I At SAMFORD
II CRIMSON
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Tree trouble .
Relay runners . .
French farce .
Animal rights .
Volume 73 Number 14
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama
April 13, 1989
Honor Code committee
drafts working document
By Bill Carothers
News Editor
For the last few months,
Samford students and faculty
have been debating the pros
and cons of an academic honor
code.
As of April 5, a revised copy
of the Honor Code principles
and purpose, as well as a work¬
ing document including viola¬
tions, were sent to the admini¬
stration and faculty for review
and discussion.
David Owenby, a member of
the committee working on the
Honor Code, said this is only an
academic honol' code. Owenby
said “these are the best ideas of
other schools’ honor codes.”
President Thomas Corts
wanted a code modeled after
Princeton University’s and in
March, “four or five students
and members of the administra¬
tion went to Princeton to ob¬
serve its code and see how' it
works,” said Vice-President of
the Senate Mike Pugh.
Owenby said Corts had
wanted a document to work with
by the end of May. Owenby said
this is only a working document
that could still stand revision.
As for implementation, no
date has been set for when or
how it would be implemented.
Along with the Honor Code,
an independent Academic Honor
Council would be created.
Owenby said “an honor code
would help promote an atmos¬
phere of equality and create a
sense of pride and prestige in an
academic setting.”
“This shows a resolute deter¬
mination for academic integrity,”
Owenby said.
He said he believes in the po¬
tential of Samford, and an honor
code can only help the school
realize some of its latent poten¬
tial and push itself forward
among other schools.
Phcto by Lew Arnold
Davenport wins, faculty award
Get set ...Go!
Veteran Track Coach Bill McClure will watch his runners compete
in the Magic City Vulcan Relays which will begin tomorrow. Please
see related story, page 4.
Tuition hike means
better faculty
By Mark A. Smith
Staff Reporter
By Mark A. Smith
Staff Reporter
Lee Allen, dean of the School
of Arts and -Sciences, said the
new tuition increase means new
and better faculty for Samford.
One of the most important
functions of Allen’s job is hiring
new faculty members.“Finding
the right person is the most sig¬
nificant part of my job,” said
Allen.
Allen said with the tuition
increase he hopes to hire 20 new
faculty' members in the Howard
school of Arts and Sciences. “We
are now abld to employ people
we couldn't before. By paying
the going rate, we can be more
selective,” sbid Allen.
Allen said the competition for
hiring new faculty is high. “I
have to bid against schools
Шее
Auburn, Mercer and Tuscaloosa.
We have certain pluses we can
offer,” said Allen, “but many
times we flat got outbid.”
Allen said it is “frustrating”
to go through the selection
process and find the right per¬
son only to be outbid in the end.
“It’s a lot of time and effort,”
said Allen. Allen also said the
tuition increase would help the
problems of part-time faculty at
Samford. “A part-time person
is not as available and on cam¬
pus. This puts more of a burden
on full-time faculty," he said.
Allen defended the credibil¬
ity of part-time faculty, but said,
“Working with part-time people
is more difficult for the depart-
Please see Tuition page 3
Larry Davenport, first recipi¬
ent of the Student Government
Association Senate Outstanding
Faculty Award, said, “I started
graduate school wanting to be a
teacher.”
Davenport, associate profes¬
sor of biology, said receiving the
award “was one of those mo¬
ments that 1 will cherish. To be
the first one is mind boggling,”
he said. The award was pre¬
sented at a convocation in late
March.
As a freshman at the Univer¬
sity of Miami in Ohio, Daven¬
port said he looked at his pro¬
fessors and thought, “that’s the
kind of life I might enjoy.”
Now as a teacher, 36-year-
oid Davenport said the best part
of winning the award is that it
came “directly from the stu¬
dents.”
“When I get back my teacher
evaluations and receive compli¬
ments from an ‘A’ student, I
take that with a grain of salt.
When I receive good comments
from a ’D' student, 1 feel like
Г
ve
Davenport
accomplished something,” said
Davenport.
However, Davenport said
there was another side to win¬
ning this award. ^“1 had to go to
my next class and give a sterling
lecture,” he said.
Junior Darlssa Brooks, sena¬
tor far the Howard School of
Arts and Sciences, said, “I’m
really proud of this award be¬
cause it has been long heeded to
show faculty that students are
serious about education and
appreciate the faculty serious¬
ness as well."
Davenport is serious about
his teaching philosophy. “I try
to keep in mind that the student
will retain very little. I try to
reemphasize the things I want
them to remember five or 10
years from now so they will
benefit from it," he said.
“The most discouraging thing
is the student that thinks he or
she doesn't need what Fm teach-
, ing," said the four-year Samford
faculty member. “I think that all
knowledge is important,” he
said.
But seriousness aside, humor
is important to this Seattle-born
professor, too. “Every Septem¬
ber when the Buchanan Award
comes around, I make the joke
that I should win because my
kids need to go to Disney World.”
Thinking of his seven-year-
old son, Peter, and his four year-
old daughter, Laura, Davenport
said, “Tell my students I appre¬
ciate the award; but when they
graduate, remember me. My kids
still need to go to Disney World./'
B'ham among best in country for finding jobs
By Mike Easterling
Staff Reports r
There’s good news for
Samford sepiors preparing to
take the big plunge and enter
the so-called real world, espe¬
cially for those with plans to
take root ini Birmingham.
Alabama s largest city was
listed by Ne uisweek magazine
as number t wo in the nation in
terms of ca eer opportunities.
A survey conducted by the na¬
tional publication revealed Bir¬
mingham, despite its 7.6 per¬
cent unemployment rate, is a
good place to get a job and
settle down
Manager
for die Birmingham Chamber
of Commerce, Michael Jones,
said, “We at the Chamber of
Commerce think it is an accu¬
rate reflection of the good things
that are happening here, with
businesses booming and 1.5
billion dollars worth of construc¬
tion happening right now, just
completed or on the drawing
board.”
“You have the comfortable
atmosphere in Birmingham, " he
said, “where it’s not so much
the hustle and bustle of Atlanta
and other large cities..."
Alice Martin is the career
development director on cam¬
pus. She said the information is
a blessing for her and the other
workers in the office who find
jobs for Samford students.
“I think this is a very good
area to come to,” she said. “Most
of the students at Samford
usually want to stay in this
area.. .we haven’t had a lot who
have shown an extreme interest
in going anywhere else."
In Recruiting Trends' 1988-
89, astudy of 4,272 employers,
of which 739 responded, ft was
revealed that another good year
is expected in terms of employ¬
ment across the country. Hiring
quotas are expected to go up by
3.1 percent when compared to
last year's hiring of new college
graduates.
In Birmingham, computer-
related jobs are in hot demand.
Accountants and auditors are
also in great demand, as are
those in a medical-related pro¬
fession.
The average starting salary
for a B.A. Is projected at
$23,810, an estimation Martin
said it inflated. “That is a little
high," she said, “but I know, at
least in business, you can look
at 17,000 to 19,000 dollars.”
Among new college gradu¬
ates hired last year, 9.5 percent
were from liberal arts majors
(English, history, languages,
etc...)
Fran Merrell is one of those
liberal arts majors looking for
employment In her native Bir¬
mingham. A senior journalism/
mass communication major,
she said she thinks the infor¬
mation (about Birmingham) to
accurate.
4
“There are definite oppor¬
tunities in Birmingham»," she
said. “If you just get out there
and interview, you will find a
job.”
Birmingham ranked number
two behind St. Paul, Minn.,
which has a slightly smaller
population than our 272,841,
and a substantially smaller
unemployment rate of 3.8 per-
cent-
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