The Lumberjack, September 6, 2007.

              Engineer
program
lauded
C HRIS C O P LA N
T h e . L u m b e r j a c k
As a student, it is hard
to ensure you made the right
choice of majors, but for some
students, nationa] recognition
may ease their minds.
On Aug. 27, VS. News &
World Report released its 2007
list of the best undergraduate
engineering programs, with
NAU tying nine other schools,
including Boise State Universi­ty
and California State Univer­sity-
Northridge, to place 38th
in a pool at 1,400 accredited
universities.
Despite receiving this
praise for the fourth straight
year, College o f Engineering
and Natural Sciences Dean
Laura Huenneke said this sur­vey
is not always perfect.
“The US News & World
Report is frequently brought
up by professors in a national
conversation as a bad example
of recognizing schools,” Huen­neke
said. “There is a national
movement toward concrete
measures.”
Huenneke is not the only
engineering faculty member
who found flaws with the sur­vey.
Debra Larson, professor
and chair of the Department
+ or Civil and Environmental
Engineering, said the way the
rankings are created is “very
suspicious.”
Larson said at each of
the schools surveys are sent
to the dean and two to three
senior faculty. Larson said the
survey has faculty rate schools
on a scale of one to five, from
does not know to well known,
in terms of how recognized a
schools engineering depart­ment
is.
“You have schools who
are not playing out on a na­tional
level ranking each oth­er,”
Larson said. “There are no
other indicators. Is this really
the right way to establish rank­ings?”
Larson said the results
are also based on data that may
not always be reliable.
“The survey also uses in­put
measures," Larson said.
See E N G IN EE R , Page A
lumberjack The Independent
Student Voice
Nursing students Locals kick it at
travel halfway Coconino County
around the world Fair
• Page 13 • Page 19
Issue 2, Volume 96
Sept. 6 - 12 r 2007
www.JackCentral.com
Volleyball coach
prepared for new
season
• Page 2 3
Despite student lobbying,
book prices still increase
S A S H A SO LO M O NOV
T h e L u m b e r ja c k
Five hundred and
eighty dollars. That is the
amount of money junior
nursing major Erin Everitt
spent on textbooks this se­mester.
Over the summer, the
Arizona Board of Regents
released a list of 10 recom­mendations
for cutting the
costs of textbooks. These
suggestions included: cre­ating
a uniform deadline
before the buy-back period for
textbook orders to generate the
highest return to students for
used books, establishing pro­cedures
to increase the number
of textbook orders submitted
by the deadline, and ensuring
that university bookstores im­plement
a low-price guarantee.
Consequently, Univer­sity
Text & Tools manager Jack
Norris said this years cost of
textbooks has remained con­sistent
with the influx from
previous years.
“Textbooks go up $3-5
every semester,” Norris said.
“The publishers pricing is go­ing
up."
According to ACUMEN,
a faculty newsletter released by
the NAU Bookstore, increasing
prices are largely affected by
the facultys decision to order
new editions of textbooks.
“We encourage faculty
to consider the impact of their
decision on total course mate­rial
costs,” according to the re­port.
.
See A C U M EN . Page 4
Freshman class
largest in history
S A S H A SO LO M O NOV
T h e L u m b e r j a c k
This year, NAU has
taken on the largest fresh­man
class size in its his­tory,
thereby creating the
demand for more housing,
more teachers and more
class sections.
The Office of Resi­dence
Life took on ex­tended
occupancy, placing
freshmen temporarily in
Mountain View, resident as
sistants’ rooms, and study
lounges converted into bed­rooms.
Furthermore, Allen was
converted from a single occu­pancy
upper-division hall into
a double occupancy freshman
connection residence hall.
Gretchen Wesbrock, area
coordinator for freshman con­nections,
said the occupancy
department utilized the space
in Mountain View that oth­erwise
remains empty until
Greek rush in September.
See FR E S H M A N , Page 5
Fair thee well: festivities bring summer’s end
Haeger
S A S H A S O LO M O NOV
T he L umberjack
President John D.
Haeger held a public forum
in Ashurst Auditorium last
Wednesday to discuss the
future university budget as
well as current and upcom­ing
issues for NAU and stu­dents.
