•AGE 8
Behrend Advancing Toward Societal Collapse?
Dear Editors:
long time. I filled out the form
that enables me to stay here at
The other day I did something Behrend. I’m proud of that fact,
I’ve been planning to do for a and I’m both proud and glad to be
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Reprinted with the permission of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland OH.
OPINION
Reader Opinion
THE COLLEGIAN
here at Behrend College.
The first time I saw the college,
a dreary day in April nearly two
years ago, I knew that this was the
place for me. Even in the rain, I
felt the tranquility of Behrend’s
natural setting. I noticed that
there is something rather exciting
about the blend of the rustic with
the ultra-modem which is one of
Behrend’s unique qualities. In
more ways than one, it is truly the
best of two worlds.
With all these thoughts rolling
through my head, I thought it was
time to rededicate myself to my
responsibilities as a student and as
a member of several campus
organizations. As a student, or
even just as a person, I feel
responsible for pointing out
several dangerous trends I see the
college taking.
The first trend is the one men
tioned by Ken Sonnenberg in the
last issue of the Behrend Col
legian. Mr. Sonnenberg address
ed the issue of the increasing trend
in hiring instructors in place of
full-time faculty. While this' may
seem economically feasible,
academically it is not. Instructors
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are showing up in business and
science classrooms, as well as
humanities. While these instruc
tors may ,be as qualified as full
time faculty, and they may take as
much interest in their students,
the simple fact that they have
neither offices nor office hours
makes them almost completely in
accessible to the student outside
the classroom.
The second trend deals with the
college’s claim to a “partnership
with Northwestern Penn
sylvania.” This was the clever
theme for the 35th Anniversary
Fund Raising campaign which
was partially responsible for the
present construction of the Ham
mermill and Zum buildings. I say
it was both “a claim” and
“clever” because the administra
tion has made some rather hasty
decisions which I feel will end up
harming that community we are
trying to assist.
The administration has stated
on several occasions that its pre
sent goals are toward the produc
tion of majors in the fields of
business and technical engineer
ing. There is nothing wrong with
DECEMBER 14, 1984
this goal. I believe that this is a
very fair examination of some
realistic needs.
However, this trend toward
greater and greater technical
specialization could ultimately
lead to the collapse of society.
This sounds rather absurd at first
glance, but look at the implica
tions of overspecialization: people
begin learning more and more
about one single thing and less
and less about everything else.
Soon, only people in the same
fields will be able to com
municate, as language too will
become highly technical. Even
tually people become genius-like
in their field, and completely ig
norant of everything else. In
essence, people become capable of
only one task, and like machines,
are useless in any other applica
tion.
I’m not saying Behrend should
halt its wheels and not build new
science buildings and new sports
life facilities. These are all well
and good, but we should at least
have on the drawing board plans
for a new facility for communica
tion, visual and performing arts
and humanities.
Yes, the college is growing, and
should continue to grow, but not
at the cost of our entire societal
structure. Isn’t it time the
Behrend College rededicated itself
to its number one responsibility,
the wholehearted and well
rounded education of members of
the society of Northwestern Penn
sylvania?
Yours in concern,
Thomas P. Milley
Third Semester
Behrend Accounting
Faculty Member
Clarifies Part-
Time Takeover
To the Editor:
I appreciate the interest in the
humanities and arts expressed in
the letter from Ken Sonnenberg in
your November 21 issue, but I
must clarify one point which he
makes. Neither History nor Ger
man includes any part-time facul
ty at Behrend; our three historians
are either tenured or on the tenure
track, and our faculty member in
German is also on the tenure
track.
Sincerely,
Archie Loss
Head
Division of Humanities and
Communications