Two candidates kicked out of race
Two A.S. hopefuls running on the Revolution! slate have been disqualified from competing, according to the slate’s presidential candidate Kevin Hanson.
The A.S. Elections Committee voted to rule that junior Nate Jones — the lone candidate for the post of athletics commissioner — was ineligible to participate in the election on the basis of technicalities stemming from his filing. Elections Manager Steve York said the committee was unanimous in its decision.
Though Jones had completed all necessary paperwork to compete, a family emergency took him out of town on the filing day, according to Hanson, making him unavailable to personally submit the documents.
Jones’ disqualification means that the position will be filled by appointment, per A.S. Council bylaws.
In addition, Earl Warren College freshman Brett Laddusaw was deemed ineligible to run for the college’s sophomore senator after a grade verification showed that he did not meet the minimum 3.0 GPA required under A.S. election bylaws to run for an office. Laddusaw had filed to run as a candidate with Revolution! at Warren.
“Brett didn’t make the grades,” Hanson said. “Those are the rules.”
Laddusaw’s disqualification in one of the most competitive college races on campus will leave three other candidates to vie for the spot.
Committee calls for better accountability
The National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education — set up by an association of higher education executive officers — has warned that lax accountability standards in the country’s universities are threatening America’s role as the international leader in college education.
“For over 50 years, the United States could rightfully claim to have the finest system of higher education in the world in terms of access, graduates and research,” the commission’s final report states. “Today, this basic assumption is under challenge.”
Co-chaired by former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating and former Education Secretary Richard Riley, the commission backed a proposed federal student-data collection system that has come under fire by privacy advocates. In addition, the report urges more investment in colleges and student aid. In exchange for more money, it asks university administrators to make better use of “external and internal assessments of learning” and to “publicly communicate the results to monitor and improve [student] performance.”
“Too often, calls for greater accountability result in a tug-of-war that frustrates everyone,” State Higher Education Executive Officers Executive Director Paul Lingenfelter stated in a press release. “A guiding principle of this report is that we all need to pull in the same direction — pursuing clear goals, insisting on rigorous measurements of results and working collaboratively for improvement.”
The State Higher Education Executive Officers commissioned the report.
Campus near top for study abroad
UCSD ranked third in the nation last year for the number of students participating in full-year study abroad programs, new data released by the International Center show. With more than 950 students involved in one of two abroad programs, the university led all other campuses in the University of California system.
The participating students received more than $400,000 in study-abroad scholarships.
In addition, the campus was ranked fourth in the country among research institutions for the number of “international scholars” working at the university, with a total of 1,929 academic researchers and faculty from outside of the country.
Last year, UCSD also saw its international student numbers climb by more than 200 to a total of 1,811, despite significant declines throughout the nation. Over the last decade, the campus’ international student population has more than doubled.
Former music chair dies at age 82
John Joseph Silber, the second chair of UCSD’s music department and a former City of Del Mar councilman, died earlier this month at UCSD Medical Center. Eighty-two at the time of his passing, Silber is survived by his wife and eight children.
The improvisational trombonist, who retired in 1991, had performed throughout the world, from Belgium to Australia, and served in the Navy during World War II.
“John was a quintessential faculty member for the UCSD music department,” music department chair John Fonville stated in a university press release. “He had wide-ranging interests, not only in music but written text, poetry, movement and a host of other passions in the creative domain.”
