Faculty Diversity Grows, but Still Lagging
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Wal-Mart increases wages; speculations arise Baylor professor questions strategy of superstore chain see BUSINESS, page 3 baylorlariat com The Baylor Lariat WE’RE THERE WHEN YOU CAN’T BE From Food and Feminism: Expand your literary horizons beyond “6 ways to a better you” articles. Wednesday | March 4, 2015 Faculty diversity grows, but still lagging By Shannon Barbour partments are working on recruit- fall 2014 data gathered by SMU’s Reporter ing professors of a diverse nature,” Office of Institutional Research said Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez, as- and UTA’s Office of Institutional Almost 36 percent of under- sociate professor of journalism, Reporting, Research and Informa- graduate students at Baylor are mi- public relations and new media. tion Systems. norities, while only 12.3 percent, or “It’s a process.” In fall 2014, SMU’s faculty mi- 122 out of 990, of faculty members According to Baylor Institu- nority rate was 19 percent. Baylor’s are minorities, according to Baylor tional Research and Testing, fe- was 12.3 percent. Institutional Research and Testing. male faculty rates in fall 2014 were In the same semester, SMU’s fe- “We all have different filters 38.9 percent, lower than the under- male faculty rate was 39.2 percent, through which we see the world,” graduate female composition of 58 0.3 percent higher than Baylor. said Macarena Hernandez, pro- percent. Even though SMU’s student fessor of journalism, public rela- “You’re going to see increases body is less gender and ethni- tions and new media. “We all ben- in the hiring of women,” Moody- cally diverse than Baylor, with 50.5 efit when we get to see the world Ramirez said of faculty recruit- percent female and 26.9 percent through other people’s filters and ment trends. “And then after that’s minority rates, its faculty is more if everyone around you sees the established, you’re going to see in- diverse. world through the same filter, creased hiring in minorities. That’s UTA also has a higher female SOURCE: BAYLOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH & TESTING ILLUSTRATION BY SKYE DUNCAN | LARIAT PHOTO EDITOR you’re missing out.” usually how it trickles-down. It’s faculty rate. Females make up 39.1 Despite this low percentage, the a trickle down effect. That’s tradi- percent of UTA’s faculty while fe- Moody-Ramirez lists negative let people know that it’s a good mographic may make it difficult to from Page 1 faculty minority rate is 4.7 percent, tionally how its been done.” male students make up 50.7 per- perceptions of Waco and compet- place to live. Dallas doesn’t really recruit more diverse faculty. SCHOOL higher and has 61 more minority Compared to peer campuses cent of undergraduate students. ing with areas such as Dallas and have that negative connotation,” “If you don’t have as diverse a professors than 10 years ago ac- such as Southern Methodist Uni- UTA’s minority faculty rates are Austin as reasons for a lower diver- Moody-Ramirez said. faculty as you would like, that can cording to past reports by Baylor. versity in Dallas and The Univer- higher than both Baylor and SMU sity rate among faculty. Dr. James Bennighof, vice be a factor that works against you “We have more diversity in sity of Texas at Austin, Baylor falls at 22.2 percent, although not en- “There is still that perception provost for academic affairs and because diverse faculty will not students than we have in faculty short in both female and minority tirely representative of its 53.1 per- that Waco is unsafe. So we have policy, said in addition to location members. But I know that all de- faculty representation according to cent minority student body. to work against that. We have to concerns, the current faculty de- SEE DIVERSITY, page 4 Hill sends TX bill DHS bill calls for to Obama By Erica Werner and David Espo Associated Press school WASHINGTON — Bitterly ad- mitting defeat, the Republican-con- trolled Congress sent legislation to reform President Barack Obama on Tuesday that funds the Department of Home- By Will Weissert land Security without any of the im- Associated Press migration-related concessions they demanded for months. AUSTIN — Top legislative con- Obama promised to sign the bill servatives clamoring for Texas to as soon as he received it, while criti- adopt a school choice voucher plan cizing Congress for taking “far too proposed a series of other education long” to pass it. changes instead Tuesday that are less “Sanity is prevailing,” said Rep. Pe- controversial but could still spark ter King, R-N.Y., a former chairman heated debates. of the Homeland Security Commit- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen- tee, before