The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 20, 2006 Page: 3 of 12
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The University News September 20, 2006 3
News
A Modest Proposal?
by Amy Turner
Contributing Writer
Dear Fellow Students,
I write to you as intellectuals
who have chosen our university
for its Catholic, classical educa-
tion, at the heart of which is
our core curriculum. A mo-
tion entitled "Proposals for an
Improved Core" is presently
before the Core Curriculum
Committee. If passed, this pro-
posal will greatly alter the face
and quite possibly the identity
of the University of Dallas.
However, as the foundation
and guide of our pursuit of
wisdom, the Core ought to be
guarded well, and only modi-
fied with much and thoughtful
consideration. Such a large
revision to the Core as is cur-
rently being proposed requires
every intellectual who pursues
wisdom at UD to enter the
discussion.
The Proposal at hand calls
for a veritable reconstruction
of the Core. It recommends
"consolidation" of the core
classes, removing one History
course, one English course, one
Philosophy course, one Foreign
Language course, and one or
the Mathematics/ Fine Arts
requirements. The Proposal
also recommends the addition
to the Core of two new courses,
entitled "Junior Core Seminar"
and "Disciplines of Western
Tradition."
The proposal does not take
away the "liberty" of any de-
partment to discern the proper
foci of study or suggest a par-
ticular area as "unnecessary"
subjects for study, but limits
the number of courses in which
to survey the whole ofWestern
Tradition. Already compact
courses, such a reduction in
course hours appears to re-
quire that they be a much less
introspective and discursive
study. Each of the remaining
courses would need revision
and reduction, for it is not
possible to cover twelve hours
of course material in nine ' ours
and retain either the same com-
pendium or the same depth. It
would seem that much thought
has been given to the concept
of reducing the jaumber of
core hours in each discipline,
but that much introspection is
advisable in determining what
knowledge and understanding
may be removed as "inessen-
tial."
The "Junior Core Seminar"
would be led by three faculty
members, each from a differ-
ent discipline. Students would
HAGGARD GRADUATE
SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
Angie Horn-Andreu, M.Div., '07
Director, High School and College Ministries,
Forest Home, Forest Falls, California
LESSON LEARNED: No question threatens God.
MY STORY: Imagine this - a 16-year-old comes up to you
and asks how God, who is supposed to be loving, allowed
his friend to die in a car accident. How do you begin to
answer this? I'll tell you how I do it.
To learn more about Angie's inspiring story and explore
the theology programs offered:
www.apu.edu/stories/aandreu
(800) TALK-APU
graduatecenter@apu.edu
A
AZUSA PACIFIC
UNIVERSITY
be required to apply the skills
acquired in the Core to topics
chosen from contemporary
events that "raise fundamen-
tal questions about the hu-
man condition," with the class
"culminating in an integrative
research paper." (UD Bulletin
course description proposal)
The Holocaust, Genetic Ad-
vancement in the Twentieth
and Twenty-first Centuries,
and Art in Contemporary
Cultures are some of the pro-
posed topics to be discussed
with the aid of contemporary
books, poetry, art, music and
film. Such a class as this allows
students a rare opportunity to
test their critical thinking and
understanding against practi-
cal concerns outside the "UD
bubble" before they graduate,
and to do so with the guid-
ance of our seasoned and wise
faculty.
"Disciplines of the Western
Tradition" (DWT) is pro-
posed to 'increase the student's
knowledge of the major choices
available and thereby educate
the student's liberty as he or
she moves from the Core to
a major." (DWT Committee
Report, 8/30/06) Each DWT
course will discuss the object of
study, the history, and the pur-
pose of each discipline and it's
method of proving truth. The
idea that this course might be
necessary to help a student un-
derstand each discipline seems
an insult to the integrity of our
faculty, who both advises stu-
dents in choosing their majors,
and teaches the existing classes
with lucidity enough that a
student of I D s intellectual
ability may glean the purpose
of each class's discipline.
