The Lumberjack, January 24, 1991.

              Inside
War in the Persian Gulf coverage — Page 4.
News
A support group is formed to
help s tudentswho have friends and
family in the Persian Gulf. Page 4.
Commentary
The hazards of stow driving in ‘A
Word in Edgewise/ Page 6.
Feature
Sue Sisley juggles schoofwork,
theater, and being president of
ASNAU. Page 11.
Entertainment
NAU Art Museum and Galleries,
located in the Creative and Com­munication
Am building, return
to their original home m Old Main.
Jan. 28. Pap 11.
Sports
The Lumbeijaek men's and
women's swimming tea
New Mexico State. Pace IS.
Dave Steiner.' The Lumberjack
Volunteers man petition taWesdur­ing
Tuesday 's Peace Week Teach-
In on the Guff Crisis. See Page 4.
N A U professors give high schools poor grades
By Jim Rathbum
The Lumberjack
Jo McRae, freshman undecided
major, says her first semester at
NAU was “pure torture on the
brain, especially English.”
“I took the tougher English
classes in high school, but no way
was I prepared for college. Every
time I went to write something 1
constantly had to look up how to
do it right," she said.
Her experience is not unique.
Many NAU freshmen aren’t
making the grade when it comes
to being prepared for college.
A recent survey asked full-time
NAU faculty members to evaluate
the effectiveness of high schools
in preparing students for college,
based on their experiences with
NAU freshmen.
Most faculty members polled in
the anonymous survey indicated
high school graduates arc unpre­pared
for college, but disagreed
about whom to blame and how
preparedness could be increased.
Some said the answer lies in re­structuring
school curriculum.
“Muc h less time wasted on non­academic
playtime such as music
and art," said a professor from the
College o f Creative and Commun i-cation
Arts.
An other professor from the sa m e
college said students need to spend
more time studying art and music
because they' help clarify thinking.
Others said students need to ac­cept
more responsibility for their
education.
“Students seem to shv away from
the challenging courses," said a
professor from the College o f Arts
and Sciences. “They need to start
learning for the sake ofknowledge,
not just to get a passing grade."
The survey, modeled after the
1980 Gallup Poll on Education, in­cluded
11 quantitative questions
and one qualitative question.
One of the first questions asked
faculty members to assign a letter
grade to high schools for their per­formance
in preparing students for
college. Twenty-four o f the 205 re­spondents
(11.5 percent) gave Bs,
2.6 percent gave B minuses, 48.1
percen t gave Cs, 2.6 perren t gave C
See S U R V E Y , Page 2
REPORT CARD
English Composition D­Reading
Comprehension I)
History C-Mathematics
D-Geography
D
Average Grade D
C O M M E N T S : JYeeds to ivork harder
in ‘Lnglisfx Composition and ^Reading
Comprehension. Student is not prepared for
college coursework.
Jon AngelfTht Lumberjack.
Thursday, January 24, 1991
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Northern Arizona University • Flagstaff, Arizona
Volume 86, Issue 2 © copyright 1990
Former student dies
in highway accident
By Kurt Kenimerer
The Lumberjack
A former NAU student died of
head injuries when her car went
off the road live miles south of
Cordes Junction on Interstate-17
Monday.
Kristina Marie Winch, 19, was
declared dead at the scene o f the
accident, according to
the Departm ent o f 1
Public Safety report.
Winch attended NAU
through last semester
before transferring to
the Northern Ari/.ona
1 nstitu Le ofTechnology.
A passenger, Sandra
Lee Skaggs, 24, was ad­mitted
to Phoenix General Hospi­tal
with a probable broken leg and
other unknown injuries.
DPS and witnesses said the auto­mobile
nearly went o ff the left side
o f the road and the driver
overcorrected to the right. The
automobile then wentoff the right
side o f the road, hitting an em­bankment
and (lipping onto its
side.
Winch ‘partiallyejected through
the windshield” said Dan Kirk, an
advertising major, who saw the ac­cident.
“I saw the driver outside o f the
window b efore the car even
stopped,’1 Kirk said.
“I don’t think they ware seat
belts,” he said.
DPS concurred with Kirk, saying
the automobile ‘ had seat belts in­stalled,
but they were not in use by
either (the driver or passenger).”
Investigating officer Mike Fane
believed seat belts in use “would
have prevented the fatality.”
Kirk and driver M ichelle
McGeough, a sophomore business
major, witnessed the one-vehicle
accident as they drove about 100
‘ I ’ ve learned something from this. I
w ear (a selt belt) all the time now, even
just going to class/
— Dan Kirk,
Accident witness
feet behind Winch’s vehicle.
