The Red and Black

While I applaud Abigail Moriarty's concern for her students, I must address some of the assertions made in her column about lecture sizes.

First, she asserts that students somehow lose when they are taught by graduate students rather than by professors. It has been my experience as both an undergraduate and a graduate student that earning a Ph.D. does not necessarily make one a great teacher. Likewise, it has also been my experience that not having a Ph.D. makes one a less "qualified" teacher.

I and my colleagues spend countless hours each week on our teaching, and our department makes it very clear that teaching comes even before our own coursework because our students are our primary responsibility.

Second, Moriarty argues for personal tutoring. My students do have scheduled tutoring times - they're called office hours, and I have five of them a week plus appointment hours if needed. Most students simply choose not to take advantage of these hours.

Next, she asserts that smaller classes will yield better educations. Since when does the type of evaluation tool limit how much a student can learn?

Frankly, a student can simply regurgitate information just as easily in a paper and if a student chooses not to learn all that they can, no evaluation tool will change that fact. Finally, the author claims that students are "customers" paying for "enormously expensive" educations.

According to the University, a student's tuition covers about 10 percent of what it costs to educate that student, and to quote a favorite professor of mine - that's a "bona-fide bargain"!

If students are terribly concerned about "getting what they pay for," it's likely that attendance policies wouldn't be needed and students wouldn't leave town in droves on Thursday for a Saturday football game as many did last week.

Universities and teachers are responsible for giving students the best educations that they can, however, that responsibility should be shared equally with the students.

Michele Ramsey Doctoral student, Athens Speech communication

If you're going to give students a "guide to the candidates," why didn't you include Libertarian candidates Jack Cashin for governor and Bert Loftman for U.S. Senate in Tuesday's round-up? You included Libertarian candidates in the other races. This was a poor oversight.

Jena McGregor Senior, Marietta History

I would like to thank Doug Gillett for his paranoia, er, commentary (The Red & Black, Monday).

While I agree that everyone should vote, I refuse to believe the basis of our voting should be likened to a football game featuring cross-town rivals. 

That line of thinking is uneducated and childish. Let your voice be heard, not anyone else's.     

Also, Mr. Gillett, you may want to reconsider only looking at a candidate's political views and not personal views. This may help you avoid future feelings of betrayal by politicians with questionable character.  

ISAAC BLAISE Senior, Albany MIS

I agree with Brian Tomlinsons' assertions (Mailbox, Tuesday) except for one glaring mistake:  The University does tilt admissions in favor of student athletes.      

The minimum SAT score for a University athlete (as dictated by NCAA) is a 900 if that student is on an athletic scholarship. 

How many non-athletic incoming freshmen do you think have that score? Probably not very many.  

Hill Paschal Freshman, Albany Business

The last thing that we should do is discourage or demote one of our very own players. Sure, Hap Hines has had a few bad games, but he has kicked some damn good field goals as well.

Bastiaan Schimmel Junior, Bogart Agricultural economics         

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