1 Wanted : PI wide receivers r. . . • Ar ''' * ...;, With Tisen Thomas out for the season, 1 . 1 ' i ,-. 44 4 _ Paterno looks for somebody to step forward , I i ' AP' Vii r Page 11 • to daily Collegian Thomas confirmation hearing starts U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas listens to senators' opening statements a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. Yesterday was the first day of hearing. University professor students the way to By ORLANA M. DARKINS Collegian Staff Writer Joseph C. Hall used to be a member of a gang, but now he is a scientist working on a birth control pill for men and hopes to become a role model for African- American students at the University. As a young man in New York, Hall recalls his gang days and remembers the role models in his life that made him realize what he could achieve if he worked harder. "I remember in 9th grade a teacher said to me, 'You make Bs and Cs without studying, just imagine what your grades would be if you did study,' " Hall said. He then enrolled into an experimental program called College Bound that orientated kids from Har lem toward college. "The program was successful because out of 392 students, 390 went to college," Hall said. Physical education change more By MARK HUNKELE Collegian Staff Writer Students looking in the physical education section of the Spring Semester class schedule might notice something's missing. The physical education depart ment is now called the exercise and sports activity department. A sur vey was conducted by the new department head to obtain the new name, said Mike Morse, director of exercise and sport activity. The new name represents more of what the department is about, Morse said, adding that instructors are very active in things such as teaching, coaching and research. Exercise and sport activity classes will be increased from one to 1 1 / 2 credits per semester starting this spring. The increase means students will only have to take two classes to fulfill a basic degree requirement, Morse said. The change should make it easi er for students to obtain the class they want because the demand will Hall said fear is the reason for the lack of African- American students in the sciences and the media's portrayal of scientists contributes to this fear. "The field of science scares people. On television scientists are white. Basically, we need to see black role models competing in society and on this cam pus," Hall said. Marlisa Lay (graduate-reproductive physiology) agrees that society instills the belief that only white people can succeed in the sciences. But she said Hall proves that African-American students can do anything they want to do. "He gives students the incentive they need because society says that blacks cannot succeed in the field of science," said Lay. In order to increase the number of minorities in the sciences, Hall, associate professor of biochemistry, has developed a summer science program for young stu- Please see HALL, Page 10. classes than names decrease by one-third, he said. The demand for gym classes has increased in recent years, but the supply of teachers has not kept pace, Morse said. Demand for gym classes almost doubled from 1983 to 1989, causing fewer students to actually get requested classes. The option of increasing the credit value was chosen because funding and staff size will not increase, Morse added. One-credit and half-credit courses, lasting only part of the semester, will be available for students who don't need a 1 1 / 2 -credit class, he said. Morse said the only drawback to the new system is that students should be exposed to three activ ities and, therefore, they will be deprived of opportunities. Some students said the new sys tem is a good idea. Nicole Peltz (junior-speech com munications) said she thinks tak ing fewer gym classes is much better. yesterday during his confirmation shows success Rewriting the books Textbook authors freshen publications By AMANDA THOMPSON Collegian Staff Writer With ever-rising production costs and a renewed demand for better textbooks nipping at their heels, textbook authors and pub lishers are striving for ways to rewrite the book on textbooks. Keeping information updated and customizing books for spe cific courses are issues that publishers are focusing on now, said Peter Labella, sponsoring editor for McGraw Hill Pub lishing Company. "When we are reviewing text, we focus on how well the student learned from the text," Labella said, adding that the current focus is more visual with "magazine style gfaphics." Among these budding authors are many University professors who have published their own Issues of privacy, natural law tackled By JAMES ROWLEY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas told senators at the opening of his confirmation hearing yesterday he believes the Constitution grants a basic right to privacy, but he declined to say whether that includes a right to abortion. Thomas spent the afternoon sparring with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on such touchy legal matters after opening his testimony with an emotional account of his rise from poverty in rural Pin Point, Ga. He paid tribute to the grand parents who raised him and all those "who gave their lives, their blood and their talent; but for them I would not be here." During questioning, Thomas sought to disavow his earlier advocacy of a "natural law phi losophy" that Senate Democrats suggested could be invoked to lessen personal privacy and to outlaw abortions. "I don't see a role for natural law, or natural rights, in consti tutional adjudication," Thomas told Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D- Del., the panel's chairman. Thomas said he had written extensively in favor of a natural rights philosophy the idea that some individual rights are inher ent and independent of all gov ernment authority "from a political theory point of view" rather than as a basis for judicial decisions. Joseph C. Hall, associate professor of biochemistry, studies a Northern Blot Analysis of RNA from a rat's epididymis yesterday. textbooks to supplement courses here at the University and other institutions. Helen Manfull, professor of theatre arts, said that she and her husband and co-author, Lowell