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Show STUDENTS ON CAMPUS ‘economics by Craig V. Nelson (\\ tudent body President “%, Melinda Roylance has »/ looked up at the statue of her great-great-grandfather every day for four years. “T feel a sense of comfort when I look at him,” Ms. Roylance says of Louis F. Moench, first principal of what is now Weber State University. “T think he would be pleased with what I’ve been able to accomplish at his institution.” She, no doubt, is correct. During her tenure on campus, Ms. Roylance has made significant contributions to the University. Even before Ms. Roylance stepped on campus, she was involved with student administration. Two weeks before her first freshman class, she was asked to fill a vacant seat on the senate of the Associated Students of Weber State. That led to her appointment to a student fee allocation committee and to membership on a presidential search committee that eventually recommended the hiring of Paul H. Thompson. By the end of her freshman year, Ms. Roylance was a delegate to the Utah Intercollegiate Assembly, a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and was selected “Woman of the Year.” She also managed to maintain a four-year tuition, fees and book Presidential Scholarship given in honor of Louis F. Moench. In her sophomore year, Ms. Roylance was elected president of sorority Psi Gamma Pi. She also has served as news director of a student radio station, as a reporter on a student newspaper mvironment and as president of the Greek Council in charge of all campus fraternities and sororities. In by Jennifer Katleman addition, she was the featured speaker at a statewide student rally, selected as the only student in the state to speak this year to the legislative higher education subcommittee and elected three years as a delegate to the Utah Collegiate Assembly. She also was first attendant in the 1991 Homecoming royalty. “T feel like I’m giving service to an institution great-greatgrandfather loved more than 100 years ago,” Ms. Roylance says. Ms. Roylance had not intended to come to Weber State. In fact, a high school counselor told her she was too smart for the Ogden school. “That makes me so mad,” she says. But a friend persuaded her that the small, discussion-oriented classes at Weber State made it the best choice. “T’ve never regretted my decision,” she says. “It’s been a real rush ride,” Ms. Roylance adds. “It feels like I just got here and now I’m leaving.” Ms. Roylance graduates this June. She has been accepted into a master’s degree program in communication at the University of Utah. Her longterm goals include a doctorate degree and an eventual post as a university president. “Everything has been right with my education at Weber State,” she says. “My learning experience has been exceptional and my extracurricular activities have taught me a great deal. I have had opportunities here that Class pie ANCESTRAL TIES — ASWSU President Melinda Roylance stands by a statue of her great-great-grandfather. “I think he would be pleased.” I never would have had at another school. “T feel like I’ve come full cir- grandfather was very committed to students and to the concept of education. SoamI.” cle,” she adds. “My great-great- * Free Checking Accounts * Low Interest Loans * 24-Hour ATM Access * Guaranteed Student Loans - Money Orders/Travelers Checks * Many Other Services Offered Exclusively Serving Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni of Weber State University Phone: 626-6365 Hours: Mon.-Fri.-9am-5pm Drive-up until 69m 4140 Harrison Blvd. (just off campus) Ogden, Utah 84408 ~ en who sought to enroll in one of Sarah .. ¥ £.Tinkler’s economics courses at the University spring quarter were told, politely, to take a hike. The reason: men could not register for an experimental allwomen course. “Tt’s not an anti-male type of class. It’s that women are sometimes shy compared to men. Women can tend to fade into the woodwork in a busy class. This is a chance for them to be upfront and shining,” says Dr. Tinkler, an associate professor. She’s aiming to discover whether women learn better in an all-female setting. She is teaching two sections of principles of economics, one to women only and another to a mixed-gender group. The classes will remain alike; the same textbooks, lectures and grading methods will be used for both. She convinced the economics department to try the idea after she read studies showing that men frequently dominate discussions in mixed groups and interrupt women. And with women accounting for only 20 percent of business and economic students nationally, she thought Weber State could do more to attract females to the field. Much of the reason women earn on average 30 percent less than men is that women have been segregated into certain occupations and such crowding depresses their wages, she says. FEMALES ONLY — Professor Sarah Tinkler teaches an economics class where no males are allowed. “Women can tend to fade into the woodwork.” “If we want women to be able to access the higher levels of management, then we must encourage women to go into higher-paying professions,” says Dr. Tinkler. The Weber State economics professor attended an all-female high school in Britain and allwomen discussion sections at Cambridge University. This may mark the first time Weber State has segregated a class section by gender. And other than private women’s universities, Dr. Tinkler doesn’t know of another U.S. university offering a single-sex class, she says. The University is seeking a Title IX waiver from the Department of Education. If federal lawyers determine the class violates the law, the University will integrate the sec- tion. But that would be a shame, says Barry Gomberg, director of affirmative action, because Dr. Tinkler designed the experiment to find out how to best educate men and women. Economics department chairman Richard Alston is holding out hope the class will disprove Dr. Tinkler’s theory and show that gender makes no difference in learning. And if grades are an indication, he already has proof. In the past academic year, women earned higher grades than men in Statistics and economics courses. “Maybe what we need to do for women isn’t give them a special class. Maybe we need to provide a better way for them to break through the glass ceiling in the business world,” Dr. Alston says. The class has sparked controversy on campus, where a male student anonymously wrote to the Signpost student newspaper accusing the department of discrimination and contributing to a sexist environment. Dr. Alston says those comments typify several complaints he has received. Students are claiming discrimination until he informs them that men can enroll in a mixed- gender class that Dr. Tinkler is teaching, he says. Students also have asked why the department is not scheduling a male-only class. “The answer is that men would be hurt by a male-only class. The males consistently do worse in that environment,” Dr. Alston says. Research he has studied suggests that women in mixed classes bring up the men’s grades, while men’s presence holds women back, he says. Senior Pat Varnum enrolled in the class, not because male students have cowed her from speaking up in classes, but because she believes students in an all-women class will understand each other better. “Men have a whole different way of explaining things. My experience has been women understand things better away from the statistics,” says Ms. Varnum. Ms. Katleman is a reporter for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden. This edited article originally appeared in that newspaper on Feb. 25. |