Two Camps Dispute Preuss Audit's Validity

FORGET ARMAGEDDON AND DRIVE, PEOPLE ▶ OPINION, PAGE 4 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO www.ucsdguardian.org Tuesday, January 22, 2008 The Student Voice Since 1967 Two Camps Dispute Preuss Audit’s Validity OFFICIALS By Matthew L’Heureux News Editor WEIGH The audit that recommended an external pro- grammatic review of UCSD’s Preuss School is now being criticized by two opposing parties: a group of PARKING professors who claim the report was biased against the school’s ex-principal and several former employees who allege that it minimized her role in the grade- changing scandal. OPTIONS In a Jan. 15 letter written to Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Preuss Board of Directors Chair Cecil Admins’ proposal for new Lytle, a group of five UCSD professors questioned the audit’s methodology, saying that the statistical analysis medical center parking of altered grades was flawed because the transcripts examined did not constitute a random sample from structure is met with all of the school’s grades. Investigators from UCSD’s commuter opposition. Audit and Management Advisory Services found that 144 of 190 transcripts they reviewed contained at least By Nimesh Rajakumar one or more errors, 72 percent of which improved the and Connie Shieh affected students’ records. Staff Writers The report’s conclusions were not based on a ran- SANH LUONG/GUARDIAN Students at UCSD’s nationally recognized Preuss School await the results of a second outside investigation into the charter school’s operations. domly selected sample of grades, the letter said, and With enrollment at UCSD project- therefore the auditors could not definitively eliminate Registrar Pearline Khavarian, whom Alvarez said she was being committed against Dr. Alvarez.” ed to increase dramatically over the the possibility that the altered grades were due to terminated in April for changing her daughter’s grade However, Khavarian’s former assistant said grade next few years, the offices of Campus chance. on a transcript. changing was a common practice done with admin- Planning and Transportation & “It is theoretically possible, and easily testable, that Biology professor Terrence Sejnowski, one of the istrators’ full knowledge, and that the grade changes Parking Services have released a joint the actual error rates in the Preuss transcripts may be letter’s authors, said the group first met Alvarez sev- were primarily focused on students in the bottom report aimed at providing solutions for very small, and that the bulk of these errors may be eral years ago while collaborating on a learning center third of their classes. the massive influx of traffic expected random and unintentional,” the letter stated. project. According to Sejnowski, the professors were “These were not random grade changes,” said to accompany campus growth through The professors also questioned the implication of impressed by Alvarez’s integrity, and became con- Julianne Singer, a volunteer who worked in Khavarian’s the year 2013. ex-Principal Doris Alvarez, who resigned on Dec. 18 cerned whether they should continue collaborating office from 2004 to 2006. “They were targeted at The report recommends expand- after the audit concluded that she “likely had knowl- with her after the audit was released. [Advanced Placement] classes. That will tell you what ed use of mass transit, parking eli- edge of and/or directed inappropriate grade changes.” “When we read the audit carefully we could simply was changed and why. When [Alvarez] said this is gibility restrictions and new parking They said most of the evidence of Alvarez’s complic- not make a decision based on it,” Sejnowski said in an structures as solutions to alleviate ity was based on testimony given by former Preuss e-mail. “We became concerned that a grave injustice See AUDIT, page 3 projected traffic problems. The All- Campus Commuter Board, however, has already started a massive campaign to protest the construction of any proposed structure, particularly one in the New Campus Construction Goes Greener School of Medicine. The report’s study took into account By Christina Homer The data collected from these parking lot use by students, faculty and Staff Writer weather stations will be used to help staff as well as other sources of cam- reduce the campus’ energy use by pus traffic, including patients seeking UCSD’s 1,200-acre campus: cool allowing the environment to more treatment from UCSD’s health care ocean breezes caress joggers along precisely cool or heat buildings. In services, prospective students and their Torrey Pines, the Eucalyptus forest addition, scientists will attempt to families touring the campus and visi- peppers passing students with shade optimize irrigation methods and tors from the greater San Diego area and Regent’s Lot bakes drivers in its determine how effective solar power coming for sporting events, lectures desert heat. A team of campus sci- would be on campus. and performances. entists will finish a complete