Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / April 10, 1992, edition 1 / Page 5
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April 10,1992 page five Letter to the Editor continued from column two, page two that the only thing an English major does for a grade is write poetry. Any English major would be outraged by the previous statement. There is analysis, writing technique, compo sitional style, and in-depth explora tion of literary work after literary work that must be investigated by any student in any Englidi class. In the same way, our music grades are based on our analysis of the music, an understanding of techniques used by the composer, a comprehension of the style of the music, and explora tion of musical works from different style periods. But you say, a music major has been studying music for such a long time, naturally her grades will be higher. Haven’t we all been writing English compositions since the second grade? Why don’t we look upon the English or history or mathematics majors in the same way? We have all studied history, math, and English since grade school, but why is here a double standard for pre- collegiate music study? Don’t stu dents with majors other than music have an advantage because they were drilled on their subjects every day in school, while we attended music les sons only one a week? In addition to the numerous pieces we must analyze, familiarize, and then perform, we are required every week to attend a one hour repertoire class and a one hour student recital for which we receive no aedit. We also must attend a minimum of fif teen recitals per semester (not includ ing the student recitals). The vocal ists are required to assemble a note book containing the literal transla tions of their foreign language pieces, as well as a phonetic transcription of every piece they are studying. This notebook also contains recital cri tiques, vocal exercises, and back ground information on their particu lar pieces and the composers of these pieces. Every music major is graded on the academia of the music as much as she is graded on her performance (if not more so). But even performance is only a small part of what we music majors study. We study the theory of music and compose our own pieces using techniques we have learned from out study; we investigate harmonics and the overtone series, but most impor tantly, we learn the history of music. Our music history courses relate music of a specific period to art, history, philosophy, dance, theater, religion, math, politics, geognq)hy, psychology, sociology, and foreign language. Anyone who has taken a modem Western Civilizations course has studied Napoleon; but was there any mention of the fact that the Ger man composer Ludwig von Beethoven thought of N^leon as a hero, standing for the ideals and val ues of enlightenment of France? Beethoven dedicated his third sym phony to Napoleon, only to scratch out the dedication on the title page of the sym^iony when N^leon de clared himself emperor. This ex ample is one of many which illus trates the countless influences of dif ferent areas of study on music. In closing, I would like to com ment that I am outraged and person ally offended tiiat certain professors who do not even know me are openly accusing me and my fellow majors of unsatisfactory work. This accusa tion is unjustifiable and based on a great many misconceptions about the study of music. Apparantly we mu sic majors have been taught a lesson that is not taught in any other class room on this campus: all majors are valid and none should be criticized. Submitted by Heidi Williams Award/scholarship recipients named continued from page one Ernest F. Canaday Mathematics Scholarship Award Mary Dana Morrill Billie Stewart Mercedes Taliano Senior Writing Center Tutor Award Cynthia Moseley Green Murial C. King Hall of Fame Awards in Business and Economics Kelly Holton Kimberly Howerton Martha Inscore Marlene Markley Melissa McDowell Chritine Parsons Elizabeth Stilwell Delean Thomason Aimee Trout Jane Braxton Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award Lib by Stucky Lois E. Frazier Academic Perfor mance and Achievement Award Kelley Holton WINGS Academic Award Jacqueline Hooper Billie Stewart Anne C. Dahle Scholarship Jamie O'Briant Roger H. Crook Scholarship Evelyn Grandis Rebecca Jean Morris Lewis Kelly Briley Ellen Amanda Rumiey Scholar ship Jennifer Pittman Outstanding Senior in Psychology Award Leigh Kielwein Dix Community Service Award Amanda Adkerson Elizabeth Ray Psi Awards for Outstanding Con tributions in Psychology Carrie Curlee Traci Herrrick Sarah Lemmon Achievement Award Joanna Grant Phi Alpha Theta Scholarship Award Leisa Perry Phi Alpha Theta Outstanding Member Award Sandra Blythe Outstanding Freshman in French Allison Sindelir Outstanding Student of French Award Sharon Howerton Outstanding Student of German Award Amy Bond Outstanding Student of Latin Award Lynne Lombardo-Schefers Outstanding Student of Italian Award Elizabeth McEvoy Outstanding Student of Spanish Award Paige Rouse Outstanding Freshman in Spanish Award Lori Elliott Outstanding Student in Art Award Tonya Hill Theodore Presser Scholarship Award Carole Daughtry Jerry E. McGee Award for the Outstanding Student in Theatre Christa Phillips Social Work Professional Devel opment Award Tonya Townsend Physical Education and Dance Kimberly Weisenbom continued column two, page six
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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April 10, 1992, edition 1
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