The Rice Thresher

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October 27, 2006 > Opinion > Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

Editorial missed committee’s points

To the editor:

While I applaud most of the Thresher editorial staff’s comments in last week’s editorial, the discussion regarding distribution credit for 100-level foreign language courses misses several key points that were offered during my presentation to the Student Association (“Writing and distribution demand major changes,” Oct. 13).

The Student Association Academics Committee is well aware of the fact that most introductory foreign language courses are five credit hours, therefore enabling students to theoretically complete nearly all of their Group I distribution credits with only one year of a language. This indeed is unacceptable and was one of the major reasons why D1 credit was withdrawn for such classes.

At the SA meeting we proposed that D1 credit still be offered for these classes, but that only a certain number of those hours (say, 2 or 3 credits) would go towards the D1 requirement. In our opinion this is a reasonable compromise that encourages people from all educational disciplines at Rice to experience our fantastic language offerings.

As it stands now, it is quite difficult for students with stringent major requirements to delve into languages at the level required for proficiency because of the multiple demands imposed on them. Our proposal provides an incentive to take language courses without monopolizing the D1 category as a pseudo-foreign language requirement. Alternatively, we could also make credit for first-year languages dependent on taking the second year, thereby ensuring that the pedagogical foundation of first-year language courses is not an issue.

It should be noted that the Academics Committee is run by students, for students. What we say and decide in our meetings is by no means the policy for the student body, and we are always open to ideas. I encourage all who are interested in these topics to come to our future committee meetings and make their opinions heard, because it is only through critique, debate and dialogue that a successful academic policy will be established.

Naweed Chowdhury

Brown senior

SA Academics Committee Chair

Thanks, students, for football support

To the editor:

I would like to extend my appreciation for the Rice student body’s attendance at the Rice vs. UAB football game during their fall break. Their support means a lot to our Rice Owl team and coaching staff. It was very reassuring to look in the stands and see the wave of War Owls shirts giving the team and coaches that extra incentive to keep fighting.

We look forward to having everyone at the next two home games. We will go against East Carolina on Nov. 18 and SMU Nov. 25. Go Owls!

Todd Graham

Head Football Coach

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