weather Another important facet of this The report predicts a campus pop- monitoring project later this year program is the degree to which it ulation increase of 5,300 over the next studying these different microcli- bridges disciplines, with many depart- five years. To accommodate the influx, mates in the hopes of making UCSD ments across the university joining new academic and residential build- more environmentally friendly. forces for this unique project. ings will be constructed on some exist- The Jacobs School of Engineering The new system is part of UCSD’s ing lots during that period, decreasing team is working closely with the participation in the Chicago Climate the number of lots available on campus Environment and Sustainability Exchange, a voluntary U.S. market by the 2012-13 school year. Initiative, the Office of the Vice where members attempt to lower their But the decrease means that in five Chancellor of Business Affairs Steven carbon dioxide footprint by a prede- years, only 4 percent of the parking COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS W. Relyea, Wells Fargo and car com- termined amount over a fixed time. spaces on campus will be vacant dur- pany Johnson Controls to design UCSD will soon install portable rooftop weather stations, which will gather data about the ing peak usage — a full percentage UCSD Energy and Utilities Manager campus’ climate conditions and assist administrators in preserving environmental sustanability. and install up to 30 portable weather John Dilliott said that if UCSD does point below the 5 percent vacancy rate stations on university building roof- not accomplish the required reduc- in a system that will inevitably be associated with the project. that T&PS deems optimal. Previously, tops. The Real-Time Observations for tion in emissions, it will be required adopted in California and the U.S.,” “UCSD’s participation [in the UCSD targeted a 10 percent level, Environmental Sustainability project to purchase credit from the exchange. Dilliot said. CCE] will also allow for student which was recalculated and lowered in will gather data about the campus’ On the other hand, if UCSD achieves In addition to making the cam- involvement in the process, especially light of modern operational efficien- temperature, rainfall, humidity and more reductions than the amount pus more environmentally friendly, in the field of environmental econom- cies and cost-containment goals. wind-speed. stipulated in its quota it can sell cred- professors are using this program as a ics, which will be an exploding field in Proposed construction of a new Eventually, the system will be its back to the system. teaching opportunity to demonstrate the near future and in need of leader- parking structure in the School of completely automatic, with local, low- The process is similar to the “cap how environmental studies can be ship and expertise,” Dilliot said. Medicine would require increasing power computers collecting the data and trade” scheme in place for the applied to the real world. A diverse The campus has invested $50 mil- student fees anywhere between 4.5 from each weather station and wire- European Union, said Dilliott. CCX is team of students, with majors ranging lion to improve its energy usage since percent to 10.2 percent per year, the lessly transmitting that information to currently a pilot program scheduled from environmental engineering and 2001, Relyea said. However, these report said. Annual fee increases have a data server for analysis. to end in 2010, whose goal is to prove mechanical engineering to computer changes are expected to save the uni- never exceeded 5 percent in the past. “The system is unique in that the that this type of system can impact science and political science is work- versity about $10.5 million annually If the plan is approved, the fee data producers — the scientists — global warming. ing on the project. in energy costs. increases could start as early as this work hand-in-hand with data users “UCSD does not anticipate profit- Kleissl said some students have The weather stations are expected coming year and continue until the — UCSD facilities management — to ing from its participation in the pro- been working on the project through to be installed by the end of this 2012-13 school year, the estimated facilitate knowledge transfer and real- gram; our analysis showed that we the Jacobs School, ESI and other local year. date of completion for the struc- world use of the data,” said Jan Kleissl, could break even, thus having no net companies who are supplying fund- ture. mechanical and aerospace engineer- impact to the campus budget but still ing. Some students are also doing Readers can contact Christina Homer at ing professor. allowing UCSD to gain experience internships and independent research [email protected]. See PARKING, page 2 FOCUS SPORTS INSIDE WEATHER Usurped Blockheads ...........................2 Up in Smoke Lights and Sirens .................3 Jan.

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