EDITORIALS As I review my classes for next semester, horror strikes me as I'm told that I must take some liberal arts courses. "What?!" I screech, "Art History?!" Philosophy? Sociology? But I'm an en gineering major! Why do I have to take these bull courses that serve no func tional purpose in school or in my future career, except maybe to cause me to study harder in my core courses! Oh, the insanity, the mur derers! Whose idea was was this anyway? The idea, or more cor rectly the ideal, dates back to the Renaissance students of higher learning who were directed by their instructors to the "Well Rounded Man" position. Un fortunately, this glorious ideal (and I mean that sar castically) has carried to the present day. Imagine that a four hundred year old idea is still in effect! I wonder when the next witch trial will commence. The University holds that we should see the world as it really is, many faceted and jeweled with the glories of every day existence. I hold the opinion that it won't matter a whit what the Greeks thought of arch itecture, or how Plato thought when he got down to the nitty gritty of a real career. What do you think? How much will the doctrine and dogma of a dead "thinker" matter in your career? As I ponder this, the boss is screaming about deadlines and quota filling. Oh well, back to work. I might get fired for this sort of in dolance and the wife and kids don't need a roof over their heads. I should stop thinking about nothing and do my job. Be careful not to become a mindless drone, but try hard not to become a philo sophical dolt who can't be relied upon to perform in the clutch. why take BDR 's In defending the value of BDR courses, I think the fulcum lies with interpret ing the idea of a "well rounded person". In con trast to the former view, I think the life befor us challenges not only our participation in the work force, but also in other areas as well. Such areas as sociology and philosophy are disciplines encountered every day. So, in battling these areas of life, I think a well-rounded person needs some sort of basic educa tion in these social science courses. In denying the importance of these sub jects, one also denies their importance in life, deminishing life to a mind less machine. And, if col lege is an institution of higher learning, these sub jects should not only be taught, but also stressed! This is especially true, since the home--where these subjects were beginning to be stressed, has been sub limated by the school. I also think that col lege is a mirror reflection of society. Thus, I think that the decreasing demand for intellectual positions and an increasing need for mindless positions also cause this unbalance of im portant school courses. As Christopher Lasch explains in his nationwide best-sel ling book, The Culturtof Narcissim, "Schools in mod- ern society serve largely to train people for work, but most available jobs ...no longer require a high level of ...intellectual competence." Not only has the demand for intellectual positions gone down, but also the de mand for requirements and the grade-point average for, say, engineers, have gone up. How many four year program engineers are really going to grad uate in those four years? Many engineers whom I've talked to are facing pos sibly four and a half to five years of college. Dr. EiSenburg, a Mdh T instructor here at Haz leton, says that, "The University can present the engineering curric ulum better." He says, "The problem of the amount of liberal arts courses is not in ques tion; students are re quired to fulfill 24 liberal arts credits, upon graduation. As a matter of fact, employ ers of engineers are look ing for better communicative skills." Rather, he cites the problem in the number of years and credits needed to graduate--both are too low. He prefers the five-year program so that students would not have to load up their semesters with an outnumbered amount of En gineering (math) courses. The question remains, has college turned into an in stitution producing trained machines to match the demand of society? I don't think it's the college's responsibility to questions about the "invis be specifically training tech- able" calendar. According nical majors, especially in to Kerry and Heather, the these first two years of col- calendar project fell lege; although, I can see more through because the costs specified courses being sires- involved were underestimated. 94 as students reach the 400- A printing company in Texas 500 level courses. But the quoted a price of $2,000.00 fact still remains--if techni- to print a color, glossy cal students want to be spec- finish calendar. This in ifically trained in their maj- formation was researched ors, they should be directed after the contest. The price toward a technical school, and quoted did not include ship not a college, ping and handling costs nor the photographer's expenses. It was decided that another printing company would be contracted, but in the mean time, a photographer would be hired. As luck would LLEGIAN where's the calender cont. on pg.. 4 Whatever happened to the Mr. PSU Calendar? Was it too expensive, a fraud, or just a scheme in order to expose our campus' good look ing guys without any form of recognition? Inquiring girls on this campus want to know! The Mr. PSU Calendar Con test was held on October 23, 1987, in conjunction with Ski Club and WHCB. The ob jective of the fundraiser was to hold a contest sim ilar to the Miss America Contest, where twelve win ners are chosen to be pic tured in a twelve-month calendar, where each winner would represent a different month. A total of twenty four guys entered. Each contestant was asked quest ions about various topics and then modeled fashions from Metallo's Formal and Deisroths. The judges were Dr. Price, Dr. Kroll- Smith, Cathy Salak, Kerry Evans, Heather Lawhorn, and Cindy Lester. The winner of the Mr. PSU title was E. J. Easton who would represent the month of January. The contest itself was very well organ ized but why is it April and still no Mr. PSU Calen dar? An interview with Kerry Evans, Ski Club President, and Heather Lawhorn, Pres ident of WHCB, answered our
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