Manfull, spent a lot of time revising their book. "It was a nightmare, the like of which I hope I never go through again," Manfull said. David Bressoud, professor of math and author of Second Year Calculus, agreed that revisions composed a lot of the writing process. "You spend at least twice (the time) rewriting that (you) origi nally did writing," Bressoud said. Successful textbooks fill a teaching void by providing bet ter examples and application, said Pat Coryell, executive editor of Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company. Highlights of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings Page 10 Thomas used Biden's questions about privacy to distance himself from Robert H. Bork, whose 1987 Supreme Court nomination was rejected by the Senate after he questioned whether the Constitu tion recognized a right to priva cy. "There is a right to privacy," Thomas told Biden. "I think the Supreme Court has made clear that the issue of marital privacy is protected." Asked about the high court's 1973 decision extending the pri vacy right to abortions, Thomas said: "I do not think at this time I could maintain my indepen dence as a member of the judi ciary and comment on that specific case." But Democrats made clear they would continue pressing Thomas for his views on abortion and other controversial issues likely to reach the high court in the near future. "We'll want to learn what you really believe," said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. "Don't hide behind the argument that you can't dis cuss the issues." "The burden is on you to explain your views," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who voiced frus tration that Justice David H. Souter ducked similar questions at his confirmation hearing last year. "A book that adds color to a market that didn't have color before (is successful)," Coryell said, adding that clean writing style and accurate up-to-date information are also key ingre dients in good textbooks. The trend is toward techno logical advances, but the text book will remain a staple in the classroom, Labella said. "I still very much believe in the integrity of the textbooks," Labella said. Despite an overall flashier visual style, textbooks stressing the basics are also gaining pop ularity. "Many of these introduction (books) are little boxes and fancy pictures, and ours is straightfor ward," Manfull said. "You can do very nice things now with a low budget," Bres- Please see BOOKS, Page 10. Weather Today will be sunny, cooler and refreshingly less humid. High 74. Clear and chilly overnight. Low 50. Mostly sunny and continued pleasant tomor row. High 77. Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1991 Vol. 92, No. 46 22 pages University Park, Pa. 16801 Published independently by students at Penn State ©1991 Collegian Inc. Faculty split on diversity requirement By AMANDA THOMPSON Collegian Staff Writer The University's plan to diversi fy all areas of the undergraduate curriculum has left the academic community divided. Some professors criticize the University's diversity requirement as ineffective because of their narrow focuses, while others maintain that diversification of all classes is unrealistic. "The intention is to diversify all courses whether they're approved as diversity courses or not," said Jerry Covert, associate dean for undergraduate education. But Lynne Goodstein, director of the Women's Studies Program, said the specificity of the diversity focused classes may defeat the University's goal of producing more diverse and culturally sensitive graduates. "I don't know how Hindu philos ophy is going to do that for them," she said. Although some departments are taking the initiative, largely the support has been inadequate, she said. "There's been some response, but there hasn't been that kind of sys tematic program that was pro posed," Goodstein said. "A lot of departments just aren't doing anything." Part of the problem is that the guidelines for what qualifies as a diversity class are not strict enough, she said. "There's not enough attention paid to helping students deal with situations that are important to this generation," Goodstein said. "We've made it too easy for these regula tions to be met." But Norman Freed, associate dean of undergraduate education at the Eberly College of Science and physics professor, said it is very difficult to diversify in some areas. "Science by its very nature is racially independent," he said. Enhancing classes on a general level is possible, but for higher level classes the job becomes more dif ficult, Freed said. "It's just very, very difficult to have a diversity-focused course in computer science," Freed said. The goal to have at least one diversity class per department in the college may also be unrealistic, but as much input as possible will be added, Freed said. Students' opinions differ on the diversity requirement. "I think the focused classes are better. There's more emphasis throughout the entire course it's more open," said Angie Lynch (freshman-political science), who is currently taking a black studies course. Stephen Barnes (freshman-divi sion of undergraduate studies) said the requirement is a good idea. "It enhances the culturally deprived," he said. "It makes them a little bit more well-rounded." Covert said that while some classes lack the enhancement, the coverage of issues across the cur riculum is adequate. Students who can't find courses meeting the requirements within their field will probably get the required course or courses through their general education credits, he added. The policy, which was approved in March 1990, mandates either three credits of cultural diversity focused classes or a total of 12 credits of diversity-enhanced classes, beginning with freshmen who enrolled this summer. During the summer there were 56 diversity-focused classes and 32 diversity-enhanced coursed offered. About 40 new course proposals are pending, Covert said. Diversity-enhanced classes must incorporate race, ethnicity, reli gion, gender, sexual orientation andl or global perspectives into 25 per cent of the class. Diversity-focused classes must devote the total class time to one of these issues. Greg DeVoir !•:fr
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