Letters to the Editor

Division III schools deserve football

I’m writing in reference to the Undergraduate Student Government Academic Assembly recent vote to urge more stringent enforcement of language proficiency standards for international teaching assistants.

USG’s bowing to student complaints about perceived language barriers in the classroom would ultimately be doing those same students a disservice in the long run.

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been had the good fortune to hear some student bemoaning the fact that their TA or professor doesn’t share their incomparable central Pennsylvanian grasp of the English language. On more than one occasion, these complaints have been accompanied by a less-than-clever I’d say "racist," but take your pick and none-too-subtle impression of the offending person’s accent. Hilarious, right? I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this type of attitude is quite prevalent at Penn State, but questions about ethnocentrism and xenophobia aside, students’ dissatisfaction with difficult-to-understand TAs raises another important issue -- life outside the often all too homogenous environment of Penn State.

To be fair, I’m an English major who has made it through four years at Penn State without ever being taught by an international TA. The real world is slightly different, however. My father, on the other hand, is an actuary, who on a daily basis works closely with people from Korea, Japan, India and Eastern Europe on pension plans, corporate benefits programs and statistical models. These people, who may not speak "perfect English," went to some of the best universities in this country (and others), and they were hired because they do what they do well.

The same TA who you have difficulty understanding now might well be your co-worker or your boss after you graduate.

To borrow the words of David Kayal, Academic Assembly president and the author of the report on international TAs in the classroom, "Nobody should ever have to face a class where they can’t understand the teacher." That said, however, a language barrier, whether real or imagined, doesn’t excuse students from making an effort to understand and connect with the teacher. I also have to take issue with Kayal’s characterization of students as "consumers." Any education -- at least any education worth having -- can’t be looked upon as so passive an activity. Real interaction with and engagement of both the teacher and the subject -- be it going to the office hours or getting extra help from someone else -- seems crucial, especially if a person finds the teacher difficult to understand.

You might even thank yourself for making the effort when you find yourself in the real world, and realize that all of America isn’t like Penn State, and that the ability and willingness to communicate with people who might not necessarily look or sound like you is taken for granted.

Timothy Cartin Gyves
senior-English

I’ve noticed that regardless of where I live, change happens on a scale that is hard to fathom. You’ve probably read about the economic benefits of the "long-awaited" I-99, and that "more residential, commercial and industrial development will follow," and that "open lands will be a thing of the past," that we won’t be impacted aside from "tree cutting, clearing and drilling within the footprint of the new highway."

This sounds abstract until we walk any part of that 31-mile stretch. Walking, we see how machines alter a landscape that feels permanent. We notice birds, silence and recently cut stumps of the 200-year-old oak with its acorns getting ready to sprout. We realize that this change is no different from changes back home.

About 30 of us (young and old, from the university and the community) have come up with this idea. Some are recording in journals. Some are taking pictures of a raspberry vine or a beautifully knotted piece of wood. Some are collecting jewel-like sap resin from fallen trees. We are bearing witness thoughtfully.

Finding our voices and power as a community is not easy, but it is hopeful. How do we remember the uniqueness of our home once the economic growth makes it into "any city USA?" Who is thoughtfully deciding the quality of our lives for the years to come?

As students of this university, we have a special role. This community influences our development and our very presence changes this community. This walking is about all our futures.

Alice Crawley
graduate-English