By Clarissa Anderson | ReporterThe Legal Writing Center at the Baylor Law School has created a writing competition that provides students with hands-on experience much like what they will experience in their career. Law students who register for the competition will receive a prompt to create a real-world legal document.The competition offers cash prizes of $3,000 to the first-place winner, $1,500 to second place and $500 to third place, and the top three finishers will receive an interview opportunity for a clerkship with Dallas appellate law firm Kelly, Durham & Pittard, LLP. Charlie and Lisa Frazier will underwrite the competition.…
Author: Clarissa Anderson
Clarissa Anderson | ReporterThere is a misconception in the United States and among prosecutors that jail is the only option when people are arrested. Alternatives to incarceration should be sought instead, Adam Foss, an advocate for criminal justice reform, told around 300 Baylor students at a lecture on Tuesday.“What are alternatives to incarceration? My answer is everything,” Foss said. “Anything that doesn’t involve locking people up in a cage with other traumatized people is an alternative to incarceration.” Foss spoke to Baylor students about mass incarceration at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student…
Video by Katie Mahaffey | Broadcast Reporter and story by Clarissa Anderson | Reporter It’s the time of the year again for Pigskin Revue, one of Baylor’s major homecoming traditions. The first performance was at 7 p.m. Thursday, and the next showtimes will be at 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. at Waco Hall. today and at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets were sold out almost as soon as they were made available during the summer. “Our coordinator for ticket operations said that one of the shows sold out in four minutes, so it’s definitely something that people love and enjoy…
By Clarissa Anderson | ReporterThe Baylor Graduate Student Association is challenging master’s and doctoral students to present their research in just three minutes during a competition. The third annual Three Minute Thesis competition will occur from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Graduate Research Center Incubator, located in the W. R. Poage Legislative Library. Participants and audience members will learn about research their peers have done in different disciplines while eating free food catered by Zoe’s Kitchen, said Naperville, Ill., graduate student Kevin Singer, academic affairs chair of the Graduate Student Association. “It’s a very fun experience because you…
We constantly come up against social injustices that we recognize as wrong and illogical. The victims of these injustices in many cases have no one to turn to, especially if they worry that if they gather their courage and attempt to stop these abuses, they will face retaliation. Even if there are places of refuge to go to, they may feel uncomfortable doing so. As I wrote this, I admit that I was afraid. At a time when Baylor is recovering from a scandal resulting from not reporting sexual assault on campus, I wondered, how much am I allowed to…
By Clarissa Anderson | ReporterStudents considering graduate school will have many of their questions answered by attending Baylor’s Graduate School Open House on Thursday. The open house is free and will inform prospective students about resources and programs for master’s and doctoral studies. “We are wanting to diversify our recruitment resources that we have at Baylor, and nothing like this has ever been done before,” said Emily Corntassel, Baylor graduate recruitment and admissions analyst. The Graduate School Open House takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, but students can attend as their schedule permits. Although online registration ends…
By Clarissa Anderson | ReporterThe freedom of being a University Scholar may hurt some of the program’s students. The University Scholar Program has relatively few requirements for Baylor coursework. However, for some students, being a University Scholar can make it hard to get involved in the departments their concentrations are in. University Scholars cannot have any minor or major other than Bachelor of Arts in University Scholars. Instead, they concentrate in areas of study, taking some courses in departments they are interested in. “It’s like this mystical program that is for a bunch of kids that don’t know what they…
By Clarissa Anderson | ReporterFor the first time in at least five years, Baylor’s Honors Program has allowed students to submit an art piece for the Freshman Reading Project. The Freshman Reading Project is required of all freshman students in the Honors Program.“[It lets] people that have trouble expressing things in words use their creativity and express themselves in an alternative medium,” said Louisburg, Kan. junior Amelia Baumgardner, who led one of the small groups for the project. Students are required to read a book over the summer and in the past have been given a prompt that they address…
By Clarissa Anderson | ReporterBaylor has hit record highs in enrollment, graduation rates and freshman retention, and higher 2017 ranking by U.S. News & World Report. The fall 2016 freshman class is the second largest class yet with a total of 3,503 students, and out-of-state freshman enrollment increased to 35.7 percent. “We are very pleased to see the message of Baylor University is reaching more students every day around the nation,” said Jennifer Carron, associate vice president of undergraduate enrollment, in a Baylor Media Communications press release. “This class will enable our graduates to have a more far-reaching alumni base…
Many students use online professor ratings from websites such as Rate My Professors and BUBooks.com to determine which professor’s class to register. Ratings on these sites are anonymous reviews by fellow students who previously took the class. The websites have listings of the highest- and lowest-rated professors with scores based on various factors such as workload, helpfulness or availability. However, student biases and unreliability have caused controversy over professor ratings. Extreme ratings are either unhelpful or irrelevant. “I do not have a class with this prof, but he is the sexiest religion prof I’ve ever seen. But he sucks on…
Finding a comfortable place in your classes during the first few weeks of school can be difficult whether you’re a freshman or senior. Maybe your physical seat in class is just what you wanted- close enough for you to see the board but not in the front row where it’s too close to the professor. However, you may quickly realize that this semester is not going the way others have before. Perhaps you’re already struggling to keep up with the homework your professors have assigned, or perhaps you’re daunted by the tidal wave of work heading your way. The first…
Clarissa Anderson | ReporterBaylor administrators have now boosted merit-based scholarships for transfer students for the 2017-2018 school year. Scholarships rose from between $5,000 and $10,000 to between $6,000 and $12,000. Kyle Pyron is Baylor’s transfer admissions counselor for students coming from schools other than McLennan Community College. He said Baylor has revised merit-based scholarships every couple of years. “It helps us to stay competitive with other schools,” Pyron said. Since students are concerned with the cost of attendance of a private university such as Baylor, increased scholarships provide incentives for students to come, Pyron said. Paul Marshall, one of Baylor’s…