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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1999)
NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 E-MAIL ode@oregpn uoregon.edu ON-LINE EDITION: www.dailyemeraId.coni EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Frank EDITORIAL EDITORS KameronCole Stefanie Knowlton Education by FORGE Requiring students to complete non major classes is a waste of time and money The faculty at the University work for the students. We pay their salaries and provide enough bodies and interest to create a place for them to earn a living. Sometimes, however, we need to ask a tough question. Are we getting our money’s worth? In the case of most upper division and specific classes within a selected major, I would say the an swer is yes. The class sizes are generally smaller and the topics of study are more specialized. The professors are also more interested in what they are teaching, which leads to better lectures and better classroom discussions. In the case of lower-division classes, which often include general requirement and introductory courses, the answer is no. It is so clearly no, in fact, that the University could consider changing its tuition struc ture from a price per credit system to a price per division system. Opinion Aaron Artman 1 hat way we could avoid the feeling ol being ripped-off after taking a class with 300 people that is, for all purposes, taught by an underpaid and overworked graduate student. Instead, I could pay less for that service and pay more tu ition for upper-division classes where the educational set ting is less like a seminar and more like a classroom. To make matters worse, students are severely penalized for missing discussion sections that are not even taught by the professor. These discussions, taught by graduate teach ing fellows, provide students with labs or quizzes that are supposed to represent a microcosm of the major exams or assignments. Why is so much busy work required to prove knowledge that can be displayed through an exam or paper? I realize that some students need discussions to gain valuable points. But students should at least have the option of whether they need the discussion help or not. Mandatory attendance at the college level is absurd. Stu dents are paying professors to teach about their selected subject. If the material is learned and a student passes their ex ams and scores well on other assignments, how can the student fail for missing class. To blame the educators for what is an ad ministrative agenda, however, is short-sight ed. Students are simply required to fulfill too many requirements outside their major. It is not a matter of being over-worked. Rather, it is a matter of being busy-worked. That turns into busy work for the professor and GTF as well. Wouldn’t science and economics profes sors rather have their class size reduced than have it doubled by a bunch of bachelor of arts students who are required to take the classes that are unrelated to their major. This creates more exams to grade and more discussion sections to staff, while the quality of education is dimin ished. It also, however, creates tuition. The more classes a stu dent has to take, the more money the University generates. And the student has little say in determining what extra ar eas of study are worth their time and money. College is a great time. It is not some hellacious place where people try to es cape from as soon as they can. It is a fun four-plus years, so it’s difficult to advocate a more efficient system. But I don’t need 16 credits worth of science for degrees in journalism and political science. Even more important than the issue of necessity is the issue of desire. I am paying for my education and I don’t want to take 16 credits worth of science. Why are students forced to pay thousands of dollars for classes they don’t need? Does the University assume it knows what students will Giovanni Salimena/Emerald need or want more than students themselves? Or is it just a matter of a status quo economic policy, jus tified by an argument for well-rounded students, that the bureaucracies of college administrations are wary of recon sidering. From the standpoint of gaining an efficient education, the student and professor can greatly benefit from a reduc tion in non-major requirements. Pure and simple, the University will provide a far better education when the student’s motives for scheduling a class are based on interest rather than requirement. Aaron Artman is a columnist for the Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. Letters to the Editor Protest not The recent protests against NATO in volvement in Kosovo are appalling. They should listen to the words of the Kosovar woman whose son was killed by a misguid ed American plane. “I forgive the United States,” she said, “We are glad they are here.” Does anyone believe peace will prevail if we leave the Kosovars on their own? Does anyone really believe that you can’t fight your way to peace? Compare Europe now with Europe 60 years ago. Compare our relationship with Japan now to what it was back then. What we learned in the 1930s is that you can’t ap pease your way to peace. The conclusion is very simple: Whatever their intentions, the protesters are support ing the Serbian genocide of Kosovars. They would sit on their hands pleading inno cence through another holocaust. They should be ashamed. Don’t support them. Reject their appeals to acquiesce in the face of murder. James Hanley Political Science Dialogue needed I am writing as a concerned alumna re garding recent actions at my alma mater. One of our interactions in my time on cam pus took place as I engaged in a constitu tionally protected act of civil disobedience. I vividly recall staging a sit-in about the Gardenburger issue with students from MEChA and the Multicultural Center. We engaged in “dialogue” about getting Gar denburger out of University Housing. The sit-in staged by students two weeks ago had roots in the sit-in that I was a part of— it was a final expression of dissatisfac tion with the policies of the administration regarding diversity and student participa tion. I am gravely concerned that the Universi ty tradition of progressive education is threatened by the administration’s inability and unwillingness to engage in real dia logue with students regarding diversity. For the past two years, I have worked with students and faculty at University of Wisconsin-Madison on the Design for Di versity: Plan 2008 strategy for recruitment and retention of students and faculty of col or. I believe faculty training on diversity is sues is a crucial element to the recruitment and retention of excellent students and fac ulty of color. I also believe that the issues raised around sexual assault are fundamental to educational access. A real commitment to ensuring an end to sexual assault is neces sary to end the epidemic of violence against women that we see on college campuses. One in four women will be sexually as saulted by the time they graduate from the University. A financial commitment from the University to support education, pro gramming, stronger rules and procedures will make the campus safe for women and other under-represented minorities. When your administration refuses to lis ten to the input of students, all the work that students do to improve the University means nothing. I urge you to reconsider pressing charges against the 31 arrested stu dents and staff — and show your support and willingness for dialogue by making a commitment to these issues. Kalpana Krishnamurthy UO Alumna 1997 LETTERS POUCY The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print ail letters containing comments on top ics of interest to the University community. Letters must be limited to 250 words. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar, style and libel. Letters may be dropped oft at EMU Suite 300.
