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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, March 1, 1968
To sick, with love
This editorial page has recently offered some opinions from instructors on the best teaching methods and attitudes.
Here's a student opinion.
The key concept in teaching is confidence.
This is the basis behind whether or not he appears as a "tough" teacher, in the sense of a pompous, insecure teacher who tries to bluff a class, or whether the teacher is a Casper Milquetoast who is afraid to rustle his notes loudly.
The only real requirement that students ask of a good teacher is that he have confidence in what he teaches.
Sure, if he's a pompous instructor who takes himself too seriously, we'll dislike him, but if he knows his stuff and wants to really teach it, we'll respect him. And what's more, we'll learn.
And if he's not exactly a tower of confidence, we'll forgive his timid nature, as long as he doesn't use it as a cop-out not to have to communicate with the class.
If a teacher has no obvious confidence in
himself, it's unfortunate, but if he has no confidence in his subject, it's fatal, and unforgivable, too.
Anytime a teacher begins by being apologetic, disinterested, or tired in his own subject, it's all over but the snoring.
The student will inherently not want to learn because he senses that the teacher doesn't want to teach.
And as for whether or not the real "sick" teacher will please stand up, the only really unforgivable situation occurs when the teacher is sick of teaching his course.
When this happens, and it doesn't very often, the teacher should leave. He is only kidding the administration about his position as a teacher; he's not kidding himself and he's certainly not fooling the class.
Or the very least that a teacher who is bored with teaching should do is not require attendance, so that if he won't leave, at least the class will be able to, which may tell him something.
John Hill
Letters to the editor:
Assistant Editorial Editor
The irritated and the lonely
To the Editor:
My, my, Mr. Day, that was a nasty bit of name-calling, emotional journalism. But I really must thank you for entertaining me, for your article was a pleasant exposure to a real "half-chewed, half-baked, half-assed" philosophy.
To the Editor:
— Dale Ruppert
St. Louis, Mo., senior
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Who is sick? Mr. Day of the journalism (trade) school undoubtedly. Being a teacher in a trade school he sees the function of the University as teaching a trade. This a "sickness" of certain so-called "educators." For undergraduates, the University should NOT be a trade school but a place where one learns about society. Through this learning process, a person will gain a better understanding of himself and then decide his vocation. The professor Mr. Day talks about is probably fulfilling his function. Compulsory attendance is an idiotic rule. Students are paying and they are the best judges of how to educate themselves. As for asking the students what they want to learn about—this is an excellent method in certain upperclass courses as in English and the social sciences. In these fields there are many avenues courses could take—along any of which the professor is basically indifferent. By allowing the students to help in this decision the teacher can only increase the amount of knowledge his students will gain. I could dwell longer on Mr. Day's trade school approach to education and its implications on what is going on in our society today. However, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Robert D. Cherry
Economics instructor
New York City
To the Editor:
Mr. Salsich's letter on "tough teachers" exhibits a commendable distaste for tyranny as well as a rather bizarre view of reality. The idea that teachers at this University worry about losing control of their classes implicitly represents the campus as a blackboard jungle and its faculty as fighting a holding action against rebellion. Mr. Salsich has perhaps been seeing too many movies. Students here, as students on most campuses, are, if anything, too docile.
I have yet to meet the professor who worries about discipline.
Mr. Salsich sees this fear of losing control as part of a wider problem, namely that many teachers suffer from a neurotic compulsion to assert authority because, at bottom, they are victims of radical insecurity. I should have thought that most people regard teachers as rather dull and hardly dynamic enough to sustain so exotic a disorder. But whatever the general belief, the fact is that teachers don't, with very rare exceptions, "push students around" and one can only wonder where, in heaven's name, Mr. Salsich got his impressions. The whole thing reminds me of a new witch-hunt: having played the game of finding the voice of communism in every request for change, we now go on to find the voice of fascism in every request for order.
John P. Farrell
Asst. Professor of English
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Editor's note:
The writer of the following letter requested that his letter appear exactly as it is written below.