Approximately 250
people turned out to hear
President Haeger’s presen­tation
on the university
budget and future goals. The
packed house saw a Power­Point
presentation outlining
various university plans and
future challenges. The pres­ident
said he was especially
excited about the upcoming
budget. NAU’s 2008 appropri­ated
budget from the state
legislature totaled over $20
million, with $3 million
of southwest folk singer Tony
Norris and the upbeat rock
sounds of Dr. Hook attracted
audiences to the Pepsi Stage.
Squawks, grunts and
moos emanated from hoards of
farm animals hauled from all
corners of Coconino County.
Demonstrators used the ani­mals
to teach crowds packing,
riding, grooming and obedi­ence,
as well as wool weaving,
spinning and dying. Livestock
showmanship and conforma­tion
was held in the Cinder
Barn Friday and Saturday. Cin­der
Barn activities on Saturday
and Sunday included a horse
grooming competition as well
as live sheep and goat shows.
Livestock awards and auctions
were held Monday.
In between activities, fair
goers enjoyed gyros, egg rolls,
espresso and classic fair foods
like funnel cake and candy
apples. Rides offered thrills,
and games offered prizes like
stuffed toys, rubber balls and
even live fish.
From Fine Arts to Flo­riculture,
4-H Club to NAU
Geology Club, there was a little
something for everyone. Kyle
Eastman, sophomore geology
major and NAU Geology Club
Trip Coordinator, helped set
up a display in the gems and
minerals building.
“It took two hours to
pick out the rocks, minerals
and fossils (to display) and
20 minutes to set them up (at +
the fair),” Eastman said. Most
of the specimens came from
Ricky Bartlett and N A U storage
but Eastman said, “some came
from my own collection.”
See FAIR, Page 19
kicks off year with public forum
S E R INE H A LV E R SON
T h e L u m b e r ja c k
berine m aiverson; ine LumoerjacK
E IG H T -Y E A R -O L D J A C K IE S M ITH and 7-year-old Adam Nicol perform a traditional
mexican dance with the Ballet Folklorico de Colores youth group at the 58th Annual
Coconino County Fair on Saturday afternoon. Sergio Padilla, originally from Mexico, has
been teaching the group for two and a half years.
What do a fat pig, a little
train and a fossilized snail have
in common? They were all
showcased at the 58th Annual
Coconino County Fair.
The fair, which kicked otf
Aug. 31 and continued through
the Labor Day weekend, of­fered
a diverse spread of events,
displays, activities, presenta­tions,
workshops, demos and
performances. Special themed
areas included arts and culture,
conservation and sustainable
living, and life and leisure.
Ballet Folklorico de
Colores, a traditional Mexican
dance youth group, performed
in the arts and culture tent on
Saturday afternoon. Brightly
colored costumes and heavy
footwork livened the dimly lit
tent.
“1 enjoy sharing the Mex­ican
culture with people," said
group co-director Jessica Kit-terman,
who has two children
in the group. “It’s a lot of work,
but its worth it.”
The conservation and
sustainable living area included
a variety of presentations, dem -
onstrations and workshops. Is­sues
from renewable energy to
wolf recovery were addressed
over the weekend by groups
like Habitat For Humanity, the
Arizona Department of Envi­ronmental
Conservation, Co­conino
Rural Environmental
Corps and Colton Community
Garden.
Fair patrons enjoyed
meaty snacks, cold beer or
sweet treats in the life and lei­sure
tent while listening to mu­sicians
like Clair Anna Rose or
Rick Cole. The gentle sounds
See HAEGER, Page 4 U N IV E R S ITY PR ESIDEN T JO H N D. Haeger delivers a speech at the president’s forum
on Wednesday afternoon. Haeger congratulated accomplishments and developments.
going toward faculty and staff
salaries. The budget increase
was the largest among the
three state universities and re­ceived
every dollar requested
from the state Haeger called
the 2008 budget the best he has
seen during his tenure.
Haeger also presented
budget plans for 2009. Is­sues
already being addressed
for 2009 are boosts in NAU’s
health professions facilities,
baccalaureate education cen­ters
in Arizona, and the Initia­tive
for Science, Energy and
the Environment. Haeger said
NAU has already presented its
initial proposals to the Arizona
Board of Regents.
Haeger also took time to
welcome many rvew adminis­trators
to various N A U schools
and programs.