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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1982)
ANPRE^S '^?C£otAaAicL CiotAlnCs^^ Imported and domestic Fabric# ! Pattern# and Motion# | Andrea's baby Rack 1 ! Imported Clothing Andrea# Pesyn# I i Cusfcom-Ptfcfced bikini# ! African and Indonesian panel# Indian Bedspread# You’ll never leave beauty behind when you travel with the Skin Renewal System®. Now, for a limited time only, in a lightweight, travel-sized kit. If you are new to our skin care program, try it first in one of our famous free lessons. You’ll want to take your Three Steps to Beauty® wherever you go Only $11.00 Call today for your complementary skin analysis—exclusively yours at meRLEnoRmprr The Place for the Custom Face • 20 Oak way Mall Eugene, Oregon 97401 (503) 342-4483 Courses focus on writing Writing skills key to clear thinking By Mama Broekhoff Of ttt* EmaraM “No person can be called educated who cannot write," says Robert Berdahl, dean of the University College of Arts and Sciences. "In fact, the ability to write coherently, along with its prerequiste abilities, to read critically and to think clearly, should be the primary focus of a liberal arts educa tion ” Albert Kitzhaber, University professor Emeritus of English and past president of the Na tional Council of Teachers of English, agrees "Writing is the most complex skill human be ings have,” he says, "and the process makes one’s whole personality come to a focus at the fingertips.” "Writing is also per haps the most neces sary survival skill in all areas of the profes sional world,” Berdahl says, including educa tion, business, the technology, law and medicine. Few would deny that writing ability is the key to academic success. "We get calls all the - time from companies who want to improve their employees' writing," according to Kathleen Dubs, director of composition in the English department. She quotes figures to show that for training in writing, business normally outspends higher education by a margin of five to one. Nevertheless the media tell us we are in the midst of a national "literacy crisis," in which the majority of Americans simply cannot write clear, usable, everyday prose This crisis ex tends to all ages and all levels. It is now common knowledge that the vast majority of high school seniors score below the mid point on the verbal Scholastic Aptitude Test. Last year one major corporation estimated that it lost a million dollars simply because of inefficient, incoherent, and useless writing. ‘ All employees complain about the lack of literacy," Ber dahl says. "It's a tremendous problem." Dubs predicts that the crisis will continue as long as we allow it to continue. "We would never tolerate having a student tell us that two plus two equals five. Why do we tolerate unreadable prose?" Writing skills have always been emphasized at the Univer sity, and over the past several years the University has been responding to the literary crisis in an aggressive and systematic way. “There is continuing concern all over the University with writ ing ability," says Glen Love, former director of composition and chief author of the writing curriculum for the federally funded Project English Stod dard Malarkey, also a former composition director and auth or and editor of books on prose style, maintains that "teaching precise use of the written word is the most important function of the English department and really what the humanities are all about. ” The battle for literacy at the University is being waged on three fronts: course variety, teacher training, and writing re ‘If you go back 50 or 100 years,’ Kltzhaber says, ‘you’ll find people always thought writing was in a state of decay.’ search. The University offers a variety of courses for a variety of clientele that few other institutions can match. Each term the English department teaches hundreds of classes in composition, two of which are required for graduation. Other than a course in health educa tion, writing is the only Univer sity subject required of all students. Many departments would double the writing requirement if staff funding were available, Dubs says. In the regular program, students learn basic techniques of formulating a thesis, developing ideas and doing re search. For the 150 academically talented students in the University Honors Col lege. writing instruction is inte grated with the rest of their cur riculum. In the Honors College’s "writing-across-the-cur riculum" project. which received federal funding last fall, professors in other disciplines are trained to teach writing. At the other end of the spec trum, students needing to work intensively on their writing skills can enroll In several different developmental courses These courses are entirely self-sup porting and do not provide UofO Special Coupon $ IS PRECISION HAIRWORKS thru Oct. 15,1982 111. UnivariHv Saction fomanbah... PRECISION PAIPWCPrS haircut right on the corner of 29 th & Willamette (behind Patty's Pizza) is your best value in hair care $ 3. shampoo $2.blow dry 343 1182 9:30*6*00 Mon.-Fri. 9*30*5:00 Saturday no appointments taken graduation credit. Additionally, students at any level who are concerned about their writing can receive tutorial help from specially trained teachers in the writing lab at the Learning Re sources Center. According to Susan Lesyk, assisitant director at the Center, about 300 students use the lab regularly, but many more come in for help with special projects, such as with job applications or graduate theses. About a quarter of the lab's visitors are from the University’s foreign student population, which now numbers over 1000 from 72 different countries. Fo reign students may also enroll in the English department's year long writing sequence, English as a Second Language This prepares them for the regular freshman-level courses. Several sec tions of these regular level courses are re served for foreign students and other minorities. The linguis tics department is also developing ESL courses with the help of the American Eng lish Institute. To train profession als who must write frequently, the English department offers scientific and technical writing, and business communications, on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. To train professional writers, the department offers more than 20 advanced courses in nonfiction, short story, novel, drama, and poetry. It also offers the M F A degree in imaginative writing. Writing instruction at the University is outstanding not only because of such quantity, but also because of it quality. All teachers in the the writing pro grams have master's degrees; many also have doctorates. Graduate students in English teach writing sections only after they complete a term-long workshop in college composi tion and then serve a one-term teaching apprenticeship The department also provides weekly colloquia on composi tion teaching for all interested staff members Each teacher's performance is reviewed an nually by members of the Com position Committee Such strong commitment and profes sionalism are reflected in the extremely high evaluation writ ing teachers regularly receive from their students — among the highest in the University. Continued on Page 22 Are you a UNITARIAN WlltHMrt knowing It? Do you believe that neither prophet nor prteet can do your thinking tor you? Do you believe people are capable of aelf improvement and are not condemned by the doctrine ol original am"? Do you believe that driving to live a wholesome life « more important than accepting religious creeds? Then you are protesting Unitarian battels Unttarten Ctwrch of Eugene 477 East 4Mi Avenue US-2779 IfeMAJL
