As some students look forward to hibernation during winter break, others plan to be in class five days a week for Winter Term.

Western officials, with the help of more aggressive advertising, hope they can keep those students with Winter Term dreams when classes start Jan. 4.

The Division of Extended Learning and Outreach has increased promotion of information about Winter Term deadlines and fee penalties this year to keep more students in Winter Term classes, said Alicia Bingham, DELO administrative assistant.

Western students might remember getting report cards to show their progress in grade school. Now, Western gets one too, to show its sustainability progress.

Officials released Western’s second sustainability report Thursday, and it catalogs campus efforts to make Western more sustainable, said Sustainability Coordinator Christian Ryan-Downing, who prepared the report.

“It lets everybody know what’s going on,” she said. “It’s hard to keep up with everything, and this brings it all together in one place.”

The Student Government Association judicial council decided that officers can now serve office hours away from the office.

SGA Chief Justice Stuart Kenderes said the council decided to count meetings, SGA forums and other SGA-related activities as office hours.

He said time spent out of the office can now count for required office hours as long as a week’s notice and a written description is provided for the out-of-office activity.

Reports

Alyssa N. Bolze, Zacharias Hall, reported on Nov. 18 that her mother’s 1994 Lincoln Continental was stolen from the University Boulevard lot. The value of the theft was $4,500.
Holly Pugh, Auburn, reported on Nov. 16 that her car was on fire on the third floor of Parking Structure 2.

Arrests

Dave W. Christopher Jr., McCormack Hall, was [...]

Some Western students and graduates are climbing the political ladder by working for local, state and national politicians.
Timothy Morris graduated in 2008 and is now a regional political director for democrat Creigh Deeds, who ran for governor of Virginia.
Deeds recently lost the election, but Morris is still working for the politician, who’s a state senator [...]

The strong beat of drums and a poignant voice rumbled through the open doors of Hillvue Heights Church on Saturday night as members of the band Micah rehearsed a new song.
The local band was rehearsing for the second annual “Raise the Roof” concert.
The band is made up of lead singer Jacquelyn Wallace, lead guitarist Joe [...]

Western Weezer fans are logging onto Facebook in an attempt to bring the band to the Hill.
Weezer is the face of the new Motorola CLIQ phone from T-Mobile. T-Mobile is hosting a competition between universities called the Motorola CLIQ Challenge, according to its Facebook application.
Weezer released its newest CD in early November, according to Weezer’s [...]

Whether they contain comments or doodles, complaints or praise, some faculty members are questioning the reliability and validity of student evaluations of instructors.

The University Senate will further look at the effectiveness of the Student Input to Teaching Evaluation questionnaires at the senate meeting this Thursday.

A contract approved by the Board of Regents will make energy-efficient buildings a campus-wide affair.

A new Energy Savings Performance Contract extends improvements that started in 2001 to more campus buildings.

The board approved an ESPC on Oct. 30, said Bryan Russell, director of Planning, Design and Construction.

Leah Frazier, an Academy of Math and Science senior from Russell, was taking senior-level math and science courses as a sophomore in high school — and she was bored.

Frazier said her mother laughed when Frazier told her she was applying to the academy.

“She said there was no way I was going to leave her two years early to go five hours away, but when she saw this place, she said, ‘You need to be here,’” Frazier said.

Frazier is one of 10 students from eastern Kentucky enrolled in the academy. There are 122 academy students.

Tim Gott, director of the academy, said recruiters are especially focused on getting more students from the eastern part of the state.