Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan / Thursday, March 21, 1991
3
Students say GTAs' accents a problem
By Eric Nelson
Kansan staff writer
Although KU's guidelines for the English proficiency of teaching assistants are more stringent than other Regents schools, there are other factors that can change KU officials and students said.
The student advisory committee proposal, which was tabled last month, is on today's agenda.
The proposal would increase the minimum score on the tests of spoken English taken by foreign instructors at Board of Regents schools from 220 to 240. This already is a KU requirement.
Kim Stroup, McPherson junior, said communication problems with teaching assistants still remain.
She said that some courses were difficult enough to understand without fighting a confusing accent by an instructor and that she would
prefer classes in which she could understand the instructor.
"Then I could concentrate more on learning the lab instead of learning his accent," she said. "If KU is at the top, I think we need to improve a little more."
Stroup said she realized it must be frustrating to instructors who were knowledgeable but unaware of the issues.
Michele Wilkerson, Leawood junior, has had a similar problem.
When she was a freshman, she changed Calculus 115 sections because of a communication problem.
"I couldn't even follow him in class," she said. "I was just教学 myself."
Wilkerson said she felt fortunate to be able to switch to an English-speaking instructor.
switch to an English-speaking instructor
"A lot of people felt that way in the class."
"A lot of people felt that way in the class," she said. "I was just lucky to switch."
Shane Mane, Enid, Okla, junior, said that.
although he had not had any troubles with foreign instructors, he could understand how problems could surface.
"I can't believe they are saying Kansas is better than the other Regents schools," he said. "I'd hate to see what the other Regents schools are like."
Chanin Nephoke, Thailand graduate teaching assistant in economics, said problems could have been avoided by using
"I think the main problem may be pronunciation," he said. "I think we have a problem, but I'm not sure."
Charles Himmelberg, chairperson of the math department, said that since KU increased the minimum test score requirement in 1984 he had not had many complaints.
He said problems were more likely to arise from teaching ability. Some poorer speakers would receive no complaints because they are good educators.
Some students also used the accent of instruction an exert at the beginning of a lesson. Students are taught the accent
Despite the lack of complaints, he said there was room for improvement. The math department used a summer program through the Applied English Center last July for the first time. It was used to improve English and give teaching strategies.
Raymond Ammar, chairperson of physics, said his department also had its own guidelines along with strict enforcement of the University's policy.
Prospective GTAs must pass a teaching presentation before they enter a class room. Ammar said. In a limited capacity, the department has four English programs with the Applied English Center.
"Certainly, individual departments should feel free to impose more stringent guidelines," she said.
Lecturer explains reasons society values nature
Nature's worth determined by aesthetics and because of its benefits to humanity
By Katie Chipman
Kansan staff writer
At the first day of a two-day symposium on humanities and the environment, a professor from Marymount University found different ways that society values nature.
Mark Sagoff, professor at the University of Maryland Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, spoke at a symposium in Washington Javahw Room in the Kansas Union.
Sagoff spoke about the humanistic perspective of natural resource management by relating the children's book, Charlotte's Web, to reasons why people want to save the environment.
The book is about Charlotte, a spider, who saves a barnyard pig, Wilbur, from being slaughtered. That did Wilbur represented nature.
"How do we differ from Charlotte, who saved Wilbur even though he did nothing for her?" he asked.
"If a spider can treat a pig as a friend, we should be able to treat a forest, estuary or any other thing in the same way."
Sagoff said that the first way society considered nature valuable was in an instrumental way.
"We view nature as being valuable by measuring how it benefits us, and if it serves a purpose."
He said the second value was aesthetic, in which nature was an object of perception and admiration.
"The third the moral value. We may regard an object with love and affection," he said. "Therefore we take an interest in its welfare."
Sageoff talked about whales and the different ways that society perceives the sea.
"Two centuries ago, white oil fetched a very good price. Now electric cars are cheaper and we are concerned," he said. "Are we concerned about saving the whales?"
"Iinstrumental value has gone down and the aesthetic and moral values have grown."
Justin Palmer, graduate student in philosophy who attended the lecture, said, "Sagoff's basic argument isn't just the environment. It's an ethical argument about how we should think about ourselves.
"There's one tradition that tends to say that human nature is evil and bad. Sagoff's tradition is one that's better because human beings do have innate goodness."
Mark Sagoff speaks about citizen involvement in environmental problems while John Clark listens.
Senate backs Western Civ modifications
By Michael Christie
Kansan staff writer
By a vote of 49.5, Student Senate voted last night to support recommended changes in the Western Civilization curriculum.
The recommendations cover three areas: a wider range of reading materials with more individual instructor autonomy, the inclusion of various issues left out of the Western Civilization course, such as the history of women and civil rights, and broader training of instructors.
The Student Senate Minority Affairs Curriculum Subcommittee is scheduled to present a proposal containing the desired changes to the Western Civilization Program Committee tomorrow.
