OCR Text |
Show 2 Opinion the forum Letters to the Editor has qualities angel, or an... Awr Editor: letter is written in lack of awareness the response to concerning one of the most active clubs on campus: The Westminster College Earth Effort (WCIiE). First, WCEE meets every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Meetings arc held in front of or inside of the Shaw Center. There arc no requirements to join and there is no need to attend every meeting; however, in order to make a difference you must be willing to go out and get your hands dirty. Not only is this participation healthy for the environment, it is also healthy for your This soul. Second, there is no real leader" of this club. While Ty Harrison, Kirsten Dyk and Ryan Miller arc the organizers of activities, they arc dedicated towards fulfilling more than their share of dirty" work. Furthermore, any ideas arc fully encouraged, accepted and praised. Finally, I call out to Westminster College to join our Earth Effort. With just a small amount of time and commitment, we can make huge positive impacts on our ecosystem. Through this, I guarantee that we will all have a great time. Sec you next Thursday! Kirsten Dyk Ryan Miller Jonathan Jcmming Dear Editor: We humans think metaphorically. We use that which we know well to understand that which we know less well. We identify commonalties, and make distinctions. old niece understood My the moon as another ball. In the sixteenth century philosophers of nature likened the cosmos to a watch, and Cod to a watchmaker. More recently, cosmologists have likened the universe to an onion with the galaxies organized in layers. Others have described the universe as bubbles. two-ye- ar The progress of knowledge may be viewed as a process through which one metaphor displaces another. The new metaphor reveals information previously unseen, or resolves contradictions previously inexplicable. There arc, however, problems with metaphors. For metaphors arc lies with elements of truth. 'To call someone an angel, or by a particular part of the human anatomy docs not mean that the person is literally. It merely means that the person the forum Westminster College of Salt Lake City Editor: David Neisler Copy Editor: Monica Sanchez Assistant Copy Editor: Marianne Day Production Manager: Mat White Photo Editor: Amy Friberg BusinessAd Manager: Mathew B. White Faculty Advisor: Fred Fogo Forum Staff: Alan Blain, Brett Boberg, Johna Brems, Angela Francone, Janaya that remind us of an Metaphors reveal, but they also obscure. For a year now in speeches, in meetings, and again recently in the Forum students have been described as customers. Arc students customers? They come here voluntarily. They pay money, and they choose classes based on the constraints imposed by the institution. But if they arc customers, they arc a very peculiar kind. Most customers want as much as they can get for their money. Students, as a rule, arc satisfied with less. Moreover, students customers suggests a passive as role. The faculty, with assistance from the staff, prepare the food, serve, and cleanup. All the students have to do is cat. Of course, this is not to say they dont occasionally get indigestion. Are students products? This too have difficulty with. For this metaphor suggests that students arc the raw materials, faculty the workers. Education reduces to a process of production in which the faculty mold the passive student into a finished product. As freshmen some students are lumps of coal, some arc heaps of sand, a few arc diamonds in the rough. By the time they graduate they become gems. Some become diamonds (presumably graduates from the liberal arts where the real education takes place); some become glass. 'They all shine. Perhaps students are workers. 'This metaphor too has problems. as For unlike the real world, workers students do not work for pay, but pay to work. Still, however, unlike the previous two metaphors, the student assumes an active role. 1 Study is an activity, ity, a if any, respect. The whole point of college education for most students is to avoid physical work and gain entry into what Thorstein Vcblcn called the leisure class. This is understandable. For aside from low status, physical labor pays poorly. And isnt the ideal after all wealth without work? As workers students are not alone. Many in the Westminster community, I shall avoid naming who, view faculty too as workers. I wonder how they view students? a customers? All three metaphors reflect our market mentality. The ideal of the student as a sojourner in search of truth and meaning belongs to an age long past. Even those who choose to soar in the rarefied realm of ideas must occasionally come down to earth. The grumbling of the stomach eventually overcomes the soaring of the mind. And the chase for money (taste of honey?) usually grounds them forever. Enough honey, its time to As soar.... Dr. J. Watkins, Associate professor, economics Dear Editor. I am very disappointed in the nursing students lack of respect for other students in Malouf