Letters to the Editor

English-speaking world no longer the norm

In the recent discussion on international teaching assistants, those who disparage the quality of instruction from an international TA have overlooked one very important factor. Cultural and linguistic diversity, instead of being some "conspiracy" forced by the "liberal" academy, is actually social reality.

There really is no decision to make on whether or not to have international teaching assistants, any more than graduates of this university will have any choice in working in an environment where everyone looks and speaks like themselves. Our universities and our workplaces are seeing a new demography where there is no white, middle-class, or English-speaking norm. Working with an international TA in a recitation or lab, or having an international faculty member is just the kind of learning experience that the university can offer to otherwise isolated undergraduates to better prepare them for the world outside Happy Valley.

John Katunich
graduate-teaching English as a second language

It’s a shame that Christine Reindl and John T. Kemtz III can only see the negative aspects of foreign instructors in American classrooms and fail to see the benefits that can be gained from it. I recently spent a semester abroad at a university where American students took classes that were taught in English by professors who sometimes didn’t speak perfect English. While this was challenging for the Americans at times, it was nothing compared to some of our classmates, who were from various European countries and Japan, and whose English was often not very good.

I was amazed that someone who could barely speak English would be willing to take a class where the lectures, discussions and lengthy reading assignments were all conducted in English. My non-American classmates didn’t mind doing additional work in order to grasp the material, because being able to communicate with someone across language barriers was a skill that they felt was as valuable as the actual material that they were learning. Perhaps students who have a problem with the language skills of their physics instructors should take a moment to think about why these instructors from another country are teaching the class -- could it be that this is who makes up a large segment of the field that they are studying? Do they plan on working in a vacuum after graduation, or is it possible that they will have to work with someone in their field that doesn’t speak very good English? If this situation were to come up, then they might actually be able to use something that they learned in college -- how to communicate technical information with a non-native English speaker.

Jason Weiss
junior-English and biology

This letter is in response to Julie Fretts’ column on the spirit of giving. Her column starts off by discussing whether or not the amount of giving is ever enough. She questions whether or not it is better to give from the heart or the pocket book. The rest of her article divulges into how people, sometimes even Penn State students, do not treat their fellow man with any respect, even decency.

I do not try, nor have I ever seen, anyone purposely run into a blind student on this campus. If some students fall down in the ice, is it really necessary to help that person up if he or she can obviously help her or himself? If someone fell on the ice and broke their leg, I assure you that some students on this campus would help them.

Remember the HUB Lawn shooting, a student single-handedly wrestled away Gillian Robbins’ gun and then applied a bandage to stop her bleeding from her self-inflicted injury. That student could have been killed in his attempt to disarm Robbins.

Also the students give a lot of their time to fund raising and other events. Penn State’s dance marathon is the largest student run philanthropy organization in the country. It raises more than a million dollars every year. I don’t think it is fair that Fretts’ column implies that the Penn State populace as materialistic.

Overall, the column comes across as extremely pessimistic about Penn State and the people around her. She needs to open her eyes and see what Penn State is doing for its community. Lastly, she needs to be happy donating any time or money or even a smile, and be happy to help whoever and wherever she can. People have spent lifetimes trying to right the wrongs of society, there is too much that needs to be done for any one person to try and put the weight of the world on his/her shoulders.

Jason A. Checque
senior-history

I don’t know about the rest of the student body, but I agree with the Collegian on the matter of Jamarr Billman. In no way do I have any negative feelings toward Penn State athletes. My girlfriend is a swimmer here, and I know a good few other student-athletes well enough to see that they are decent, hard-working students. I do, however, have a problem with any man who strikes a woman. Billman has shown in the past that he is an aggressive and potentially violent person. This makes it hard for me to believe that the story is "a bunch of bull," as a teammate remarked. I do not believe that anyone who has charges of a violent nature against him twice in less than four months should be sheltered any longer. At the very least this exposure may help prevent this from happening to someone else.

The even greater absurdity is the fact that people seem to think that this guy is the victim here. I was in total disagreement with the letter to the editor from Chuck Kimble. I don’t doubt that the last six months have been hard for him, but whose fault is that? Very seldom does somebody’s picture appear on the front page unless he did something to deserve it.

The only person I feel compassion for in this matter is the 19-year-old woman who undoubtedly is terrified. Maybe some people should start recognizing the real victim here and realize that the only place to point a finger is at Jamarr Billman.

Michael Lacey
sophomore-engineering