Progress Report

 

PASS

Faculty members in Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication met Tuesday to narrow a list of 175 applicants to 60 students who will be admitted into the school. Because of overcrowding and space shortages, applicants now must write an essay, submit a portfolio of their work and be interviewed by a panel of faculty members. Before the 2001-02 academic year, students only had to declare the major on their OU applications. Having a selective admissions policy will ensure only the best students are admitted to the nationally recognized Visual Communication School. Until the school is able to expand and hire more faculty members to accommodate a larger number of students, using a selective admissions process maintains the high quality program.

FAIL

Athens residents have reserved one entire side of the city parking lot on North College Street, replacing 16 former spaces with parking meters. The city began selling reserve spots in the lot in December 2001 for $85 per month — the same price as a spot in the lower level of the city parking garage. The city will continue to remove meters as more people are interested in reserved spots in the lot. Money from the reserved spaces will go to the city’s general fund and be roughly equivalent to the amount of money brought in by metered spaces. Serious parking issues already exist in Athens, and removing meters to accommodate reserve spaces will not help these problems. Reserve spaces already exist in the garage, and those should be used instead of removing metered spaces from other lots. Athens should try to add metered parking, not take it away.

FAIL

A Congressional study found the difference in managerial salaries for men and women in American industry grew from 1995 to 2000. In some fields, managerial salaries for women not only failed to catch up, they lost ground. The report looked at salaries in the 10 industries that employed the most women between 1995 and 2000. Three of those industries — medicine, education and public administration — narrowed the gap between salaries. Among education managers, women earned 91 cents for every dollar earned by a man in 2000, up from 86 cents in 1995. Female managers in the communications industry earned 73 cents, down from 86 cents in 1995. Women who are working in the same positions as men deserve the same salary. Industries where the salaries have dropped should ensure that the salaries for women and men are equal. The work that women do is equal to that of men, and they should be paid equally as well.

PASS

Because hundreds of federal executives collected bonuses last year totaling $32 million dollars, both Congress and the Bush administration are looking for new ways to link bonuses to performance. At the Federal Aviation Administration, 161 civil service executives collected more than $1 million in bonuses, even though the agency failed to meet half its performance goals from the previous budget year. At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, two executives won presidential rank awards worth $10,000 each, despite the fact that the agency missed a presidential target to increase seat belt use to 85 percent by 14 percentage points. The current bonus system is not working; employees should not get bonuses for meeting less than half of their performance goals. Bonus money should be given when employees do outstanding work, not simply because it is there to give. Bush and Congress must change the manner that bonuses are awarded so they are better linked to performance.

 

PASS

State officials decided last month to close the Orient Correctional Institution after Governor Bob Taft ordered state agencies to cut expenses and reduce the $1.5 billion deficit in the state budget. The closing of the prison will save $19 million a year, but before it closes it will get a $4.4 million dollar renovation. Orient received a new parking lot, renovated inmate dormitories and fresh coats of paint. Workers will finish sewer, plumbing, ventilation, heating, roof and window projects next month. The renovation is being completed in case the prison is reopened in the future. It will be easier for workers to finish the renovations when the prisoners are gone, and the renovations will ensure the prison will be ready to reopen. It is better to have the renovations completed now instead of rushing to finish them if the prison reopens.

 

FAIL

During a press conference to promote their upcoming boxing match, Mike Tyson started a fight with Lennox Lewis. Tyson threw a punch at a bodyguard who tried to intervene, and started a 20-man brawl on the floor of a crowded stage at the Hudson Theater that spilled behind a backstage curtain. Tyson will meet with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday to decide whether he will be given a license to box in Las Vegas, where he was banned in 1997 after biting off part of Evander Holyfield' s ear in a world title fight. Losing control and fighting during the press conference was inexcusable. Tyson should have controlled himself and saved the fighting for the ring.