University
Students angered by program cut
University's decision to
drop American Studies
leaves many wondering
By Marina Swain
Hmerald Contributor
Amt?ri<.an Studies (wadiiati" Teae hing Fellow
Kevin Donald li.is looked around the DmversiU
and does not like wh.it he sees
"It reflects a direct interest toward the hard
si iem es and business and a neglee t ol the liberal
arts. ' Donald said "I see the ai tual demise ol
certain areas ot liberal arts at the I ' Diversity
In partir 11 lor. he is saddened Its the I 'niversi
tv's decision to r ut the American Studies pro
gram I hiiversitv offii nils rei emtlv annoiini ed the
i Insure of the five-year-old program this fall
Pile plight of AMS majors is a prune com ern
ot Donald who is nearing his second year of
teaching lor the department
"They're the ones paving for their educa
tion a well rounded education.' he said Yet
the administrators of higher education seem to be
biting or i utting ol the hand that feeds them
With tuition set to increase In 10 percent
next year. AMS major |av I’enthein wonders
w here the money is going
In fact. I’enthenv said he asked this question
ol Arts and Si iem es ai twig dean Theodore Palm
er He and a group ol students intercepted the
dean before he entered a meeting Wednesday
night
"lie evaded every direct question."
I’enthenx said "lie pointed the finger of blame
elsew here but he said he made the dei ision
However. Palmer said the students seem sat
islied by his answers The meeting which was to
determine the course of American Studies, was
inconclusive, he said Further meetings arc*
planned to address the issue of next year's limit
ed offerings, he said
"There's no question that we will be provid
ing a program." Palmer said What shape the
weakened program will take is unknown but it
i learlv will only be temporary, lie said The I'm
versitv will continue the program through next
year to permit AMS majors to continue their
c oursework and complete' then degree's by newt
spring
Pellthi'iiv and other e aine 1‘ini'd students have'
be‘i‘11 lobbying to keep the Ami-rie.in Studies pro
gram sinei' they heard it was in danger two
months ago
We made petitions, phono t alls and person
al visits i’onthenv said They didn't really
take any i onsidoration of students
IVntheny estimated that 10.00(1 students en
rolled in (ore i lasses during the past five years
This generated approximattdy $r>00.0(M) in tin
lion, he said
"It's surprising to me that they ( an find mil
lions to build si ieiK.e complexes and vet can't
find $1117.000 to fund the Amerii an Studies pro
gram." " Penthem said
Pentheny referred to a departmental budget
figure that includes a tenure professor seven
(I l l s .1 sei rotary and everything from films to
paper i lips
American Studies (i'l l Mu hole ('.onto is
wary of what form the i utbai k program may take
"It’s like yyalting for the a\ to fall " she said I
don’t think it s a farsighted dei ision
(lonte pointed out tfi.it American Studies is
flourishing ' bat k Mast
Their programs are growing,"' she said
( .onto said other Pacific 10 si hoots such as the
I "niversitv of (laltfornia at Berkeley and Washing
ton State l'Diversity are attempting to implement
Anierii an Studies as part of their i urriculum
"It's a shame when they're putting theirs to
get her. we're dismantling ours.” she said (lonte
has been a (I'll for the program the past four
years but she said the removal of the program at
counts for more than |ust a personal loss
"We know all the majors personally ." she
said, of tile approximately till students who in
tend to receive AMS degrees It's very much a
family
(lonte is especially concerned for sopho
mores y\ ho v\ ill bay e to at i derate their studies to
i omplete their major before the program is entire
ly shut down
'What are you going to do u ilh a thesis yy i it
ten a year and a half early 7 (lonte asked And
who's going to read it?"
Normally the head of the department and an
other professor of a similar stihjet t read through
theses Most are written during a student s last
term of study and are supposed to reflet t a i ulini
nation of knowledge in a particular subject, site
said
Senior AMS m.i|or I.eroy Ale said he feels
embittered by the l 'niversitv "s det ision to i tit the
program although he w ill graduate this lime
"1 guess the I.u ultv thought tins major is use
less so I ye been going to si bool for nothing,
lie said
Speak Out!
Tell it to the president. All students are invited to an
open forum with President Myles Brand, 3:30-5:00
p.m., Wednesday, May 9, Room 1 50 Columbia Hall.
Speak out. It’s your future.
Miitii-nttin Mdifc’iu1/ hvn her, I hn\ r.» , ( >//ui <t StthLtit .‘Vlm'iUA / hi' is uniit/u'r m .1 mtu n .if
. irrwriKii '. U ’> \IUiL nt\ 1. meet u ith (hi1 {neruLnt in diseuss issues, *f mutual e< ’>u . ni
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on
Immersion school
teaches Japanese
B\ Bob Wjite
Emerald Contributor
kom.tr Mori's spoken Japanese sounds rapid and strange
to the un trained ear. but her 25 second-grade pupils at Yujin
(iakuen respond in Japanese because they are acquiring her
native fluency
Mori is one of three native Japanese teat hers at the
St liool District -tj Yujin (iakuen friendly people in the gar
den of knowledge Japanese immersion school whit h shares
the grounds of the Corridor Alternative Klementary school in
Santa (ilara
l.ilv ()ta. Nant \ Imamura and Mori art" the school's fat til
t\ hut Yujin (iakuen plans to grow
I heir teat her leading, students count t oloretl paper tisli
hanging from the ceiling in unison. Next Mori tails on stu
dents who stand before the t lass. how. and ret ite science les
sons about fish
Occasionally a student lapses into Knglish and Mori pa
tit*titly responds m Japanese Knglish is for first graders Kv
ervone is expet t ft I to stutiv st bool lessons in Japanese onh
The two-year-old program is based on -fj's belief that. "It
is important to prepare students for a world that is increasing
l\ i uteri tin net ted. to appreciate those who are different said
Darin (iianonne, Yujin (Iakuen arid Corridor Alternative file
mentary school print ipal.
"It's re.ills important for the students to learn the lan
guage and the t ultural nuances from a native Japanese teat h
ei." (iianonne saiti. and finding teat hers has been a big dial
lenge
Mori, who speaks and reads Knglish. is a t ertified teat her
and has taught in Japan. Mori saiti. but "Knglish is so hard for
me I cannot pass it (Oregon's required teaching certification
test ) Hut I don't need Knglish in my Japanese t lass
The difficulty for Mori is the test’s cultural bias
(iianonne said explaining that Mori failed the test because
she was unable to understand the non-literal subtleties of
some of the questions
\\ illi tile help of tutors stie lias hired Mori said she hopes
to improve her t omprehoiision of colloquial Knglish to pre
pare for the next certification test
If I cannot teat h at Yujin (Iakuen next year 1 have a noth
ei job, but 1 would like to stev here." Mori saiti
And (Iianonne would like to keep her because losing
qualified teat hers like Mori is not gootl when building a
core of qualified teachers It takes three to five years under
good t onditions to start refining a t urrit ulum " she said
Turn to Immersion, Page 5
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