Dear Editor,
The Conduct Council class, which several administrators and I helped to put together this summer, meets throughout the semester, has two five page papers and includes a mandatory "comprehensive training on the student disciplinary system and the Student Conduct Code."
I lifted the quote directly from the class syllabus, something, it seems, that was too difficult for the Eagle to do (Council offers credit, Sept. 15). The Eagle was, however, correct in that students enrolled in the course are required to serve on the council for judicial hearings, and that they also have to go through a 20-hour mediation training. But by omitting the aforementioned requirements, The Eagle made up its own reason, through error, to blast the course through an editorial (Credit for Conduct Board, Sept. 15).
That "editorial" also incorrectly referred to the Conduct Council class as "the Conduct Board." I guess flipping to the first page of his own newspaper involves more research than that particular editorialist was willing to put forth.
Had the news article "Council offers credit" aptly described the course, the editorial page may have been spared from writing its pointless and confusing piece. Instead, it poses the question of why students who put their effort into various clubs do not receive credit when students serving on the conduct council do. The answer, quite simply, is the educational component that The Eagle failed to mention. The students enrolled are taking a class, albeit one that combines both the traditional classroom setting and more, and for that, they deserve credit.
Several administrators were kind enough to help in creating this class. Faith Leonard, Meg Weeks, Dick Bennett and Katsura Beltz all should have been interviewed if a story on the class was to be written.
As the Director of the Student Advocacy Center, I am upset at the Eagle's misrepresentation of this class that so many people worked to initiate. As a student in the School of Communication, I am embarrassed that for all the wonderful faculty and resources that our school provides, the Eagle is all American University has to show for a school newspaper.
Ben Turner Senior, SOC