Pat Warren, Senate Executive Committee chairperson, said the recommendations deserved Senate support.
"If KU is going to continue to preach diversity, we're going to have to start to teach diversity," he said.
In other action, Senate voted to approve four bills totaling $6,003, including financing for Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week speakers and start-up expenses for two student organizations.
Senate voted to allocate $4,850 for four speakers during GALA week, April 14. 120- half of the money will be used as an honorarium for Holly Hughes, a performance artist who was embried in the National Endowment for the Arts controversy last year.
Hughes lost an NEA grant because her work dealt with issues such as lesbianism, but she was awarded a new grant this year.
Following the controversy, Hughes has become highly sought after. Her commitment to perform during GALA Week came after members of the group from Kansas met with her in Minneapolis and persuaded her to appear.
Senate also voted to allocate $265 to Slightly Older Americans for Freedom, which sponsors a Senate campaign debate; $445 to the Chinese Student and Scholar Association, a new organization; and $443 to finance the ninth annual Music Therapy Student Association Symposium.
Soviet scientists begin water study
By Benjamin W. Allen
Kansan staff writer
Two visiting Soviet scientists collaborating with the U.S. Geological Survey to study ground water contamination continued Lawrence's ties with Soviet Union.
Professors Stanislav Kraynov and Valentin Goldberg are members of the Soviet equivalent of the U.S. Geological Survey and are collaborating with Michael Thurman, an organic geochemist with the survey.
Thurman, who is also an affiliate faculty member of the University of Kansas, said the purpose of the Soviets' visit to Lawrence was to begin joint research efforts in geochemistry and ground water protection.
He said the main goal of the meeting was to write a protocol of what research they intended to do.
The first step of the process will be to write a paper examining ground water problems in the Soviet Union and the United States that would be published in science journals in both nations.
During the next three to five years, the scientists want to write other papers specializing on their particular interests and create a glossary of geological terms so the scientists of the two nations can communicate easily and organize research seminars and workshops between the two groups. Thurman said.
Goldberg said that cooperation would improve research into the protection of ground water and that
Both Soviet scientists spoke through interpreter Galina Kargina, who is from the Soviet Union.
Soviet professor Stanislav Kraynov
'As experience shows. It is easier to prevent pollution than it is to clean polluted water.'
he was particularly interested in the influence of agricultural activity on the purity of ground water.
Fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides can run off the field or crop they are applied to and contaminate plants.
Ground water can become contaminated from a variety of sources, the scientists said. Agricultural chemicals, waste disposal and industrial discharge were three of the sources of contamination they cited.
Both nations make extensive use of ground water as a source of drinking water. That is why studying how to protect that resource was an important task, he said.
The two nations use different methods to protect ground water from becoming contaminated, he said. The task of the joint cooperation is to learn the most effective methods each nation employs.
"As experience shows," he said, "It is easier to prevent pollution than it is to clean polluted water."
Krayovny said the most important method of controlling ground water contamination was preventive measure.
Study abroad stifled by war, though advisers stress safety
By Nedra Beth Randolph
Kansan staff write
Sharon Miller wanted to study art in France this summer, but she is not going now.
"I'm not sure why, but not enough people signed up to go," the Lawrence graduate student said.
The July trip was offered through the department of art and design but was canceled because of lack of interest.
Miller said she wanted to go on that particular trip because it focused strictly on art.
"Language was not important on the art and design trip." she said. "Speaking French was not an issue."
Miller has been looking into other study-abroad trips to other European countries offered by KU's study-abroad program. Some of the programs have language requirements.
"I also want to go to Spain," she said. "But I'm afraid I don't know enough Spanish to qualify."
Mary Debicki, director of study abroad, said interest in study-abroad programs was low during the Persian Gulf War because of terrorism fears. But interest has picked up since the cease-fire.
"There is still plenty of space left on every trip," she said. "But it's filling up real fast now, and I think the cease-fire has a lot to do with it."
The KU study-abroad program is recruiting students who may want to spend time studying abroad. McMeley said. Some programs have flexible deadlines and other deadlines have been extended.
"That program is open to students across the nation, and we want KU students to get to go to those places if at all."
"The Costa Rica program is booming right along," McMeley said. "But there are some wonderful places to go that have openings right now that are normally very competitive."
The International Student Exchange Program, of which it is a member, has openings in Malta, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"Even if the deadline has passed, we can still get a student into the program if the student is really motivated and really wants to go."
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Mark McMeley, study-abroad adviser, said there were fewer people signed up for study-abroad programs this year than at the same time last year.
"Safety is a concern from time to time regardless, if there is a war," he said. "People should not be afraid to go abroad because you could be in just as much danger walking across Jayhawk Boulevard as studying abroad."
He said enrollment had increased in regions far from the Middle East, such as Canada and Latin America.
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