Neither Kirk nor McGeough said
they wore seat belts as a normal
practice before witnessing the ac­cident.
“I’ll wear it all the time now be­cause
you never know,” McGeough
said.
Kirk agreed.
“I’ve learned something from
this,” he said. “1 wear (a seat belt)
all the time now, even just going to
class."
Arizonans now face a $10 fine
for a first offense and up to a S25
fine on additional infractions if
caugh t not wearing a seat belt when
an officerstops them for any traffic
violation. The law, which went
into effect Jan. 1, exempts vehicles
made in 1972 or earlier and a few
other specialty vehicles.
Phone cards provide
direct connections
By Jennifer Etkin
The Lumberjack
On-campus residents who were
home for the holidays found an
extra piece o f mail that contained
a “personal security code” card.
The cards, installed in conjunc­tion
with AT&T College and Uni­versity
System (A C U S ) and
Telecomm-NAU, were designed to
allow students living on campus to
dial long-distance calls directly
from their residence hall rooms
beginning Jan. 8, said Ralph Berg,
manager of the Telecomm-NAU
program.
By using the cards, students can
dial long-distance direct without
using a calling card number. The
bill can be mailed to their NAU
box number or their permanent
address, Berg said. This sy stem will
cost on-campus students 5 percent
less for their long distance phone
calls than off-campus students.
The program was organized last
summer due to student demand
for a direct dial program; however.
many students do not understand
the card’s importance, Berg said.
“1 threw it out when it came to
the house. I didn’t even open it,"
said Laura Landin, a sophomore
elementary education major.
Berg said he received phone calls
from students asking about the new
service and letters from students
wrho said they did not wan ta phone
credit card sent to their homes.
“This is not a credit card," he
said. “It is a good service and can
make (long-distance tails) a lot
easier on students.”
The program will re-route long­distance
calls to new telephone
lines, which will result in fewer
busy lines.
Currently, a glitch in the system
has forced students to use the ac­cess
code to dial an 800 number.
This has caused confusion among
students who use telephone ser­vices
that require 800 numbers to
gain access to their billing pro­gram.
The glitch will be remedied
in tw'o to three weeks, Berg said.
Photos by Dave Steiner/The Lumberjack
Top, Charlie Freteiuco and Tony Ross march in Monday night's Marlin
Luther King Jr. candlelight march. Above, Rona Fennessy, a senior
anthropology major, and Michia Guy, a creative writing graduate student,
bow together during the closing prayer of the commemorative service.
Marching forward,
marching for King
By Erika Thure
T he Lumberjack
About 400 XAU students and Flagstaff residents carried candles t
and marched through campus Monday night in observance o f slain '
civil rights leader Marlin Luther King jr. Commemorative services
held following the march included m u enterw nrncrr*
prominent local speakers.
The Black Student Union sponsored the civil rights event which
included other issues, from local concerns about Arizona’s lack ofa
King holiday to worldly concerns about the war in the Middle East.
“I think it’s real important that we keep the dream alive and we let
people know that even though there isn’t an official state holiday, the
students want one,” said TaschiaReed, sophomore microbiology and
pre-med major and member o f RSL\
Students are not the onlv ones who want a King holidav. Speakers
such as NAU PresidentEugene Hughes, Flagstaff Mayor Chris Bavasi
and State Representative Art Hamilton recognized Jan. 21 as an
official holiday. NAU has recognized a King holidav for four vears.
Arizona’s controversial King holidav issue was noi the only area o f
concern addressed at the local event.
“I feel the goals of the march are to recognize the MLKholidavard
to support a cause that helped make America a better place,” said
Chris Waddell, sophomore business major. ‘This is also a tirr.i- to
recognize how far we’ve come and how far we have to go in terms o f
race relations.”
“Not onlyisthisa commemorative service, butwe’re trying to stress
that he was adamantly opposed to war, which is a time lhar wc-’re in
now,” said Mario Harris, president of the BSU.
Although the BSU sponsored the event, other student groups
represented included People for Peace, MEC.hA, the Hispanic Honor
Society, the Gay Academic Union, women’s groups and other stu­dent
groups, Harris said.
“It’s not just cultural groups. It’s a combination o f everybody,” she
said.
President Hughes was happy with the outcome of the event.
“I ’m very pleased with the turnout tonight. I think thar weprobablv I
have more people here tonight than we have had for am march since
we’ve started these on Martin Luther King Day,” Hughes said.