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4/Wednesday, November 14,1984/THE BLUE BANNER Faculty wants foreign language mandatory By Chris Streppa UNCA's Faculty Senate is considering adding a six-hour Foreign Language requirement and a three- hour Fine Arts require ment to UNCA’s general education curriculum. If approved, these re quirements will apply to all students enrolling under the revised cat alog . Nearly 10 percent of all UNGA students now take a foreign language, but it is to fulfill a major, not a general edu cation , requirement. 'fhe Task Force proposal would require all stu dents to take two three- hour courses combining language skills with cul tural awareness. They could choose between Spanish, F rench, German, Latin, and classical Greek. "The value of a foreign language requirement is that it breaks down the monocultural and mono- linguistic barriers,” says Associate Professor of Spanish Marcel Andra de. lie explains that a na tion’s language is a reflection of its cul ture, and he believes students benefit wiien they reach beyond the world they grow up in. ”We should not be liv ing in a world of isola tion," agrees Professor of Economics Shirley Browning. Unfortunately, he adds, the United States is "the only major industrialized country in the world (where the edu cational system] does not respect the learning of another language." Browning supports the Task Force proposal be cause he believes the study of a foreign lan guage and culture is "critical to a solid li beral arts education." He adds that the re quirement should be more than an academic exer cise. It should also provide students with the "everyday communications skills" they need to tra vel. They should be able to read newspapers, he ex plains, or order a meal, with assurance that they’ll receive something resembling what they asked for. But Arts Major Celeste Pipitone believes it’s "really impossible " to teach a foreign language to students who are al ready "set in English." If it’s going to be a college requirement, she argues, begin teaching it in the first graat^ "U be an elei v/e at she ■^nsists, f >U ic WORRIED ABOGT BEING PREGNANT? The Western Carolina Medical Clinic is a facility for performing therapeutic abortions in problem pregnancies. WE CARE! FREE PREGNANCY TESTING Call for Answers ...ACTION on • Pregnancy • Birth Control • Abortion • Blood Serum Pregnancy Test • Annual GYN Physical HOURS: 8 A.M.-6 P.M. Mon.-Fri. 8 A.M.-2 P.M. Saturdays 900 Hendersonville Rd. P.O. Box 5962 Asheville, N.C. 28813 Phone: 704/274-7460 "not a requirement." Political science major Jerry Sloan says he en joyed his German classes, but he also disagrees with the proposed re quirement . Six semester hours will only give students back ground, he maintains, not proficiency. Besides, he argues, "a foreign lan guage is something you have to really want, or it will shoot down your grade point average." Rennie Shealy, an UNCA student seeking teacher certification, agrees that foreign languages "stun^ alot of people." But her travels throughout the country convinced her "the day is Coming when people in any area of public service will be required to speak a second language." Shealy believes a six- hour requirement will al low students to "pick up enough to get by." And she adds that it can "o- pen a door within your inajor" because it’s valu able knowledge in almost any field in the job mar ket. She also supports the proposed three-hour fine arts requirement which, according to the Task Force, would expose stu dents to "artistic crea tion and aesthetic exper ience ." Election - continued from page 1 Shealy explains that students at another school she attended found a similar course "fun, not heavy-duty drudgery." Arnold Wengrow, pro fessor of drama and Task Force member, believes the requirement would "make students aware that art is not esoteric or e- litist—that it’s open to all." He envisions a program that would combine direct experience—attending a symphony, a play* ^ museum exhibition—with classroom discussion. UNCA students can learn the history of the arts through humanities clas ses, he explains; but "it’s also important for them to understand what artists do—that they have a way of thinking, experiencing, exploring, and understanding that’s different from the sci ences or humanities." It’s this creative en ergy, says Wengrcjw, that spurred prehistoric men to record their lives on the walls of their caves and, today,, motivates many African tribes to decorate their bodies with rich colors and or namentation. Creativity is a basic, driving part of human na ture. But, adds Wengrow, "the sad truth is that either of two ways— cyn ically or as puppets, said Sabo. Young people chose to act as puppets in the 1984 election, according to Sabo. Sabo said people re sponded to political advertising saying the Democrats would increase taxes $157 a month by vot ing Republican. What the advertisement did not report was that the increase would affect only people with yearly incomes of $50,000 or more said Sabo. Yet the viewers took the advertisements at face The System That REALLY CARES About Your SKIN 640 Merrlmon Ave. value and did not vote for the Democrats. This re sponse was especially no ticeable among young vo ters, the "social con science of the country," wlio approach politics with the attitude of ’How does it affect me?,’ said Sabo. Sabo stressed this focus on the individual ’ s wel- fare rather than the na tion’s well-being as an indication of the new "me" generation. This is significant be cause it changes politics into a spectator sport. People simply enjoy watching the race and cheering on their favorite Tan With SoLANA Solarium If You Care About Your Skin— Ask Us Why We Are The Best the arts do not have a high position in our so ciety * or a strong place in public education." Assistant Professor of Art Joz Vandermeer agrees that the university sys tem in the United States centers on "practical" education. "The focus," he says, "is not on what can I do, but on how can I use it to make money?" He be lieves exposure to fine arts can provide balance between the aesthetic and practical sides of life and "help make us whole human beings." Looking at the situa tion from the student side, pre-law major student Charles Wardlaw believes students "are already getting enough of ttiat kind of exposure in humanities." While he agrees it would be a "great elective," he admits he would resent the requirement. On the other liand. As sociate Professor of Philosophy Deryl Howard expresses the sentiment of many educators when he says that "the benefit of a liberal arts education is that it expands a per son’s dimension of ex perience which expands the person." politicians, according to Sabo. Nationally voters chose Reagan, but Democrats won the many of the Congress and state legislature races. This gives the Dem ocrats "continued strength at grassroots level," said Sabo. Sabo did not see the shift in the South’s vote, as a Republican realign ment because it was a mat ter of the migrating Nor- theners influencing the traditionally Democratic South. jc) The Safe Way To Tan Specials & Student Discounts 252-9088 Tunnel coupon customer
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