Show bmmxmw imnaw MinmSiini Memorization: The age of destruction of general education you still have to memorize things you could care "The place of higher learning should act as a catalyst for thought by thought I mean a philosophical realm We as students should not have to memorize but understand ” by Gilbert Archuleta opinion editor For the past IS years we or at least I have been attending public school And throughout those years I have been taught to learn by memorizing and regurgitating information However in the past five years I have been questioning that style of learning How docs forcing a student to memorize information for a 50 question test allow them to Icam the basis or the why of that subject? In ancient Greece Socrates was reprimanded for constantly asking the question why? But haven't we progressed beyond that? In elementary schools teachers use tools as flash cards to teach their students their multiplication tables and the student in response memorizes that when 9 x 9 is seen the answer is 81 Would it not be more effective to show the child lhal9 x 9 is really nine added to nine nine times? After the memorization of times tables it is on to the illustrious junior high Here teachers use methods such as shopping lists to force memorization of concepts such as which author wrote which book or the periodic chan Yet still the method of learning is memorize and regurgitation Is not junior high supposed to be an advancement of the mind? And finally for some it is high school where the method of learning this lime is just a compilation of those methods used on the other two levels to make sure you got it all Everything from the ACT to the SAT to AP exams are simply memorization and recall of all those things that have been forced down your throat Yet five years after graduation do you remember the capitals of the states? Probably not So why bother? For those over achievers high school isn't the last step it is on to the elite realm of "higher education" But is it really any different than previous schooling? Aside from the debt it causes not really In terms less about the night before the test and then forget about it five minutes after Why do instructors use such outdated tactics? The realm of higher education should be that higher education a place to go to expand the mind on a different plane than that of preliminary education The place of higher learning should act as a catalyst for thought by thought I mean a philosophical realm We as students should not have to simply memorize but understand Concepts should not be learned as things are this way because they arc this way but rather as things are the way they arc because of this reason The operative word is "because" or "why" of concepts In a year and a half at CEU I have come in contact with some pretty good professors that do focus on the "why" while teaching but they arc the exception not the rule It is my belief that those students who decide to move on to "higher” education should be guaranteed a higher level of learning If you are one of those "memorization" professors look into new breakthroughs in teaching methods by forcing a student to memorize the thoughts of someone else you are taking away from them the very thing they seek how to think for themselves If you are a student who relics on scan-tro- n tests to make the grade reevaluate why you are wasting your time and money in college In our desire to progress and gain mass amounts of intelligence we are failing to stop and understand the "why" of what we are doing A good example would be our struggle for an increase in technology We have enough nuclear weapons to destroy not only our world but many beyond I often wonder if anyone ever asked the question of "why" we need nuclear weapons I doubt if anyone had we would have advanced to the level of destruction that we have Memorization has its definite functions It is not the tod of learning Unfortunately in our generation learning has been sacrificed due to the focus on the mcmorizc-regurigitamethod of teaching so many instructors use But if we knew the "why" of our actions wouldn't we better be able to solve a lot of our problems? We have reached the age of television and technology our mind set has focused away from man hours and onto the efficiency of a machine We have become independent of fellow men and dependent on oil and metal In our pursuit of becoming faster better and smarter we have sacrificed the one thing that the mind separates us from all other species Our story is best told by the Greek myth of Icarus Icarus desired to be like the Gods so he created wings of wax and in his arrogance overreached and flew too close to the sun His wings of wax melted and he plummeted to his death Let us not be the agent of our own te Utah Legislative Update From Son Mike Dmitrich senate minority whip The 50th legislature of the State of Utah is in its third week As usual the session started slowly but I do anticipate that as we near the March 3 deadline this legislature is going to have to make some key decisions This year I am serving as minority whip in the senate and sitting on the higher education appropriations committee This provides me with an excellent chance to fight for the needs of the College of Eastern Utah I fully recognize the significant impact that the college has on the community Recently there has been a report that the legislature is intending to cut the higher education exteation programs I am completely opposed to any cuts from the extension program I fully realize the positive I have spoken with impact that the extension services provide members of the board of regents who expressed their desire to keep these programs I am confident that with this kind of support the funds will not be cut This year Gov Leavitt has recommended $501884800 for higher education including $9559400 specifically for CEU This year's budget looks to be very tight The governor promised in his campaign that he would not raise taxes and also promised to fund several new projects Doing both of these will be a struggle Several bills have also been introduced that if passed would affect CEU Senate bill number 94 allowing institutions of higher learning in the state to contract their own legal counsel SB45 sponsored by Sen Stephenson provides minimum classroom e teaching hours for faculty at all higher education institutions I welcome and appreciate any comments you may have Please write to me au Sen Mike Dmitrich Utah State Senate 319 State full-tim- Capital SLCUt 841 14 The First Amendment includes The Eagle by Matthew Harward editor This year The Eagle has stirred up among other things much controversy All year there has been some grumbling by a few folks about not only our coverage of the news but also the opinions we express The newspaper has caused much discussion across campus and not a little bit of contention too As editor of this year's edition I would like say a few words on this subject First of When controit means one thing: versy happens the paper is being read I am pleased that more and more students and faculty are using it for what its meant That is why we work hard to publish it A few people on campus don't appreciate news for news Things we print are not meant to hurt anyone's reputation or maliciously attack character It is basic news good or bad We don't determine right or wrong we just print what happens The ideas expressed on the editorial page are those of the writers alone The opinion page is meant to be a forum of thought by the students For anyone who mumbles or grumbles about the newspaper I have one thing to say to you Join the staff or put a lid on it The paper is for the students It is entirely researched written and laid out by CEU students Being such it is open to the whole Anyone can become part of the staff Now a few words about freedom of speech When the Bill of Rights was added to the constitution in 1791 its function was to protect the citizens from government andor establishment control The beauty of this document's vision was that it established certain liberties that the common folk deserved above the few rights guaranteed by the constitution The first amendment since its formation has been a firebomb of controversy Its effects have reached into every major court in the United Stales and has been a staple for the Supreme Court for the past 100 years The fust amendment assures freedom of speech religion and the freedom to assemble for any US citizen The greatness of our country lies in the fact that its citizens enjoy this liberty A country that doesn't have free speech (there are many) is hound by ignorance and oppression A nation whose press is censured Set First Amendment peg 5 all-gre- at! dy |