Monday, April 28, 2014 by OU Daily

Sports: The softball team got it’s superstar back for its series this weekend (Pages 5)

Opinion: Alcohol education is important (Page 3)

L&A: This weekend Norman played host to musical acts from across the globe (Pages 34)

The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916

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M O N D A Y , A P R I L 2 8 , 2 0 14

END-OF-SEMESTER STRESS

REVIEW

Evaluation rates low, may prove unreliable

S ES

De-

R T S

As finals week approaches, OU finds ways to help you de-stress

Professors use students’ online, in class responses to hone classes

MICHELLE JOHNSTON Campus Reporter @alohamichelleee

MATT WOODS

Campus Reporter @matopher

Puppies and the Healthy Sooners Health Hut will be on campus this week to help students manage stress as they prepare for finals. Stress can affect students’ mental and physical health, said Nicole Kendrick, University College student programs specialist. “We want students to be well-equipped to face their finals and all of the academic challenges they have during finals week,” Kendrick said. Puppies will be on the South Oval from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, said Tyler Campbell, a student assistant for Healthy Sooners, which coordinated the event. “We thought having puppies would be a fun and

Last year, just more than half of OU students submitted online course evaluations, which affect faculty promotions and teaching methods. Last fall, students completed about 55 percent of possible evaluations to OU’s online eValuate system with similar spring numbers, senior technology architect Aaron Biggs said in an email. Hunter Heyck, associate professor and department of the history of science chairman, said evaluation responses are an important factor in faculty promotion, although he’s found it difficult to achieve response rates over 60 percent in his classes. Heyck said he’s seen rates in the College of Arts and Sciences ranging between 25 to 75 percent. Facing dwindling response rates, some faculty are left to ask if only unhappy students responded — or whether the evaluations were an accurate representation of their class at all. “We want very much to take student input into consideration in faculty tenure decisions,” Heyck said, “But if rates are low, you can’t use [evaluations] to determine careers because it’s an unreliable data source.” The university switched from paper forms to online evaluations across all colleges in 2010. When College of Arts and Sciences switched to eValuate in 2009, response rates dropped 6 percent, according to a university memo. While the university offers guidelines for instructors

SEE STRESS FREEPAGE 2

GO AND DO Stress Management Events Puppies on the south oval When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday Where: South Oval “Overcoming Procrastination” workshop When: 4 to 5 p.m., Monday Where: Wagner Hall, Room 245

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TONY RAGLE/THE DAILY

Source: Health Hut website and Student Success Series website

As the semester comes to a close, projects and papers begin to pile up. Keeping up with it all along with preparing for finals can be a very stressful ordeal.

SEE REVIEW PAGE 2

ACADEMICS

JOURNALISM

Grant to expand programs

Sooners’ achievments honored

Program in Judaic and Israel studies to gain new center

Media students win awards for work at The Daily, Routes ALEX NIBLETT

Assistant Campus Editor

STAFF REPORTS

OU will be offering more Judaic and Israel studies programs because of a recent grant from the Schusterman Family Foundation. The grant will promote the existing Schusterman P ro g ra m i n Ju d a i c a n d Israel Studies to a center housed in the history department. The center will include teaching and scholarship about Jewish history and culture, as well as modern Israel, according to a press release. The new center will expand undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. The grant will also fund public programming and outreach to raise awareness of Jewish studies and Israel, according to a press release. OU President David B oren w ill re commend the OU Board of Regents to name the center the Schusterman Center for Judaic and Israel Studies, a c c o rd i n g t o t h e p re s s release. The center will include three endowed positions, the Schusterman

WEATHER Mainly sunny. With isolated thunderstorms. High 76F. Winds WNW at 15 mph.

OU students and faculty were recognized this weekend by the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists Professional Chapter for their journalistic achievements. Winners received their awards at the chapter’s annual banquet Saturday evening at the Reed Conference Center in Midwest City. Winners included Karen Holp, KGOU Radio general manager and OU adju n c t t e a c h e r, O k l a h o ma Wat c h’s Warren Vieth, professional writing junior Blayklee Buchanan, journalism senior Megan Deaton, journalism junior Paighten Harkins, and more. Most of the student winners received awards for the work they had completed

TAYLOR BOLTON/THE DAILY

A grant for the Schusterman Program will create a center for the program inside OU’s history department. The program will include teaching and scholarship about Jewish history and culture, as well as modern Israel. Additionally, OU will establish two graduate fellowships and scholarships to study in Israel.

Chair for Israel Studies, the Schusterman/Josey Chair in Judaic Studies and the Schusterman. Josey Professorship of Jewish Intellectual History, according to a press release. In addition, OU will establish two graduate fellowships and scholarships to study in Israel, enhance the Hebrew Language Instructional Program and increase the amount of pertinent material materials in

Three students win Boren Award for International Study scholarship for upcoming study abroad trips Three OU students are the recipients of the Boren Award for International Study, which helps to fund study abroad trips. The award, sponsored by the National Security Education Program, was given to Jack Bergum, political science and international security studies sophomore, JoAnne Kosta, Arabic languages and literatures and Middle Eastern studies senior, and Daniel Glickstein, international security studies senior, according to a press release. The award, named for OU President David Boren, focuses on geographic areas, languages and fields of study critical to U.S. national security, according to the press release. The award gives up to $20,000 to undergraduate students to study abroad, according to the press release. The Boren Scholarships convocation and orientation will take place on June 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C., according to the Boren Awards website. Staff Reports

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WINNERS

OU libraries, according to the press release. Cu r re n t l y , O U o f f e r s courses in Jewish history, Hebrew language and literature, the Bible and anthropological, sociological and political perspectives on the Judaic and Israeli studies, according to a press release. Many of the courses are offered through the history department, according to the program’s website.

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and published at The Daily, and one student, Kenzie Meek-Beck, received an award for her work published by Routes. The other entries included feature writing, in-depth enterprise reporting, investigative reporting, feature page layout and design and page one layout and design, all of which were part of the Newspaper B category. This category is for work published in newspapers with a circulation of less than 25,000. Kyle Margerum, The Daily’s editor in chief, said he was proud of the amount of students who were recognized by the organization. “For us to get first and second, it’s just astounding because we’re up against so many other professionals in Oklahoma,” said Margerum, professional writing senior.