Semesters continuedfrom page 1
returning for three weeks of
classes and finals. After a
10-day break, spring semester
would start, break for a week
of spring vacation and end in
mid-June.
SUAB is putting together an
alternative calendar that
would begin in early
September with the first
semester ending before
Christmas break, Allen says.
He says the assembly made
their decision without getting
enough information on the
students’ views.
“Maybe I was in my ivory
tower," says Ralph Falconeri,
history professor, “but I
thought debate would go on
for at least a full quarter.”
Apparently, some faculty
members are unwilling to
move to an early semester
system because of the
“weather argument.” They
believe the weather is so nice
in September that school
should not be in session.
Economics major Lanie
Barry says she is against the
semester system as it is pro
posed. “(The weather argu
ment) is ridiculous,” says
Barry, who favors an early
semester system.
Biology Prof. Sandy Tepfer,
who proposed the motion,
says he tried to reach a com
promise allowing the Universi
Paul Apfelbeck: ‘Late
semesters penalize
students’
ty the semester system’s ad
vantages while sidestepping
the weather argument.
“Some say the weather
argument is irrelevant, but it
does control how faculty
vote,” says Tepfer.
Tepfer says the climate is
one reason faculty stay in
Oregon, and the best weather
of the year is in September.
Tepfer explains the quarter
system traditionally provided
the same educational depth as
the semesters. When it was
first introduced, students took
three courses, and classes
met five days a week. This
scheduling provided the same
number of class hours as a
semester system. Eventually,
he said the system got
watered down to the Univer
sity’s current level.
In terms of academics, most
professors and administrators
agree semesters allow
students and teachers to ex
plore a subject in more depth
than the quarter system.
"It allows you to get into a
subject with more depth and
write a paper worthy of turning
in,” says Falconeri.
“(In the quarter system),
you’re constantly taking ex
ams,” he says. “There is a
rush to keep up with the
evaluative matters. It is not
that tests aren’t important, but
there is not enough analysis,
reading and paper writing.
Quarters don’t allow enough
time to talk to faculty.”
Hynes also welcomes the
evaluation of all the course
content and restructuring the
conversion would require.
“It will provide serious
thinking, not just a reproduc
tion of the catalog,” says
Hynes. “There is a lot of
duplication. It’s the accumula
tion of decades.”
Board ponders semesters
By Sandy Johnstone
Of the Emerald
State Board of Higher
Education members are am
bivalent about the semester
system.
The board will consider the
semester system approved by
the University Assembly at its
Friday meeting in Monmouth.
The recommendation from the
Chancellor’s office is to pass
the proposal.
Board member John
Alltucker says he has ques
tions about the move. He is
concerned that science
courses with a lot of prere
quisites may force students
into taking longer to graduate.
Board member James Peter
son says the students are his
first priority.
“The University is for the
students,” Petersen says.
“Their feelings are important.”
He says problems may arise
for students who want to
transfer in and out of the
system.
But board member Alvin
Batiste says transfers should
create few problems because
many other colleges use the
semester system.
“Students transfer all the
time," he says.
The switch gives the Univer
sity a chance to redesign
courses, Batiste says.
“That would be a good exer
cise to go through,” he says.
As the only state system
school on the semester
system, the University could
serve as an example for the
other schools, Batiste says.
“It might allow the other
schools to learn something,”
he says.
Board member Jane
Carpenter is not enthusiastic.
“Personally I feel it may
cause of lot of inconsisten
cies,” Carpenter says. No
board member should be sure
of a position before hearing
the evidence presented at the
meeting, she says.
Board vice president Loren
Wyss says the board must
balance the institution’s
needs against the confusion
the shift may cause.
"I don’t know how we’ll
decide.”
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