Ohio University - Athena Yearbook (Athens, OH)

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1 Durell Hall Above: An Ohio University grade report Left: Demolition crews wreck the Edgehill Apartments on Jefferson Hill The building was o ne of four demolished during the year Below: Carla Hirshfield. director of student organizations, works in her Baker Center office Students line up in Chubb Hall at the beginning of winter quarter to pay their student fees Craig Holman Risk, Life, Go to the Head of the Class 25

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Risk, cont. imagination. When questioned about the abolition of the ABC grading policy, only half of the students thought that its abolition was a good idea, whereas the prospect of a university-wide English requirement brought a 70 per cent agreement Faculty size and availability were deemed sufficient by 79 per cent. What is the typical Ohio University student doing about his own future? One outlet for personal planning is membership in an organization and the number of groups in existence is increasing. By the end of the year, we should have 200 groups listed, said Carla Hirschfeld, director of student organizations. Students first organize their own clubs and find their own advisers. Then they petition for funds from the University. The current total organization allocation is $40,000. Each request must be approved by the Stu- dent Financial Board, the Student Activities Commis- sion, and the Student Senate before any money is doled out, but the funds are available. The money is impor- tant because it is the most tangible way students see that the University supports them, stated Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld feels that more and more students who are joining organizations realize that it ' s not just what goes down on the resume, but what is gained from the experience. Recent trends show an abundance of club sports cropping up. What future plans are in the works for student organizations? Such activities as leadership con- ferences and special help sessions for goal setting, agenda planning, and personal conflict problems are of media coverage . . . already being attempted. damental shift in attitude We intend to do more work with groups, said Hirschfeld, With our limited manpower, we want to serve as many students as we can and give them more than they ' re expecting. Of these students polled, a vast majority belonged to a campus organization, Greeks included. Only 19 per cent admitted to joining a club strictly for use on a resume. The administrative plans and perceptions and stu- dent reactions given above are only tentative. Who knows what financial miracles may occur, or what tragedies? It ' s all a game of chance no matter whose viewpoint is taken. Most administrators and students are optimistic. When asked what they thought were the two biggest improvements O.U. could make, students offered anything from the practical, more parking spaces, to the strict, accept only those in the top 1 5 per cent of their graduating class. Lower tuition was consistently mentioned as was the need for more con- certs and campus entertainment. President Ping summed up the question of Ohio University ' s future in his September address: The debt problem is acute and all predictions for the 1 980 ' s suggest crisis, but we have had a good year in terms 24 Risk, Life, Go to the Head of the Class

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One year after Ping calmly views the year as productive, satisfying One of the most important By Belinda Scrimenti and Susan Wolbert One year following his inauguration as Ohio Univer- sity ' s 18th president, Dr. Charles Ping viewed the year as busy, productive and large- ly satisfying. Much changed in the time that Ping has been at the university helm including: an increase in enrollment, a new college of osteopathic medicine, a new set of ad- ministrators and new plans for the future. Ping ' s rhetoric flowed as he described his prime rol e. He saw it as drawing the campus into a coherent whole, develop- ing a sense of whole and community-commonness from the many priorities and goals of the overlapping groups in the university and developing the resources necessary to ac- complish these. Craig Holman Ping discusses the need for liberal education with Belinda Scrimenti during the Spectrum GREEN interview. changes Ping has seen has been a fundamental shift in at- titude. In his State of the University message he stated, we have begun to show faith in ourselves, in the quality of the life at Ohio University and in our future. He cited the translation of at- titudes back into the home communities as a major reason for the attitude change. He also noted an attitude change in The Post. He remarked that, It is just a feeling that the world is changing. Ping said he saw the Ohio University students as a diverse student community. He described them as, more sophisticated and metropolitan than students at most state in- stitutions and commented that it makes life on this campus different. He calmly described the students recreational habits on Court Street as not un- usual for students and added that they (Court street bars) were only more heavily concen- trated in Athens. He also ex- pressed pleasure at the students source of delight through use of the area ' s parks and recreation areas. With the removal of the pass- fail system and ABC grading system for freshmen, the revitalization of the liberal studies became one of the ma- jor themes of the year ' s ad- ministration. He cited a need for a structured curriculum but added, Courses are a means to the end but whether or not they are the only means is another question. He said he favored a com- position requirement because there is a need to develop the basic language skills and sen- sitivity to correctness in style and use of language. Ping defended the academic quality of the university with the comment, The measure of a university ' s academic quality is in its graduates. It is the only objective validity. He sup- ported this with a quick list of names and titles of successful Ohio University graduates in various fields. Ping has not attempted to run the university alone. He said he felt the role of leadership was in part depen- dent on persuasion and that he had commensurate authority with his handpicked administration. He described the character of university deci- sion making and administration 26 President Ping