the House voted 257-167 ate Education Committee Chairman in favor of the $40 billion spending KEVIN FREEMAN | LARIAT PHOTOGRAPHER Larry Taylor presented a package bill. All 182 Democrats present voted of bills including plans to issue A for the bill, while it received only 75 through F grades for individual pub- Republican “yes” votes. While the sleet is away, the students will play lic schools — rather than just giving “I am glad that House Republi- Alpha Delta Pi members and their crushes play kickball Tuesday at Edge Field. Even though Waco saw snow, sleet and frozen roads a letter grades to school districts, which cans finally came to their senses,” said week ago, the temperatures throughout Tuesday exceeded 60 degrees. The warmer weather was welcomed by student around campus, lawmakers approved last session — but won’t be here long. Weather predictions expect temperatures to dip as a low of 25 degrees. SEE DHS, page 4 SEE SCHOOL, page 4 NYU professor speaks for silenced By Rachel Leland Staff Writer Renowned lawyer and pris- oners’ rights activist Bryan Ste- venson wants Baylor students to change the world. Last night, Stevenson spoke to students about injustice of Amer- ica’s criminal justice system and DANE CHRONISTER | REPORTER his work as the Executive Direc- Pearland sophomore Mark McComb experiments with his biodiesel full Monday in a laboratory of the Baylor Sciences Building. tor of the Equal Justice Initiative at a lecture hosted by the Acad- emy for Leader Development in Waco Hall which has brought six Biodiesel experiments speakers to campus. Stevenson’s flight was can- celed because of the fog, so the fueling students’ future Academy for Leader Develop- ment sent a driver to meet him at SKYE DUNCAN | LARIAT PHOTO EDITOR By Dane Chronister McComb plan to travel to Abilene the airport in Dallas. The speaker Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke Tuesday night about changing the Reporter Christian University in order to walked across the stage an hour world with four things: having the power of proximity, changing the narrative, holding onto your hope and work with the biodiesel reactor and ten minutes after the event choosing to do uncomfortable things. He also spoke about his clients’ experiences with racial injustice and Pearland sophomore Mark Mc- alongside another group of scien- was planned. poverty and how he is working to change that. Comb and Dr. Larry Lehr, senior tists to see what they need to im- Students watched Stevenson’s lecturer of environmental science, prove or change in their own pro- acclaimed 2012 Ted Talk before Walter McMilian who was exon- “In aviation, we would never den. It’s not our struggle.” took their biodiesel project to the cess. the speaker arrived in an im- erated from a murder he did not let people fly on airplanes if for Stevenson, a New York Uni- Baylor Science Building’s labs for Through a process known as promptu attempt to pass time. commit in 1993. According to the every nine planes that took off versity law professor and Harvard the first time last week in order to transesterification, vegetable oils, Stevenson represents clients Ted Talk, for every nine people one would crash,” Stevenson said. graduate, said he spends most of grasp better understanding its abili- animal fats and used restaurant who are victims of the criminal executed in the United States, one “But somehow we can insulate his time visiting prison, jail, or ties. justice system on a racial and person on death row is found in- ourselves from this problem. It’s on death row, where he says 2.3 nocent. not our problem. It’s not our bur- In the next few weeks, Lehr and SEE FUEL, page 4 socioeconomic bias, including SEE STEVENSON, page 4 Vol.115 No. 74 First copy free. Additional copies 25 cents each. © 2015 Baylor University Opinion Wednesday|March 4, 2015 2 The Baylor Lariat No-smoking policy on campus is hazy tarily comply with the new policy. if enforcement isn’t, then what is? Editorial But to enact a policy without clari- Money? fying penalties is dangerous and Or could it be for the univer- Walk around campus at dusk undermines the university’s au- sity’s image? and, chances are, someone will ei- thority. If police and governments By enacting anti-tobacco poli- ther be smoking or cigarette butts did not enforce laws, would people cies, Baylor may seem more pro- are lying around where someone still respect them? More than likely gressive and modern than schools finished smoking. But isn’t Baylor a not. who have not. Our generation has tobacco-free, smoke-free campus? In addition, “funding [became] been coached that tobacco is a In August 2014, the university negative image, thanks to Nancy enacted a policy that banned all Reagan’s “Just Say No” program forms of tobacco use on campus.