Hall. Whether their walking thru the halls or waiting for their class, their chattering and laughter is so loud that its disrupting and, to be perfectly honest, it really pisses me off. Does it ever occur to them that there are other students in class? Why hey, they might actually be yearbook budget was or how it was going to be spent. Who was responsible for this? Third, I refuse to allow ASWC to approve funding for a yearbook, or any major project, without the fully informed majority consent of our student body. Furthermore, I also want to know why you are a program that going to was abandoned seven years ago. We have been mislead by you and I feel alienated. Do not undermine the power of those who put you where you are. Finally, ASWC needs to remember that we, the students, are the foundation of the Associated Students of Westminster College. Furthermore, we expect you as our representatives to stick to the promises created in your campaigns. This does not include the creation of high costing projects without the fully informed majority consent of your electorate. I may agree with the idea of having a yearbook; however, I do not agree with your unethical procedure in obtaining one. taking a test! What a concept! Come on folks, lets just use a little bit of common sense and show some courtesy for your fellow students. Theyre trying just as hard as you are and they arc entitled to the same courtesy youd want them to show you. Im not saying the halls should be as quiet as a church, just keep it down dammit! The word stupid is not synonymous withI nursing student (believe me checked), so you see there really is no excuse for your behavior. Whether youre in Malouf or any other building, nursing student or in conot, use your brain-wcr- e llege, they expect that you know-an- d build good karma points by showing ' some respect to your brothers and sisters at Westminster College. Thank you. John Welsh biology junior Dear Editor: is written in unethical proceresponse to the dure used by ASWC in their 1994-9- 5 approval of a yearbook for the This letter Jonathan G. Jemming campus activist school year. First, I want to know who was present when this project was authorized. Also, why hadnt we, the students, been better informed on a project of this proportion? We had a right to know and I am disappointed that we didnt. Second, how much is this going to cost? There are many other projects, such as the volunteer program, that could have benefited from these funds. We had not been fully informed as to what the difficult activ- hence the reference to study as hard work. If students arc workers, and if the objective of education is to leave the cave, then what is the role of the faculty? Is it to tell students which path to take? Is it to lead the students down the path? Or is it to help students find their own path? If the watchword among business is empowerment, what might it mean to empower students? And what about grades? Do grades reflect how well students throw up their meal? Do they reflect the faculty judgments regarding the quality of the gems? Or arc they a measure of how far the students have traveled? There is another problem, of course, with students as workers. The problem lies not in the metaphor, but in the attitudes of society at large. Workers get little, Hawkins, Shawn Kuennen, Brice Laris, Brent Larson, Kimi Michel, Stephanie Mommsen, Terresa Newport, Irma Noriega, Christopher Thomas, Missy Tibbitts, John Wells Student Poll by Brice A. Laris Forum Staff Writer Do you feel photos by Jenny Cobb that adjunct professors short- change Westminster students? No. Every one Ive had has said youre going to get your moneys worth. Marvin Stevens Sophomore, Marketing The teachers Ive had have wanted us to get our moneys worth so they really keep us working. Becky Clawson Freshman, Finance Photo Staff: Jason Bringard, Jenny Cobb, Alex Ferguson, Paul Jones, Jake Kilgrow, Curtis Mitchell The Forum is published every Tuesday. The editorial staff encourages letters from students (please include your major), faculty and all other readers. Address all letters to: The Forum, Westminster College, 1840 So. 1300 E., Salt Lake City. UT 84105. Submissions must be received one week prior to publication. Due to limited space, the Forum editors reserve the right to edit all submissions. Opinions expressed on the editorial or commentary pages are those of the writers and are not to be construed as those of the Associated of Students Forum, Westminster College, the College administration, faculty or staff. Mail subscriptions are 20$ a year There is a really noticeable difference in the way they teach. The adjuncts seem to just follow the book and not involve the class the same way. Reggie Fischer Sophomore, Business 'They seem to have pretty good experience and pretty good knowledge in the lower level classes. I dont know that Id want one for a high level class. Vcrn Bolinder Sophomore, Marketing 'They seem to be just as well prepared and knowledgeable as the others. Joe Martinez hreshman. Human Resource Management ' 'i |