To the Editor:
let us continue the mandelker dialogue—call upon true morality, honesty, openness, sensible decisions, alternatives, sophomore metaphors, hot plastic, paints or whatever you can buy steal beg or borrow and push it spill spread or ink blot it all down up over under all the succeeding letters essays articles fillers well intentioned meaningful black humor double-talk offerings and what do you have? a rug with all the dirt swept over it—but wait —here's a suggestion written from underneath the bottom of my kitchen table—bomb Vietnam, viet or nam separate or together and may thigh land or venez uela and kill all of those proverbial bug ridden commie red gooks—and sit here in lawrence of kansas
praising the campanile god and watch potters lake fill up beautifully with trash and dialogue yourself into a senseless pathetic syphilitic paralysis—mr, and mrs. or missed talk it up and laugh uproariously while you get the turkey in your bowling back alleys—morality! or is it "truly moral?" —surely r.o.t.c. people should be taught; how else are they going to learn their skillful skills —mandelker has stated his position which is his position and not your position or name withheld's position—he is too broad minded to even suggest that mandelker be dropped out —(oh that was too easy) —so sit back and watch the tube and listen to the marines sing "where have all the flowers gone" and then just to make sure rush down to your local florist and place your illacs on order—there will not be enough to go around but the dow chemical company will probably be giving them away and anyway—newark detroit new york and north lawrence are not myths—by the way they're selling napalm soap at the local supermarket
bill berkowitz
new york city junior
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To the Editor:
I am a native Kansan presently serving a tour of duty in the Sea of Japan and Vietnam.
As I very seldom receive any mail, I was wondering if you could put my name and address in your school paper. I would welcome the chance to correspond with anyone who could spare the time to write to me. I do not know your policy on such matters, but anything you can do would be deeply appreciated.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
USS John W. Thompson DD769
Fox Division
John E. West TM-2
Fox Division
FPO San Francisco, Calif. 96601
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY kansan
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Published at the University of Kansas daily during the academic year except holidays and examination periods. Mkt subscription rates: $6 a semester, $10 a year. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 66044. Goods, services and employment advertised offered to all students with regard to color, creed or national origin. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas or the State Board of Regents.
Managing Editor—Gary Murrell Business Manager—Robert Nordyke
Kansan review
Rock Chalk, 1968?
By Scott Nunley
It's a shame that the "Rock Chalk Revue" is becoming more slickly professional and less satirically effective every year. How do you order two tickets to the amateur Off-Broadway version?
The amount of Greek student energy and campus enthusiasm that accompanies "Rock Chalk" should be a mystery unless you are acquainted with KU social life. Discounting the embarrassing attempts that occur each Homecoming and SUA Carnival, "Rock Chalk" extends the only creative opportunity for student initiative and participation on the Mount.
Soon, of course, the KU-Y will set up a professional drama staff to handle the affair, and an "Experimental Rock Chalk will spring up at the Free University. (With Ham Salsich as Laurence Day?)
The first steps toward professionalism have been well accomplished by Alpha Chi Epsilon Phi Delta Pi Alpha Gamma Chi and friends. The dance numbers are sprightly, the legs long and engaging, the voices hearty and clear, except for the inept betweenacts attempts. A sincere salute to the harried souls who applied all that polish!
But. Few specific darts actually get thrown at any particular stuffed shirts (to paraphrase a phrase). And if pretty songs are supposed to be our good spring tonic for 1968, somebody should be reminded of the tang of old-fashioned sulphur and molasses.
The bland texture of this toothless satiric revue is certainly not the fault of its MCs. The sustained hilarity of their "3,000-Year-Old-Man" skit more than repays the audience for the way in which Jackie Kieser and John Newlin plod through the remainder of their appearances.
Of the few songs relevant to campus life, Little Nell's solo on her enrollment debts is certainly the most imaginative. In fact, Candy Crawford's beautiful voice and lively stage presence as Nell earn my recognition as the revue's finest female performance.
From the same skit, Mark McLaughlin's melodramatic villain was perhaps the most memorable character of the evening. But the finesse of Steve Morgan, switch-hitting in the dual-personality of Frankie Ferter, made a commanding performance in an otherwise vivid "North to Alaska" production.
The Alpha Chi-Teke "Gong Bongs Wrong" was certainly the best written, most tightly organized and dramatic of the vignettes. A true comedy as well as a parody, this revue opener attempted audacious choreography and slapstick as well as rapid dialogue.
But the audience seemed most to appreciate the varied sets and melodramatic spoof of "The Old Man and the She." And why not, if some of the most biting satire is to be wasted on LBJ (who could not make it to Opening Night)?
"Let's Face It, Men—The Reports From The Front Aren't So Good"