Western Front - 1973 October 30

              the 0 western front western Washington state college
Vol. 66
No. 9
TUESDAY
October 30, 1973
Ten Cents
Happy Ghosts and
Goblins! Tomorrow
is Halloween
CAPTIVATING CAMPUS — Autumn rays slanting across campus early in the afternoons serve notice that days are growing shorter and winter is approaching.
General ed. program to change next year
by WILLIAM SAYRE
In response to widespread
dissatisfaction with the present general
education program, Western will
institute a new program to go into
effect in the 1974-75 academic year.
With it will come greater flexibility and
an increase in the quality level of
teaching.
The need for change in the program
analysis
was emphasized by the Ad Hoc
Allocations Advisory Committee
chaired by Michael Mischaikov. In its
preliminary report of August 17, 1973,
the committee called for a quality
liberal arts education, which includes
in-depth study in a discipline and
breadth of study acquired through an
effective general program.
Alfred Roe, chairman of the General
College Requirements Committee which
is filling in the details of the new
program, said the program is intended
to meet student needs and give them a
freedom of choice of classes while still
meeting the ideals of a liberal arts
education.
The new program, termed the
block-credit system, requires students to
take a certain number of credits in
several areas of study.
Although the plan is not completed,
the Academic Council of the College of
Arts and Sciences has approved, in
principle, the following: six credits
required in communications, 20 in
humanities, 17 in social sciences, eight
in comparative cultural studies and 12
to 19 in mathematics and science. The
total number of credits required will be
from about 63 to 70.
However, the council has also stated
that courses within the major can apply
to general college requirements. So the
total number of hours needed for the
requirements, not including those that
apply to both the requirements and
major, will be less than the figure of 63
to 70.
Major trends in the faculty have been
toward a change in the general
education program. Students have called
for its complete elimination.
Why is the college retaining the
program? Why is there continued
support in the faculty and
administration for the program while
students question its relevancy?
Alumni questioned about the general
education program they took at Western
strongly supported it, according to
Louis Barrett of the physics department
and chairman of the committee which
drew up the new program.
Student dissatisfaction with the
program to a certain extent is based on
a misunderstanding of what a four-year
college is, Brian Copenhaver of general
studies said.
"Four-year colleges are supported
because they are a stable provision for a
certain understanding of cultural
traditions," he said.
The faculty and administration think
those who question the program are
questioning the relevancy of a college
education.
Robert Monahan, dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences, said college
education should equip a person for
more things than just making a living.
This is the basic difference between a
technical school and a liberal arts
college. Do Western students want to be
educated or trained in one field?, he
questioned.
Barrett said training alone in one
specialized field limits the capacity of
an individual to function in society.
"It's hard to say if the market for
any specialist will be there in 10 years,"
• he noted.
College President Charles J. Flora
. said broad knowledge "gives an
individual the capacity to solve
problems of an unexpected nature
drawing on a body of awareness."
Monahan summarized the view of the
administration and faculty when he
said, "Students tend to be poor judges
of the general education program
because many of the benefits are not
apparent until they're out of school."
The general education program is
here to stay.
There is still dissatisfaction, though,
with the structure of the program.
Major shortcomings of the present
system are the lack of flexibility and the
level of teaching quality.
The General College Requirements
Committee will decide which and how
many courses will be approved for
application toward the requirements
within each block. Roe said his
committee has no limits on the number
of courses that will apply to each block.
Within each block there are
restrictions to limit the number of
credits taken in one department. But
the student will still be able to "shop
around" for different courses.
Cal Mathews, director of College
Relations, said under the new system
students without an associate of arts
degree from a community college would
not feel quite as apprehensive about
transferring to Western.
He noted that freshmen "would be
pleased to find there's more
opportunity to learn according to their
own interests" after coming through a
high school with limited academic
opportunities.
Another shortcoming of the present
program is that students are confusing
what is poor performance in design and
teaching in some of the courses with the
conceptual basis for general education •
(Cont. onpg. 12)
Inside. • •
l
Barbed wire makes unique collection
A Huxley professor claims the Colt pistol, Winchester rifle and barbed
wire tamed the West. His unusual hobby is collecting varieties of barbed
wire. See pg. 6.
Huxley plans Far East trip
A study tour of the People's Republic of China may be offered to
Western students next summer. See pg. 2.