The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 07, 1986, Page 4, Image 4
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Viewpoint
^ Friday, February 7, 1986
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Andy
Duncan
Letters to
I
Letters advc
To the editor:
Assistant Provost Michael
Welsh opines in Monday's front
page article that foreigners
teaching at USC ought not be required
to demonstrate fluency in
the English language. More
specifically Mr. Welsh says,
"What we are interested in concerning
the faculty more than
anything else, is that they have
the expertise in their subject matter,"
and "Also if you require a
test because of their national
origin, you're going to be in trouble
with discrimination." Aside
from mangled grammar and
garbled syntax, Mr. Welsh's cursory
dismissal of student concerns
insults the individual complaints
as well as the university
commmunity at large.
The litmus test of an effective
instructor is the ability to communicate
with his or her students.
Certainly "expertise in their subject
matter" is a necessity for any
teacher, and the university has an
admittedly valid interest in exposing
students to a range of experiences,
but no level of expertise
or exoticism outweighs the
need for basic linguistic
competence.
While the definition of basic
competence may vary from
department to department ?
foreign languages, for instance,
or in the numerate sciences,
where the lingua franca of
mathematics may ameliorate certain
deficiences in English ? the
fact remains that an instuctor
Send us a
The Gamecock needs your c
press your likes and dislikes by
ter to the editor.
' Letters must be typed, double
a maximum length of 300 word
include the writer's name, addre
number and where the writer ea
for verification.
Letters should also include
writer is a student, staff or
member. Guest editorials must I
Does Kissinger do I
When I heard Henry Kissinger was coming to
USC, the first thing that came into my head was an
old Eric Idle song:
Henry Kissinger,
How I'm missing ver!
you re tne doctor oj
My dreams.
With your crinkly hair,
And your glassy stare,
And your MachiaVELLian
schemes.
I'm a child of the '70s, and whenever I sec Kissinger,
I'm filled with nostalgia for the days when 1
rolled Tonka trucks around on the rug in front of
the television and didn't care about whether the
president would be impeached or not, so long as his
successor could assure me of an uninterrupted
the editor
icate proficiency 1
who is unable to field questions We find there is
from the class and respond com- an English profi
petcntly is serving neither his semester, I (Deb
students nor the university. foreign T.A. f
Mr. Welsh's point concerning classes. There \
potential discrimination is a that the T.A. k
smokescreen. As matters stand, matter well, but
USC already requires "a satisfac- not have cm
tory score on the Test of English knowledge ol
as a Foreign Language" and a language, he wa<
"diagnostic test in English after in learning the su
uiL-y arrive ai me university.'' pie, when a quesi
(19K4-85 Graduate Bulletin, p. him, he could
19) The putative civil rights issue what was being a
raised by the assistant provost he was of little h
evaporates in the face of a long- feel I could h
standing and legitimate university higher grade if 1
policy. The only issue involved is who had sufficii
the adequate enforcement of ex- the English lang
isting academic regulations. We believe tli
The problem presented in ciency test will [
Monday's article is not unique to stances such as t
USC (thanks are owed to Mr. ing in the future
Young for the piece) and deserves Granted, it is
a more direct and more complete instructors to hi
answer ? an answer that must the subject matt*
recognize the university's role, necessary for
not merely as a publisher of prehend the Linj
research papers or as a host of in- order to suffic
ternational symposia, but as a subject.
Ipachmn i tic t i 111? ?r? r, -
, VUVI | I | | gCy lll.llllUUWII III <111 I'd cl gl
speaking nation. avoid possible
Glen Lineberry wou,d bc for a"
History, gradua.c student ?'akc
Thank you fo
To the editor: express our opin
In regard to the article "Assistant
provost: Test unnecessary,"
Feb. 3, Mr. Michael Welsh (as Busincs
assistant provost) stated an
English proficiency test is not
needed for foreign instructors. Political S
letter
ipinions. Ex- 500 words and the writer may su
writinu '* l#^t- furo Plinini- u.. 1
P ? >VI IUIV. 1 IIUIU.l CllllllUI UC I CI III UCU .
The Gamecock will print no mo
-spaced, with letters a month by the same wri
s. They must will only be withheld by specia
ss, telephone and pseudonyms are not allowed
n be reached The Gamecock reserves the ri
letters and guest editorials. Letters
whether the returned. Send letters to: Ec
community Gamecock, Drawer A, Russell II
^c limited to umbia, S.C. 29208.
f On behalf of the entire.
