A STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE Renaissance Festival - See more on page 7 Volume XXXV, Number 12 www.uhcl.edu/thesignal November 5, 2007 New policies for the UHCL police department Neesha Hosein in uniform soon that will be more profes- says the fees here are not higher in com- and the annual fee at UH-Main Campus is The Signal Staff sional-looking. In the spring you might parison to that of other institutions from $130. Students at Texas A&M University start seeing a little more involvement in what he has seen. Parking fees go toward at Galveston pay $33 per semester. The police department at the community outreach. I’m working with keeping the roads and parking lots paved “Parking fees are determined through University of Houston-Clear Lake has a David Rachita to perhaps assign officers as and painted, pays for the process and sup- the University Shared Governance new police chief who has begun imple- liaisons with the student clubs and organi- plies for parking permits, lights, emer- Process,” Willingham said. “The university menting a series of new policies and pro- zations, and possibly even be invited to gency call boxes, and maintenance. He police work in concert with other UHCL cedures. take part in some of the campus activities says he is aware that some lots have prob- departments and governing bodies “I feel like we should always display so that we’re not just uniforms to people. lems and solutions are in the works. Lots [Finance, University Life Committee, that certain amount of professionalism,” That’s important.” A and B are scheduled for repair this Traffic Committee, etc] to determine the said Paul Willingham, UHCL chief of In response to complaints about park- December. appropriate fees for parking. The intent of police. “You’ll see. There will be a change ing and traffic related fees, Willingham The annual parking fee at UHCL is $70 POLICE DEPT: continues on page 10 UHCL seeks to Human reverse national outhouse attrition trend Bret Newcomb wins UHCL The Signal Staff Among the most pressing issues concerning post-secondary education is that of student reten- Halloween tion. A study by ACT, Inc., an independent, not-for- profit organization that conducts assessments and costume research in the areas of education and workforce development, found that student attrition has been on the rise for the last 20 years. The study shows contest more than a 13 percent drop in student retention from 1983 to 2005 in public universities’ under- graduate programs. The individual winner for the This national trend is also reflected at the UHCL Halloween social and cos- University of Houston-Clear Lake, and steps are tume contest conducted being taken to address the problem. “Here at UHCL we are no different from our Wednesday, Oct. 31 was an out- sister institutions,” said Dean of Students Anthony house. Pictured from left, Jenkins. “However, everyone from the University President William Staples opens President, Provost, Division of Student Services the door to the outhouse and and faculty are working to pull together every finds Aditra Derouchie, cashier/ resource we have to develop a comprehensive retention strategy that will hopefully have a pro- accounting assistant. found impact on our students.” Richard Willis:The Signal The first step in coming up with a strategy to handle student retention is to understand what causes the problem in the first place. Seabrook “In spite of bringing in large groups of new Pelicans FERPA amendment poses no students our enrollment is not growing,” said Darlene Biggers, associate vice president of stu- dent services. “We have not kept accurate, consis- imminent threat to student privacy tent data of semester to semester retention or per- Melissa Bird deem necessary to the parents of mentally sistence to degree for cohorts so we aren’t sure The Signal Staff troubled students as long as they get the writ- how big of a problem it is. However, looking at the ten consent from a mental health professional past couple of semesters we saw that about 1,000 In recent years, violence in schools, stating that the student poses a significant students per semester were eligible to return but including many universities, has become more threat that could increase the chances for sui- did not. Now, of that group we aren’t sure how prevalent and gained the attention of the entire cide, homicide or other violent acts. This many were pursuing degrees or how many were country. Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania is would remove liability from the university. pursuing certificates and had just completed the sponsoring a bill that he hopes will help pre- “Unfortunately, the interpretation of certificate. We also have quite a few students on - Read more on vent further violence by eradicating the liabili- FERPA is so unclear that schools are fearful of academic probation and suspension each year. But page 12 ty of schools after disclosing information. being sued,” Murphy told members of the majority of students who don’t return are in Under the Family Educational Rights and Congress earlier this month. “The just released good academic standing.” Privacy Act of 1974, colleges and universities report from the National Association of Texian Market The challenges facing students are varied and are allowed to disclose certain information Attorneys General Task Force on Campus Days include insufficient preparation for academia, fam- about students if it is determined that they Safety calls for an update of the FERPA laws ily constraints, lack of funds, work demands, inad- pose some sort of harm to themselves or oth- that would allow for protection from liability equate childcare and a disconnect with the college ers. There has been a lot of finger pointing if schools make good-faith efforts to protect community. and many lawsuits about who was responsible students, faculty and staff, which is precisely U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling in cases where tragedies occurred. what my bill offers.” addressed student enrollment and retention in a “Parents have sued universities for telling Murphy’s bill comes as a reaction to the 2006 Department of Education Study stating, them [about their troubled child], and parents recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. Some say it is “There are far too many Americans who want to have sued universities for not telling them,” just a bandage for a bigger issue. go to college but cannot – because they’re either said Anthony Jenkins, dean of students. “Every now and then a politician will cre- not prepared or cannot afford it.” The Mental Health Security for Families ate a feel good bill just to make people feel Secretary Spelling put together a commission - Read more on and Education Act, HR 2220, would allow better, Jenkins said. “We’ve done this with page 6 universities to disclose any information they FERPA: continues on page 10 RETENTION: continues on page 10 2 November 5, 2007 New police chief plays by the book EnhancedThere is a new chief in town; hisdirectives name whelming, especially have after paying tuition. officersto keep potentially more harmful predators active off keep the on campus safecampus for UHCL students, is Paul Willingham and he comes to us As unpleasant as they are, these pricey the premises. Parking permits are a way of faculty and staff. The campus police help with 16 years of experience at The items are a necessity to maintain parking keeping track of who is coming on campus with locked keys inside vehicles, walk stu- University of Texas at Houston. lots, parking lights and roads on campus, and who is leaving. dents, faculty or staff to their vehicles for The UHCL Police Department is also as well as maintain campus safety. The If students wish to appeal a parking added safety, and provide emergency implementing some new policies. They are money collected allows parking lot and ticket or any other type of fee, they may response to reported incidents, among focusing on: internal processes, patrol road maintenance to advance. fill out a request to The Parking Citation other services. expectations, traffic enforcement stan- In order to avoid being ticketed, one Appeals Committee by going to the Police Nobody likes paying a fine, but let’s dards, critical incident response and stu- must do the following: buy a parking per- Department, Room B 1636, before the face it, we know the rules. At least the dent-related crime response. Willingham mit and display it correctly, park in the resolve date. Traffic tickets cannot be rule-breakers do pay for maintenance that has also vowed to improve the customer appropriate parking lots, and do not speed appealed on campus, but may be taken to benefit the students while driving on cam- service of his department. on the campus roads. The respective speed court by transferring the citation to Harris pus. If you do not want a fine, follow the No one enjoys getting a ticket, but they limit is 30 mph. County upon request. posted rules and regulations. You will find are a necessary evil. For the sake of student safety, it is In addition to enforcing parking restric- these on the campus police Web site at The price of parking permits, parking important that students, faculty and staff tions, the UHCL Police Department offers www.uhcl.edu/police. tickets and speeding tickets can be over- purchase and display their parking permits a number of other services designed to with concerns raised by stu- dents and professors, the col- What issue is lege failed to discuss the situa- tion with Cho’s family and take appropriate action.