A modification of the Core
is not inherently hurtful or
harmful to the UD educa-
tion. Committees within each
department commonly meet
to discuss which texts will be
required in their Core classes.
When making changes, how-
ever, it is of utmost neces-
sity that the ideals of our UD
education be kept at heart.
J lie "Proposal for an Improved
Core" concludes by saying that
it provides "a three-part under-
standing of the undergraduate
program- Core, Choice and
Major." We students are not
here just so that we can choose
now, but rather that we may
learn to choose wisely. The
classes that compose the Core
are not supposed to be one
of the commodities that we
choose from, but rather that
Fount ofWisdom that inspires
us to choose wisely.
Current UD
Core
Requirements
- Literary radition
I, II, III, IV
- American
Civilizations I, II
- Western
Civilizations I, II
- Philosophical and
Ethical Life
- Philosophy of Man
-Philosophy of
Being
-Understanding the
Bible
- f he Western
I lieological
Tradition
-Fundamentals of
Economics
-Principles of
American Politics
-2 Lab Sciences
-3 Math/Fine Arts
-Foreign Language
I hrough
Intermediate
-1 additional
Philosophy Course
Freshman- from Page 1
were moved to O'Connell.
While there are a few empty
spaces in the women's dorms, the
men's dorms were much fuller at
the beginning of the semester.
According to Grant, the halls are at
98% of their maximum capacities,
"We started having to use the
lounge room in Gregory, and then
we only had to put one student
in there, but we were able to
find him a regular bed just the
other day," Grant said. "It could
have been a situation where we
would have had to use different
lounge rooms, too. We didn't
have to do that, but we were
prepared to do that, if we had to."
According to Grant, the
larger class size is a trend that
will likely continue, as a result
of enhanced marketing plans,
Increasing the average class size
raises both short-term and long-
term questions for the university.
"There is a possibility that
there will be some changes
dictated by the space. I don't see
us building a new hall in the near
future for a lot of reasons," said
Grant "If we were going to build
something, I think we would really
do something strikingly different
rather than put up another,
regular residence hall with two
beds in the room, because those
are sort Of going out of style."
Anotheraspectof the University
potentially affected by the larger
class size is the Rome program.
The Due Santi campus has
108 beds for students, and Rome
Office Director Becky Davies
made it clear that students have
not previously been kept from
participating in the program
simply for lack of space.
"Historically, no one has ever
been closed out of Rome who
was qualified," she stated, while
acknowledging that with an
increased class size, she could not
guarantee that this would continue
to be the case in the future.
Davies raised the possibility
of various options, including
an enhanced summer program
in Rome through which
UD students could satisfy
some of their core credits.
When asked for comment,
Robert Galecke, the University's
Senior Vice President for indicated
that there are no imminent plans
for increasing the "physical space
at Due Santa or in Irving," but said
"We will be looking at options for
our increased student population
over the next 6-12 months."
Charity- from Page 1
Charity Week Co-Chairs,
believe this year's Charity Week
has the potential to break
last year's record of $19,000.
"Our goal for this year is
to have every student donate
a total of $20 throughout the
week," said LoCoco, "There are
1,200 undergraduate Students,
and if every one donated
twenty dollars, we would raise
$24,000, which would squash all
previous Charity Week records."
Peters stressed the necessity to
donate as well, "The goal of every
Charity Week is to raise money
to help others and give back
to the community. If everyone
sacrificed a few beers or a trip to
the movies, they could use that
money during Charity Week to help
these two wonderful charities."
Although the Junior Class
organizes Charity Week, this event
requires help from everyone. The
freshmen help with Family Day,
the sophomores run the booths in
Haggar, and the seniors plan, build,
and enforce the infamous jail.
"Really the whole school is
responsible for some aspect
of Charity Week," said Peters.
"We would love for everyone to
volunteer their time to help with the
actual events, but more importantly,
everyone needs to participate and
donate money in order to make
this Charity Week the best yet."
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The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 20, 2006, newspaper, September 20, 2006; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201434/m1/3/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Dallas.