing
on TV, she said.
“A lot of our kids need to work.
I want them to be able to have the
college experience and have a job, to
be able to pay for school but also
participate in extracurricular things,”
Griner said.
The team also, of course, can be
seen at every home basketball game,
cheering on the sidelines and danc-
ing at half-time.
In the spring, the girls work on
conditioning, charity work and
recruiting.
This year the team has 15 mem-
bers with three understudy positions.
“We have nine new members,
which is a significant number of new
girls,” Griner said.
At try-outs, held in April or May,
Griner has between 50 and 75 girls
participate.
The girls have to be narrowed
down to just a few. Sometimes they
are narrowed down to only four,
depending on how many openings
are available, she said.
More important than just being
able to dance, Griner looks at aca-
demic success, too.
“Most of our girls that we
choose have very high GPAs coming
out of high school.
“That’s really important to me,”
she said. “It should be academics
first.”
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Poverty-
Continued from page 1
morning, no one will know.
From poverty and neglect
comes disgrace. We may not
have a lot, but we are always
able to put food on the
table.’”
Birdwell said that
although the fruits and veg-
etables had their seasons of
scarcity, and hunting and fish-
ing did not always yield meat
for the table, most of the time
“they were as rich in food as
they were poor in money.”
Birdwell said that things
are different now because the
people of Chunox have a road
going into their village and
most families have televisions.
“Goods from outside now
come in greater volume to
Chunox,” she said. “There are
lots of cheap imports from
China and from Central
America, but the biggest mar-
ket is in second-hand goods,
such as clothing from the
United States.”
Birdwell said that she
wondered what the people of
Chunox had done to make
money since her first trip
there in the 1970s, and she
found out that they had con-
tinued farming — but some-
thing other than fruits and
vegetables.
“The first thing that
linked them in any significant
way as contributors to the
world economy was marijua-
na production,” she said.
Birdwell said that mari-
juana was a big cash crop for
the people of Chunox, some-
times bringing in $50,000 to
$80,000 in Belizian money —
until the helicopters came.
“In 1983, the Belizian
government, with support
from the United States of
America’s War on Drugs, sent
helicopters over Chunox,” she
said.
After the fields were
sprayed, the Chunox people
lost their cash crop — along
with other things.
“They would come back
every year and spray at least
once until about 1991,”
Birdwell said. “People lost
everything they had. Not just
their cash crop, but food crops
as well. Some Chunox men
had to hire out as laborers to
survive their loss.”
Farmers began planting
new crops implemented by
the Belizian government,
Birdwell said, like hybrid
corn, with seed loaned to
them by the government.
“When it came down to
harvest, their enthusiasm
waned,” she said. “Husks of
the hybrid corn permitted
moisture and insects to enter
the ear and damage the corn.”
Birdwell said that the
government only tends to
what the rich want done.
“What can the poor peo-
ple do?”she asked. “They are
almost invisible economically.
They just feed their families,
build their houses and are not
even very effective con-
sumers.”
In 1976, Birdwell said
that one of the Chunox peo-
ple asked her if there was any
remedy for the poor.
“The remedies for pover-
ty that we have sent your way
do not seem to work out so
well,” she replied. “Maybe if
we stop thinking that every-
one everywhere has to be a
player in this global economy
and that feeding your own
family is an important enough
contribution then maybe, just
maybe, things can get better
for all of us.
“Maybe the solution is
not in our hands,” she said.
“Maybe it is in our heads.”
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Achilles, Jenny. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 20, 2002, newspaper, November 20, 2002; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500930/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.