HEALTH & MEDICINE
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Gym trainers keep students fit, motivated
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
Staff Writer
Need a boost in getting back to your workout routine?
Personal trainers at USC may be your answer.
One-on-one workout sessions, offered through Recreational Sports at the Lyon Center, are tailored specifically to meet a students personal fitness goals.
The program, now in its 10th year, matches students and faculty with student trainers, whose credentials include national certification and extensive backgrounds in health and fitness.
“Personal training has become very popular,” said Justine Gilman, assistant director of Recreational Sports. “People need accountability and education."
About seven personal trainers work individually with clients during one-hour sessions to develop customized workout plans. Trainers also teach clients proper technique, especially for weight training.
Sara Corbett, who used a personal trainer as a sophomore, said she was in good hands.
“I really appreciated that I knew I was using the machines correctly,” said Corbett, a senior majoring in business and international relations. “My job was not to memorize what machines to use and how many reps.”
Personal trainers can develop programs to meet nearly any fitness goal, Gilman said.
“Sometimes people will request a program in free weights, or they want to be a tennis player so they do specific exercises for just that,” Gilman said.
Programs are also tailored to match the fitness level of the individual, said Dillon Trankina, a personal trainer and a junior majoring in I see Health, page 7 !
A Site for Sore Eyes
After a much-needed, makeover, the online edition of the Daily Trojan is easier than ever to navigate. Visit www.dailytrojan.com
DM TROJAN
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
WEDNESDAY ♦—
January 9, 2002
Of interest...
With the much lauded ‘Flower Drum Song' USC theater student Michael Dow has arrived / 5
News Digest	2	Calendar	2
Opinions	4	Lifestyle	5
The Buzz	5	Classifieds	8
Crossword	9	Sports	12
vol. CXLV, no. 2 www.dailytrojan.com
Feedback improves quality of teaching
Evaluations: Professors find students' end-of semester comments valuable
Harris to promote USC s image
Student Senate confirms three new directors
Report: Campus-wide e-mail designed to publicize last semesters achievements
By LORI STUENKEL
Student Senate Writer
Student Senate confirmed two directors and a parliamentarian at the weekly meeting Tuesday.
Harold Mann Jr., a freshman majoring in business administration, was confirmed as co-director of elections and recruitment. Mann and codirector Esther Teo presented this year’s elections code to senators for
review before the vote next week. They have been working on the new code since December.
Paul Wilkins, a senior majoring in economics and international relations, was confirmed as parliamentarian. He replaced Jeff Zures, who graduated in December.
Senators also confirmed Glenn Dela Cruz as director of advertising and promotions. Dela Cruz, a senior majoring in business administration, began working in December, and has completed flyers and advertisements for Senate, as well as the cover for its mid-year report. He replaced Josh Katz, who resigned early last semes-
ter because of time constraints.
On Dec. 10, Student Senate sent an e-mail to all undergraduate students to update them on completed projects and projects that are in progress.
“We want to communicate with students and let them know what we’re doing,” said President Hema Patel, a senior majoring in international relations and political science.
Senate urged the university to administer the listserv to inform students about the executive cabinets projects, Patel said.
“As elected officials we have a responsibility to do that,” she said.
In developing the listserv, Patel
also hoped that keeping students better informed would increase the amount of student input to senators and executives.
“We’re really happy with the amount of feedback we’ve gotten so far," Patel said.
Most of the student comments were related to Senate’s new Web site or Senates lobbying for restructured USCard fees.
Another e-mail will be sent during this semester, Patel said.
USC President Steven Sample will address senators in Leavey Auditorium next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Former public relations official ready to talk across departments
By DENISE OSHODI
Staff Writer
Although her expertise is public relations, Martha Harris finds it difficult to speak about herself.
“I’m used to promoting other people,” she said. “I really haven’t thought about how I describe myself.”
After working at the university for the last 22 years in public relations, Harris now has the ultimate opportunity to promote USC as the new senior vice president of University Relations.
Harris began at USC in 1979 as
director of the USC News Service, and eventually became vice president of the university’s public relations department. In November, Harris replaced Jane Pisano as senior vice president of what was previously called external relations.
Pisano left the position to become the president of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum on Exposition Boulevard.
Harris’ division is now responsible for listening to the voices of people affected by the university, ranging from leaders of the surrounding community to politicians, alumni,
parents and students. Harris lets them know what the university has to offer, she said.
“The role of university relations is to serve the university ... to provide access and care and feeding for stakeholders of the university,” Harris said.
The stakeholders, including politicians, parents and alumni, advance Harris the university’s funds for boosters like university events and funding for research, she added.
This effort to make and preserve contacts with various leaders and supporters is part of the overall push I see Harris, page 7 I
BY ART PRIROMPRINTR
Staff Writer
For students, filling out course evaluations is as much a part of end-of-semester rituals as final exams. The forms are filled out, turned in and whisked away, never to be seen again by students, who are told to fill them out as sincerely as possible because their comments are vital.
But what happens to those forms after students turn them in? Do professors take them seriously? Who sees these evaluations and what are they used for?
“I read every one of them and I take them very seriously,” said Edwin McCann, a philosophy professor.
The evaluations help him make improvements in the courses he teaches, McCann said. Evaluations proved very helpful this past semester, when he taught a 300-student general education course, he added.
The department of philosophy asked students to fill out mid-semester course evaluations, similar to the end-of-semester course evaluations filled out throughout the university.
Last term’s mid-semester evaluations yielded four or five useful comments that helped him to significantly improve the course, McCann said.
“(I got) the idea of taking formal breaks every 20 or so minutes, during which questions or comments could come from the audience," McCann said. “(The breaks) helped to break up long lectures for the students and (they) helped me see what people were thinking about the topic.”
Students also asked that he use a microphone in the large lecture hall, I see Evaluations, page 7 I
What's cookin’?
Bon appetit.
Arben
Kiobucista, a chef from Rome, Italy, prepares a pasta dish for students living in Parkside International Residential College. Like EVK, the new dining facilities serve buffet-style meals and require a meal plan for all residents.