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Bright Ideas
for spring classes
by Nancy Neukirchner
Is engineering getting you
down? Is business bugging you?
Are you tired of computer sci
ence, animal science or political
science? If you need a break
from your major course of study
and have electives to spare,
take a class to get your mind off
your major.
News travels fast at A&M,
and the general consensus
seems to be that there are quite
a few worthwhile classes to
take. The following classes
turned up repeatedly in an in
formal survey.
Biology 430 (Principles of Mi
croscopy), three credits.
Students learn the principles
of light and electron micro
scopy. Electron microscopes
are the most powerful type of
microscopes in the world and
you’ll be amazed at the things
you can see.
The class is open to all ju
niors and seniors.
English 212 (Shakespeare),
three credits.
From “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” to “King Lear,” how
could reading the works of such
a master be unexciting?
To increase comprehension,
all of the plays are available on
video tape in the Learning Re
source Center on the 6th floor
of the library.
Journalism 214 (Photojourna
lism), three credits.
Although this class is in the
journalism department, no ex
tensive writing is required. Stu
dents learn about photojourna
lism from the ground up,
starting with how to load film in
the camera. From there, they
learn how to take, develop and
print black and white photos,
which isn’t as simple as it
sounds. Learning the skills re
quired to do well in the course
can be time-consuming for
those who normally take a year
to go through a whole roll of
film.
Students enrolled in the
course can check out photo
equipment and use the dark
room facilities, so they don’t
even need to own a camera to
take this course. There is, how
ever, a $15 fee for lab chemi
cals and students must provide
their own film and paper. The
cost for film and paper varies
from student to student and de
pends on how much film they
shoot and how many sheets of
paper it takes them to get good
prints. Average cost runs about
$150.
Art 150 (Art History Survey II),
three credits.
Joe Hutchinson teaches this
course, which is designed to
give students a general, chro
nological knowledge of art con
cepts and developments from
the 14th century up to the cur
rent year.
Hutchinson combines lec
tures and slides to bring won
derful examples of art and ar
chitecture to life. He’s got an
easygoing teaching style and his
enthusiasm for the material
makes this class fun to go to.
Educational Psychology 102
(Career Development), two
credits.
If you haven’t declared a ma
jor yet, this course may be for
you. Students work on comput
ers which aid them in evaluating
their abilities, interests and va
lues in order to make more in
formed career choices.
In addition, students are re
quired to research prospective
majors and careers.
Food Science and Technology
202/Nutrition 202 (Fundamen
tals of Human Nutrition), three
credits.
In this course, students learn
the five categories of nutrients
and their functions in the body.
Dr. Joanne Lupton’s ap
proach to the class is simplified,
and she makes a fairly compli
cated subject easy to under
stand. Students evaluate their
own diets throughout the se
mester. A ten-minute talk is
given each week on a relevant
nutrition subject either by Lup-
ton, an associate, or a nutrition
major.
Physical Education 199 (Ven
ture Dynamics), one credit.
The purpose of this class is to
leam to trust your classmates
and to build your self-confi
dence. This is accomplished
through a variety of group exer
cises including a free fall into
classmates’ arms.
Students also learn to rappel
and participate in a skills course.
Although these aren’t the only
good classes at A&M, they have
been highly recommended by
students who have taken them.
So, if you have some open elec
tives and want to expand your
horizons, dive right in.