Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Carolina News Office of the Registrar plans to improve' Web capabilities for registration, student use by Charles Prashaw Senior Writer The Office of the Registrar has seen the future, and the future is the Internet. New to this semester’s registration, which was held April 10 to 21, was an on line help desk manned by personnel from the registrar’s office. The help desk works like America Online’s Instant Messenger program — students can talk directly to people from the registrar’s office. Personnel can answer students’ ques tions or send links to Web pages that have the information students are seeking. The help desk received an average of 15 questions a day during registration, Reg istrar Barbara Blaney said. Besides implementing the help desk, Blaney said the registrar’s office has a cou ple of other projects on the drawing board. Among these projects are plans to pro gram the VIP and Argo Web sites to rec ognize double majors as well as minors that require certain classes. Currently, the Web sites recognize only a student’s ma jor. Another of Blaney’s main concerns is that the Argo Web site isn’t updated in real time. Because of this, students can’t tell if classes are full until they try to reg ister online. Other future plans include: • A way to request official transcripts over the Internet. • A means for professors to gain ac cess to the names, e-mails, addresses and telephone numbers of upcoming students. • Some cosmetic work on Web page designs. Blaney said that eventually, the Of fice of the Registrar also hopes to imple ment a university-wide Blackboard pro gram on the Aigo and VIP Web sites. ‘I didn’t have any prob lems with the [VIP Web site], and most of the classes I wanted, I got.’ Derek Johnson media arts freshman Blackboard, an Internet program used by some professors to communicate with students, is already being used for a few classes. However, Blaney said the university plans to expand the program to encom pass many USC programs. Blaney said-she has focused on im proving Internet registration because a majority of students prefer registering that way. About 90 percent of USC students register over the Internet, she said. Blaney said some of the Internet pro jects haven’t yet been completed because the registrar’s office, like any other de partment, has to compete with many oth er programs for funding. Media arts freshman Derek Johnson said: “I didn’t have any problems with the [VIP Web site], and most of the classes I wanted, I got. “Registering online is easy, but I wish there was some way to combine the two Web sites where you actually register and the classes are listed,” he said. Blaney said only minor problems were reported with the VIP and Aigo Web sites during registration, including a period of several hours April 14 when the system went down because of human error. tune ini Monday's 6-8pm for Punk show Attempts for the unionization of higher education produce struggle by David Warsh College Press Exchange The drive to unionize higher educa tion is coming to aboil. The United Au to Workers last week called a day long strike at eight campuses in California de spite ongoing contract negotiations. And on Tuesday, an election at New York Uni versity will determine whether the UAW will represent graduate assistants there. It will be the first-ever union elec tion at a private university — and per haps the starting gun for many more organizing attempts. Union representation of graduate stu dents has become common enough at public universities in the United States. It exists in at least 10 state systems, in cluding California, New York and Mass achusetts — but state statutes consider ably limit the scope of collective bargaining. The NYU election is the first to pro ceed under federal law, which could in sert the UAW as a third party into every potential issue of academic judgement that exists between students and their professors — from grades to assignments to recommendations. Whatever happens next, the NYU episode will be a big testing point for the U.S. system of higher education. The basic facts are simple. NYU is a big, prosperous second- or third-tier re search university, organized into 13 schools. Of NYU’s 35,000 students, about 16,000 are undergraduates, another 16,000 are seeking masters and professional de grees, and about 3,000 are Ph.D. candi dates. About 1,600 graduate students serve as graduate assistants, helping faculty members teach, grade papers and per form research. They receive cash (up to $20,000 a year), free tuition (worth $20,000), and a discount at the univer sity book store. If they are headed for a Ph.D. (about half of them are), they typ ically spend two years taking courses, then must pass a qualifying exam and spend three or more years to write a dis sertation. The nub of the matter is this: Are they students? Or employees? The university says assistanceships are a vital part of students’ training, for teaching and doing research are what the doctorate is about (though of course in creasing numbers of Ph.D.’s go into in dustry or government work.) Thus a research assistant becomes a better re searcher by doing research for her or his professor; a teaching assistant learns to teach by teaching. The students, at least those who or ganized the affiliation campaign, see it differently. They view themselves as cogs in a system, a captive pool of cheap la bor, easily exploited and neglected. They want smaller workloads, bigger stipends, paid health care and subsidized housing. The UAW agrees — and has quickly sought to link the graduate student elec tion to attempts to force NYU to use union labor in the construction of a new dorm, as well as to negotiate a new con tract for the university’s clerical work ers. Lisa Jessup, the UAW oiganizer for student elections, told a rally the other day, “They need to understand the word ‘rat.’ They’re not a ‘private university in the public service.’ They’re a rat cor poration in the service of scabs.” The regional director of the Nation al Labor Relations Board sided with the students who petitioned for an election. Reversing 25 years of precedent, Daniel Silverman ruled earlier this month that NYU students in fact were employees and therefore entitled to vote on whether to join the Autoworkers. He cited an NL RB decision last year that permitted in terns and residents at the Boston Med ical Center to oiganize. NYU quickly appealed the case. For one tiling, the university argued, the prece dent was ill-applied. Boston Medical house staff spend 80 percent of their time caring for patients and just 20 percent in lectures, conferences and classes, where as NYU assistants spend just 15 percent of their time on their assistanceships and 85 percent on their own work. There is little doubt that graduate students have been ill-treated in recent years. The Yale “grade strike” in 1995 — when undergraduates’ grades were withheld — established that. The group at Yale never sought an election, and since then a cornucopia of benefits has been made available to all graduate students, not just paid assistants. » Meanwhile, unionization has pro ceeded steadily in the public universi ties, where state laws ordinarily stop short of granting academic unions the same sweeping powers to bargain they would enjoy under federal law. When UAW rep resentation was won last year in Cali fornia after 16 years of trying, some 10,000 graduate assistants on eight cam puses were added to the union rolls. That brought union membership to 30,000 of the estimated 100,000 graduate assistants nationwide. It is possible to imagine all sorts of unforeseen consequences if the union ization of private universities proceeds — or if it doesn’t. For instance, student suddenly classified as employees could find their tuition benefits subject to tax ation, which is not the case so long as it is described as financial aid. Then again, universities could dispense with graduate assistants altogether, preferring to hire out-of-work graduate students and post-docs as “ adjunct faculty” instead, thereby dramatically restructuring the Ph.D. There are larger ramifications. Eight years of labor-friendly appointments by the Clinton administration have made a difference in the way labor laws are ad ministered. There is the prospect of more change if A1 Gore is elected president, The man behind the attempt to organize the universities is John Sweeney, presi dent of the AFL-CIO. f feedback, ^k -n Thanks to these rising stars... the members of the class of2000 who have made a gift to the Senior Challenge: w Rachael Elaine Abernathy Wardah Abdur-Razzaq Ameen Mary Murphey Ames Steven Charles Anderson Andrev Nickolas Anderson an Monike Armstrong James Lawrence Attanasio Kelly Deeann Baldus Lauren Ruth Ball Christian Philip Bassily Elena Marie Baylor-Elks Elisabeth Baron Beard Sharon Ferguson Beasley Kelly Jo Bentley Nicanor Urbano Beza Jr. Amy Elizabeth Bishop Rudolph Tillman Brayboy II Valerie Ann Brockington Daron Franklin Brooker Nicholas Lyaine Brown Nefertiti Adunni Brown Kendrick Luther Burgess Hilary Jean Burgoyne Robert Neely Capers Kenyana Lavette Carter Michael Steven Cathcart Jill Annette Cauthen Jasmeet Kaur Chawla Layne Clark Wendy Shannon Cobb Warren Wilson Coker Mackenzie Jane Corbin Ellen Marie Crohan James Constantine Dallas Felicia Tyshell Durante James Aubary Farmer Jason Daniel Fischbein Tiffany Lynn Fitch Todd Russell Flippin j ‘ Woodward Holland Folsom Tojuana Cenise Fulton Laquina Montique Fulton Danny Scott Gambrell Quenton Lakeith Garrett Erin Rebecca Gilliam Donna Lavem Goodin Henry Bernard Gourdine Kandra Melissa Greaves Kelley Denise Green Scott Kale Hall Sarah Lee Harper Elizabeth Joyce Henderson Cynthia Denise Hensley Ashley Nicole Herring Krystal Anita Heyward Kathleen Marie Hi land Caroline Jane Hill Timothy Gregory Hill Shana Latoya Hilton Courtney Lousie Hobart Wendy Hope Hughes Dana Michelle Hunter Dana Marie Hyde Kari Alyson Jacobs Claybom Earl Jeffcoat Damien Edward Johnson Jennifer Marie Johnson Michael Robert Johnson Warren Paul Johnson Alison Rae Jones Jerome Xavier Jourdon Allyson Brooke Joyce Matthew Lewis Katz Stephen William Keller Tracy Ryck Koke James William Kratzer Jr. Fernanda Lemos Laires Domagoj Lausic Gweneth Bratton Lazenby Brooke Elizabeth Lewis Mark Anthony Linen Nancy Elizabeth Lo Guidice Heather Kathleen Looney Hanna Rachel Loyola Latisha Yvette Mack Michael Edward McGuire Robert Evander McNair III Jeffery Edward Mendenhall Taleshia Tawana Mickens Jennifer Lynn Miller Tanya Monique Moody Chelsea April Morgan Benjamin Robin Moyer Lesley Nicole Muhlenhaupt Brian Wesley Murdaugh Samantha Ashley Murray Christena L’Shaunta Nimmon Kenneth Alan Obrien Mario Ivan Ona Christopher Bruno Pricenor Jennifer Ashley Rainman James Wesley Raman Gregory William Reese Bartholomew Andrew Reiten Debra Kay Robinson Paul Andrew Roper Teresa Margaret Royalty Erika Jaclyn Ruth Courtney Tina Scott Whitney Lauren Shively Seema M. Shirvastava Wanda Maria Simons Melissa Lea Skipper Margaret Irene Smith Frances Davis Smith Lucina Val'Jean Smith Bradford Lee South William Anthony Southall Samantha Johnette Sparkman Keillah Charmaine Spell Carla Kyzer Spires Ashley Elizabeth Stanton Seth Harrison Starnes Daniel Robert Strange Daniel Oliver Sutton Jr. Jason Charles Terry James Ronald Thomas II Felicia Renee Thompson Jennifer Susan Tillman Johnathon Randolph Tillman Leigh-Anne E. Travers Terence Elmer Tysinger Jr. Tameka Michelle Washington Tyrone Anthony Washington Christina Elizabeth Waters Troy Michael West Melissa Ann Westerdahl Ashley Candace White Kristen Marie Wichot Reginald Harrison Williams Lena Marie Williams Wendy Rae Williamson Jamie Elizabeth Winterton Geoffrey William Wright Un Yong Yi Mei Yuan Ethan Grant Zweigel | ■ ( AROLIINAI t\LUMNI ASSOCIATION I \ i\ i ii v i i . .1 S., ii i ii ( \ i .• i ii iv \ i'iv