KiWanis Club of Armonk, N.Y., jHjk
| Id like to thank Dr. Kissinger.
Y know, it s hot often we (get 13g|
someom of his stature, here at |H
our pancake breakFast to talk IWff
to us about the impact op post OPEC
macroeconomics on the \ J
cribba^e. of public policy or |V?
whatever the hell it
oar mitzvahs, too?
stream of Tonka trucks, Spider-Man comics, link
sausages, Nutty Buddys and "Man from UNCLE"
reruns.
I doubt, however, that USC is selecting guest
speakers on the basis of the nostalgia they evoke.
Here are some criteria the USC administration has
been using in selecting visiting dignitaries:
How much space in The New York Times will this
get us? Docs the visitor have a foreign accent? Does
the visitor have sticky fingers as far as silverware
and crystal are concerned? Does the visitor make a
lot of noise while eating soup? Docs the visitor
drink not at all? Moderately? Somewhat heavily?
Quite heavily? Docs he suck it up by the bucketful?
Docs the visitor have any money he can throw us in
his will if we smile him a lot and slick his name on
a building? Is he handy with knives?
ZZT The
ItSSlS
a great need tor I I If I la
ciency test. Last
bie Strom) had a Ub
or one of my ^
vas no question I \A/Q J/
new the subject " ?"* *
because he did A . < y\ ?
u?hhecE^h cartoonists %
; unable to aid us " " , 7I
,bjcc. For exam- viewpoints c.
Don was asked of
not understand (vvj,
iskcd. Therefore, "
elp to the class. I
ave achieved a
had had a T.A. :
cnt command of ' f
Kat Cannon
cience, junior
l ????
Boit Newipspar m
SC Press Association ; j
__ Fa" 1985
bmit a pic- Editor in Chief
Marisa J. Porto
, Manaulnu Editor
re than two Jen Row
ter. Names
1 excrntion * op> * hle?
, l.inda Taylor
Assistant Copy Desk Chief
ght to edit Buddy Moore
will not be News Kdi,or
iilor, The Juhei Nad,;
. Assistant News Idilors
lOlISC, Col- Curl Dawson
Hob Kudelka
m
Atchoo!
Student ih
despite of
Although the USC administrat
ion denies there is a
widespread flu problem on
campus, the Thomson Student
Health Center is looking
mighty busy lately.
Students have been piled up
in the center's waiting room
for days now like airplanes at
a major airport.
Spokesmen for the health
center have been grouping the
cold, flu and an assortment of
other miscellaneous diseases
under the vague title of "upper
respiratory infection," which
can contain everything from
the common cold to
emphysema.
No matter what the title, the
amount of students with these
ailments is increasing. If confirmation
of this is needed, an
administration official should
pop his head into any class on
campus and listen to the
students coughing, sniffling,
wheezing and sneezing.
%. M
ivionaay, me ccnter was
turning students away and
asking them to return at a later
day because the doctors were
too busy to see any morfrpa
? <*um W<M
A
it?hi ?i??mm
'he Gamec<
Business Kdltor
Maria Fratus
Viewpoint Kdltor
l.ynn Cusick
rumor
Mary Jo Miller
Astlsliint Spotlight Kdllor
Ed Cham bli ss
Sports Kditor
John Boyetfe
Assistant Sports Kdllor
Jeff Shrewsbury
Photography Kditor
Hay Gronberg
FO YOllNGfTht Gwrwcock
bess a reality
ficial opinion
tients. Denying students help is
i certainly not the best way to
i keep the diseases from
spreading.
; While nobody can cure the
common cold, there arc some
i measures that can be taken to
limit the diseases to those who
are already sick. A
The health center should
receive some help from outside
sources if the situation cannot
' be handled by them alone.
And the administration
should stop denying that there
is a problem. The typical "see
?..:i i ~ ?i:?
no cvii) ucui iiu tvii puuey is
not going to work this time.
Students are sick and have a
legitimate reason to be unhap- ?
py in this case. Instead of *
denial, perhaps the administration
should admit
what everyone already knows
and try to help this serious
situation.
Or do students have to wait
until some noteworthy administration
official catches an
upper respiratory disease
before some action will be ^
taken?
"" /(jSSWHSW
?
>ck
/?Miuniii rnoiography Kdltor
Sean Keefer
Adviser
Bill Rogers
Director
Bill Clements
Production
Lewis Coving/on
Mark Armstrong
Advertising Manager
Margaret Michels '
Student Advertinlng Manager
Kelli Freas
ZZZ. ?I