Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 17, 2002, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
6 Saturday, August 17, 2002 UNC Swim Test Might Be Eliminated University officials said the revised curriculum could be approved by the Faculty Council in spring of 2003. By Brook Corwin Staff Writer UNO’s swim test, one of the University’s oldest and most debated graduation requirements, might soon become a thing of the past. A campus committee charged with revising the UNC undergraduate cur riculum has removed the swim test requirement from the preliminary draff of anew curriculum that was unveiled in April. Under the current curriculum, stu dents must satisfy two physical educa tion requirements and pass the swim test, which consists of swimming 50 yards and then staying afloat in the water for five minutes. Only students with legitimate physi cal or psychological excuses are allowed to not take the swim test. The new curriculum requires only f N 'lfci. *Wc \c . i The Frank Porter Graham Student Union expansion is complete. Finally. The expansion is open 24 hours. Do stop by. ErSM? E HdSCB • One of Me LARGEST selections of USED BOOKS! • Shop online at ecampus.com 24 hours a day! • Shipping right to your door! •Nolines.no hassles! J • Guaranteed low prices! • Also find DVD's CD's college & greek apparel, ■lff)] laptops, at prices lower Man your college H Wk'A bookstore! r_ir —-jr; ~ n i FREE T-Shirt i ■ 43& S H Drew i r -i '—■ re i ■ Enter coupon code "t 100" at checkout, j one physical education course, and no swim test is required for graduation. After final revisions are made, the curriculum must be approved by the Faculty Council. The final curriculum proposal is expected to go before the Faculty Council by spring 2003. It will be implemented for the 2003- 04 academic year at the earliest. The University’s curriculum was last revised in 1980. Officials on the steering committee for curriculum review said they elimi nated the requirement because it did not fit into the framework of an academic education. “There are lots of skills that students need,” said Tom Tweed, associate direc tor of the undergraduate curriculum and member of the steering committee. “Our charge as a committee was determining what are the most funda mental components of a general educa tion ... not about identifying all the skills necessary in real fife.” But Meg Lanchantin, director of UNC’s physical education program and a proponent of the swim test, said most other life skills - such as driving a car or Welcome Back balancing a checkbook are already taught at the primary education level, while swimming is not a requirement. “I feel as educators we have a respon sibility to not only teach students the importance of sur vival skills but also to ensure that they are able to use those skills,” Lanchantin said. The swim test first appeared at UNC in the early 1940s when the campus became a training site for “The question is whether swimming should be a part of a good educational framework. ” Tom Tweed Undergraduate Curriculum Associate Director Navy midshipmen during World War 11. The midshipmen were all required to pass the Navy’s swim test. Eventually the requirement spread to UNC students, and by 1947 all students were required to pass the exam in order to graduate from the University. Originally a more rigorous exam that required being able to swim several dif ferent strokes, the test was given its cur rent format during the 19705. UNC is one of only a handful of insti tutions nationwide that has passage of the swim test as a graduation require ment. Fred Mueller, chairman of the Department of Exercise and Sports Science, is one of many faculty and staff members who has taught UNC swimming courses designed to help students pass the test. Mueller said his experience teach ing such classes has made him a strong proponent of keeping the test as a requirement. “Many of our students never have the opportunity growing up to get in the water,” Mueller said. “It’s a really grat ifying experience to see them learn to swim... and I bet if you asked those stu dents now, they’d be in favor of the test.” Tweed said the physical education department will continue to offer beginning swim classes and that the committee still hopes students will take advantage of those courses, even if the swim test is not a requirement for grad uation. “We certainly are not saying whether learning to swim is important,” Tweed said. “The question is whether swimming should be a part of a good educational framework.” The University Editor can be reached atudesk@unc.edu. A £PHONE I CARDS EJH per mlnute/39t connection fee $5 = 461 min $lO = 961 min S2O = 1961 min No Gimmicks $5 = 102 min $lO = 204 min S2O = 408 min At Ram Book & Supply • 306 West Franklin Street jS&fffESk . Tender, crispy and golden brown. Pi-rteil for dipping! nßflHHnnnflj New Cliickenstrips! I One Large One Topping Pizza | Pius an order of j Chickenstrips *13?? I Expires 9/10/02 Not valid with any other offer. I Valid only at participating loca tions. Customer pays all applica- Ible sales tax. Additional toppings extra. Good tor carry-out or deliv ■ ery. Limited delivery area. FREE DELIVERY AND CARRYOUT We Accept Chapel Hill . . ViSa^T,^ n tn£r r 607-BW. Franklin St. UHC -tii.932.7sra ™ laaltefe (PJPJ) Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Hours: Mon-Wed 10am-2am, Thurs-Sat 10am-3am, Sunday 11am-lam Funding Change Delayed 1 Year Lawmakers said they will wait until the 2003 session to move enrollment growth to the continuation budget. By Rohit Patel Staff Writer UNC-system administrators and leg islators say that a change to how uni versity enrollment is funded will not occur this session but that the policy change will remain a top priority for legislators in the future. Funding for enrollment growth is allocated through the state’s expansion budget, which serves mostly to provide revenue for items not funded in previ ous years. Some legislative leaders and system officials are hoping to move enrollment growth to the state’s continuation bud get, which carries over from year to year. The difference is that in tough budget times the N.C. General Assembly is hard-pressed to fund expansionary items, and University enrollment growth falls in that category. Doubt over whether the legislature would find the $66 million needed for enrollment growth for next year prompted the UNC-system Board of Governors to approve an 8 percent New Chickenstrips! Add an Order of Chickenstrips to any Large or Extra Large Pizza for only *4?? I Expires 11/30/02. Not valid with any other offer. | Valid only at participating loca- I tions. Customer pays all applica- I ble sales tax. Additional toppings I extra. Good for carry-out or deliv i ery. Limited delivery area. (Hbp Saily (Ear Hppl tuition increase for in state students and 12 percent increase for out-of-state stu dents in March to fund about half that total. Just days before the BOG approved the increase, Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, and House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, sent a letter to the BOG vowing to sup port moving enrollment funding from the expansion to the continuation bud get. But Jeff Davies, UNC-system vice president for finance, said this move will probably not be made until next year. Davies said he is not concerned that the move will not be made this session. “The parties involved in this process realize that the first real opportunity we have to move enrollment growth to the continuation budget won’t be until next year,” he said. “The timing is such that it is just not possible right now.” BOG Chairman Brad Wilson said that if enrollment growth is not shifted to the continuation budget, the BOG will be forced to consider other tuition increases in the future to fund enroll ment growth. Amy Fulk, Basnight’s press secretary, said there is a positive consensus in the Senate regarding the switch from the expansion to continuation budget. “A lot of senators agree on switching enrollment growth to the continuation budget, and so far there has been no strong opposition to this plan,” she said. Both the Senate and the House bud gets provide the $66 million in enroll ment funding that UNC-system admin istrators requested. Danny Lineberry, Black’s press sec retary, said that the move has not been discussed formally in the House and that it is doubtful that it will occur this session. Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford, chairman of the Senate Education Appropriations Committee, said he is also eager to see a change occur. “It is important to switch enrollment growth to the continuation budget in order to continue the access of our schools to prospective students.” The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. Carry Out Special Big Papa 16", 2 topping Pizza *10?? Expires 12/31/02 Not valid with any other offer. Valid only at participating loca tions. Customer pays all applica ble sales tax. Additional toppings extra. Good for carry-out or deliv ery. Limited delivery area
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 17, 2002, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75