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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1981)
* I I Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Thursday April 16, 1981 Slouch By Jim Earle Successful schools offer broad education By PATRICIA McCORMACK United Press International The colleges doing best by students these days are those which wave a “general education” banner, says a new report from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance ment of Teaching. The payoff for students, say the report’s authors, is schooling that enables grads “to understand themselves, their society and the world in which they live. ” Lifelong. So what’s general education? Nothing new. It was squeezed out in the 1960s and 1970s as education for the job market or a scholarly love alone became the top priorities for those in the stampede for a college diploma. General education actually is something extra on top of required courses for majors. It puts breadth in the college education, says Ernst L. Boyer, foundation president, former U.S. Commissioner of Education and co-author of the report entitled “A Quest for Common Learning. ” More and more colleges, the report said, are trying to inject general education into the curriculum. Here’s why: there are cer tain basic topics that all students should be required to investigate regardless of their individual interest or ultimate area of spe cialization. Boyer and Dr. Arthur Levine, senior fel low at the foundation, tell in the report how colleges can speed a rebirth of general edu cation. Their plan, “more a guide than a bluep rint,” encompasses six study areas, and here are examples from each category: — Shared use of symbols: “All students should ... understand how language has evolved, how feelings and ideas are con veyed, how numeracy is a symbol system, and how we communicate not only verbally but non-verbally through dance, music and the visual arts. The language of computers merits study, too. Every generally edu cated student should learn about this perva sive signal system that increasingly controls our day-to-day transactions.” — Shared membership in groups and in stitutions: “The life of everyone is touched, in one way or another by government, busi ness, school, church, marriage and family. General education means understanding how these institutions originate, how they evolved, grow strong, become weak and sometimes die. The (institutions) provide the essential arrangements through which Warped Time isn’t on The Eagle’s side By TED Battalion KANM-FM a Wn viewers will [the B lounge, a liveen Crock* The ongoing tug-of-war between the Texas A&M System and the Bryan Eagle over a list of 20 candidates for the A&M presidency may soon end without a fair fight. The Bryan newspaper has thus far been unsuccessful in its attempts to act as a pub lic servant by making those candidates known to the public. And if the attorney general and his opinion committee do a good job of taking their sweet time in ruling on the dispute, it may well be that a new president will be chosen before the public even knows who was being considered. Twenty finalists were chosen from some 400 being considered for the post and when in February the Eagle tried to obtain the list, the System, through its legal person nel, refused to give it up. At that time, the attorney general’s opin ion committee was asked to rule on whether or not the list was fair game for publication under the Texas Open Records Act. Understandably, the Eagle says it is and the regents say it isn’t. The Eagle is basing its case in part on a previous decision handed down in October which concerned a similar situation. That decision in part read: “A member of the public has a strong intrest in being apprised of the names of persons being considered for important public positions, so that, prior to selection, he may attempt to influence the choice, Staff notebook By Bemie Fette and, after selection, he may evaluate the wisdom of the choice.” The Eagle says the regents have told them that many of those on the list may not know they are being considered and to re veal their names would be embarrassing. On the contrary, it seems that many people would be honored by such an embarrassment. The System’s legal team, however, says that the list in question comes under an exception of the Open Records Act and is therefore not public information. Another reason being given to support the System’s position is that the employers of those being considered may know no thing of the matter and that those on the list may lose their jobs as a result. It seems highly unlikely that merely being consi dered for a position such as this would re sult in the loss of a job. Even if this were to happen, a choice still must be made. Is more harm done by the possible but unlikely loss of a few jobs or the eminent loss of the public’s right to know? It’s true that the first draft of the opinion has been completed but it still must be 'mm- Inverted into N reviewed by the entire committee and:f North Area will be at least two weeks before the attoffirray said if ney general will see it and begin to actoniliersity receives At least two weeks. That is, ofcoursejt 0111 f he Legi the attorney general can fit it into his sck |P C ® dule when he does finally see it. ! 0 ™ Are ^ wi “How long it will take will depend most ■ ^. r ' ly on his (the attorney general’s) schedule,’ Ry use ^ j the chairman of the opinion committe* » ct . s said. |Murray, who The chairman also said she has no ids jet, said,“The e what his schedule will be like amid travellsjune and the ing, speeches, and other public appeati KANM, whic ances. the B lounge, w. Time is a very important factor intkfe'| 10ve dispute and even though the law seemst® ’, re I ar , ess be on the Eagle’s side, they lose anotkR' Murray 1 ' segment of the battle with each passingtb K m time to Time is definitely on the regents’side jes.” They know it will be some time beforettil KANM mana attorney general rules on this issue, and doing just that, they work fast enough, they can choose;H ot Y et found a new president before they are forcedtoetll ^^ e Confoy their secretive game. P.f’ ' Probably no one will care who was beim^' Y 1 . a e , . / _ in i i • • P back in gotx considered after a final choice is iM»m e stat j on {] anyway. Rg e from a w The fight will soon be over and theadm;-Sflt took us ft nistration obviously has the bureaucratt:!: upper hand in this one. It’s a pity thattkl representatives of First Ame.uAmtM T. rights are forced to play the game at sudisjO. C/ W disadvantage when the stakes involvedr:E the rights of the public as well as the 0 J/Yj transactions are conducted and social struc ture maintained.” — Shared activities of consumption and production: “Students should understand that everyone produces and consumes and that, through this process, we are depen dent on each other. This is an essential part of common learning. We propose a general education program that explores the signifi cance of work in the lives of individuals.” — Shared relationships with nature: “No education is complete without an under standing of the ordered nature of the uni verse, the fundamental laws that cannot be altered and to which we all conform. Gen eral education should clarify ... how all life forms on our planet are inextricably inter locked.” — Shared sense of time, past, present, future: “It is essential that the human race remember where it has been and how ... it got to be where it is. Ah understanding of this past from which all of us spring should be required of all students. It need not be either a breathless dash through history, an eclectic muddle, or a study, of one isolated period devoid of its connections to the pre sent. ” — Shared values and beliefs: “All stu dents should engage in frank and searching discussion about the choices people make individually and collectively. Such a study should bring students into contact with people outside the university with explicit ideals who can talk thoughtfully about their own commitments, about how values are formed, when values should change, when partisanship should be revised. The study of values should be viewed as the corner stone to common learning.” ‘ The report from the Washington-based Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was presented at a two-day col loquium on “Common Learning.” Some 200 scholars and academians from colleges attended the event at the University of Chi cago. The university remained committed to the idea of a balanced education through an integrated four-year program, even through the 1960s and 1970s when other colleges were experimenting with various curriculum changes that emphasized early specialization. The report is the first product of a Carne gie Foundation “long-term commitment to clarify the purposes and quality of higher education ...” It s your turn across the gers morel idtoonal Aggi What’s the 1 The big de: Traditions Cou idents a cha iditions of th< “Our major scions of the rmanofHo’ way to present | her Aggie h program in Ru< dean of engine Following will 1 ^11 leaders am Aggies can g Walton Drive, vill get a speci “Howdy” T Viemorial Stud oe on sale for 1 During the mystery peopf mystery people '‘ople are a r lowdy” to ev Howdy Wee cil was ree ittee. Fortwe hers, said Concern c lowledge abc major reas The council on. This is the During the $10.83 per month isn’t too much Weekend, Sev “Since then friendly and Editor: The state Legislature is trying to raise our tuition (taxes?). Great! It’s about time. The tuition has been at $4 per hour for years. It would be much more than the proposed $8 per hour if it had been rising with the rate of inflation over the years. Students have been receiving their educa tion for a small fraction of the cost. Guess who pays the greatest portion. That’s right — the state. And where does the state get its money? That’s right — the taxpayers. I don’t see raising our tuition as “unfair” or as “raising taxes” for students. It’s merely letting students pay for a larger part of their education, instead of it being given to them for next to nothing. Many of the taxpayers of this state have never received a college education. Why should they have to pay for our education? Is that not unfair? In real numbers, the additional cost of getting your college degree (130 semester hours), if the tuition is raised to $8 per hour, is only $520. Over four years tht breaks do wn to $130 per year or $10.83 per month. In today’s (April 14) Battalion, there are over twenty classified ads from business looking for full- or part-time em ployees. To make $10.83 per month doesn’t take much work or imagination. Well what about the poor or the people who are already working? The special com mittee that proposed the tuition increase also recommended that 10 percent of the additional revenues be distributed to those that are most affected. I agree with David Stockman in his dis agreement with the concept that any ser vice should be provided, financed by the government as a matter of basic right. The state is not “picking” on students. Instep they are helping the taxpayers and notate too soon. Steven Andrews S £ Correction A line in Tuesday’s Battalion incorrect! said that Dr. Lee Whitt, assistant profess 1 of mathematics, was not granted tenm 1 because of a lack of research. Dr. Whitt resigned his post because!* felt that, based on his past reviews, !< would not receive tenure when he beca® i eligible for tenure review next year. The Battalion regrets the error. By Scott McCullar AAG! DAfAN* OF ALL THE.. C'/AON PKOGRAM, WU STUfi! cmo/V RUN RUN The Battalion MEMBER U S P S <M5 Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Dillard Stone Managing Editor Angelique Copeland Asst. Managing Editor Todd Woodard City Editor Debbie Nelson Asst. City Editor . . Marcy Boyce Photo Editor Greg Gammon Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff Asst. Focus Editor Susan Hopkins News Editors Venita McCellon, Scot K. Meyer StaffWriters Carolyn Barnes, Jane G. Brust, Frank L. Christlieb, Terry Duran, Bemie Fette, Cindy Gee, Phyllis Henderson, Kathleen McElroy, Belinda McCoy, Kathy O’Connell, Denise Richter, Rick Stolle Cartoonist Scott McCullar Photographers Chuck Chapman, Brian Tate Brian late EDITORIAL POLICY The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bat talion are those of the editor or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M Universi ty administrators or faculty members, or of the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper# students in reporting, editing and photography cl>& within the Department of Communications. Questions or comments concerning any editorial wat# should be directed to the editor. \ LETTERS POLICY Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words 11 length, and are subject to being cut if they are longer.’!*' | editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style* 1 ; length, but will make every effort to maintain theauth |!,l intent. Each letter must also be signed, show the and phone number of the writer. 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