The Stetson Reporter

VOL. S2 Friday, November 21-, 1969 no. i-a The Formulation Of Change: Stetson Looks Ai Itself And Ideas Proliferate Debate Team Takes First Place Trophies IS If ISEW OR OLD? COURSES OVER HOURS Sin. nf Stetson's delbattirs travelled "tn twelve hours and "itail iti lies to cuter a ntwice tournament held Novr-mber 1334 ts sit tltc University isf Mrt rate*,-all si in MontevalUv .Alabama The six tlcbatots wet* JBob Bngtt, i-holsee Ebbets, Mark Meeiansi Ann insiey, Randy Klein, aitd Mam d>wb. Stetson (est the tournament ranked firsl, out of twenty-six colleges and universities. Winsiing a first place trophy was the team of Bob t-tufM and tJbohee Ebbeta tor their perfect record of s-ix wins and -a-ro losses- Also winning a trophv for Stetson was the team ttt Mark a**eiand and Ann lusley for tltpit aiecoi-td place finish of five wins ,tnd one loss. Doing notably well was'the team of Handy Klein and Mara Lewis with a three win aud tttr-re hiss record- Stetson also had the bessi fu-ir man team of tti? twenty-six s-tilleges and universities present a; the tisji-stiimstnt, Cxinsissg up on Stetson's debate calendar ss the National Invitational Tsiurnamesst at the University of Miami, held nts Demnber 14-15, Coach Baurjb plans to send four debaters, who will be rhostin by inter«*«ad s?iiinitiation debates. Below is a summary of Stetson's first semester of debate on tbe topic RESOLVED. That the federal Goternment should grant annually a tipecifie percentage of its in-tjomo tax revenue to tht Slate Governments: (t*s Stetson defeated Brevard Jr. College by winniat; four oat of six rounds. (2) Stetson ranked eleventh out of ibirty-three colleges and universities at Auburn. (3i x-itetson went utidefessted in seven routntis of debstti? at the Cotlepe of Orlando. (1) Stetson won the first trophy sisiee 1065 fo? a aicotid ■ place" nef-atire veaa^, at the University of Honda. By B0B1RT LENNA ED1T01 "The cycle has gone tte complete circle and 1'sn back where 1 started." IV been here before.1" These are two of tbe most fes-penl comoienis whieh are hear* in tte v»io*as committees which ate attempting to evolve a ""new" curriculum for Stetson. There seems to be general ijiij-reement that there is a rational for change in tte curriculum as it now stands, especially its the area of a moo? effective use of the Winter Term program. The ratioaai for change though has not been limited to the Winter Term. There has been serious difficulty in formation of new csimcuhait plans due to three reasons. The tendency to retura is? programs which have been iried and discarded in the past •seems to be exts-etneiy powerful. Osie of tte aspects of this pro-bleat is a serioos lack of knowledge concerning what it is ihal the students want in the way of form aud format in ths? UmiversM-y- Many pemotis may come up wilh ideas whkh ideally seem to hare merit, but without the help of the student tody in deciding whether or not these progratas ate wasted they mast remain in the realm of ■lipe-dreama ' Another problem in attempting to formulate a eou» structure lies in the area of deciding axactly what it is that a liberal s*s*3twaliou should do. This decision quires the setting-of pirtorities. Is the University more intere!*ed getting people into graduate sehooi than it is in developing tte abilities of the student in areas of creative thinking and the exercise of leadetship"! if the former is the main goal of the tlniv-ersity then tte more tradiiiomal foms of pedagogy is probably the most desirable eurrieatum form. If ihe latter is to be the empbasisthen there may be a decided need fot serious, far reaching clianges irt noi only the traditional forms of a liberal education, but also a re-defining of the goals of a liberal education, which might well require radieal changes in She role of the student and the pr-ja-fessor in the aeadesait situation. 37 To Die Th*- i'ntstss-tssity- sif klonte stall st**** dst-bsits*- issnis-h 'seid to Stt-tson's, detsjie f-oach Issn-isld L bit ugh. "It's ironic that von iSiets-unl. pssttl si -tit* s-ii try fs:-e, and are lesss,-iii** wuh $ti2 Hoiih of irs-apts's'-*,** Stelson not siniv left with St>*i worth of trophies, but s-t.*-o 3 ti ft -si-tth th«- prestige of a fatstxill iinH's-.s-iaity" *ie testing some ss.sf nit* biffgisit and most well fiii-siit-etl dt-btrte t**anis In tht* (5i Stets»ii act-u ts*-d iu*. only- defeat at the Vniversity of Sr-'jsIji. Clsuiilinis it?tsh a irt win ,mi1 "Jsl ioatt rcs*ortl. (131 Stela-oii plasted ftm out of i w s? ri t y - s ix col leges .1 list nm versi tics ami won two trophies 111 ttie I*iii¥-srs4ti" of Moritevallo. The a bs*s, it wp resents 1H1 rtstiiisl*. of debate and over tOOti milt?*, travelled, 111001 tliais tin? pttxt tttreo years **1* debati* at Stetson t-oinb'ttieiil. The 3nsad of tte Speech Department at the tioiversity of Florida said. "It's surprising that Stetson has improved stt much ta sueh a short time." Express! 11*; initially the same st-ntimetits. Coach Baugh said, "It's only tots- bad with a freshmaa squad and varsity that Stetson now has, that onr budget wil noi allow us to enter aay lournaments accept regiossal tournaments." TALLAHASSEE -- Only a total effort can keep this year's Thanksgiving holiday from following ia the bloody- footsteps of last year's near record the Florstla -Highway Patrol said today, Tbe Patrol made the call for aa all out effort by tite motoring public as they predicted that 37 people would die ia traffic aeeidents across the state during the 102-hour holitlay tperiod. Colonel Reid Qifton, Oireetor of tbe Patrol said, "A total effort is the only way we can stop the deaths. A tsitat effort by law enforcement, jus*lges, safety otgantaations and drtwrs can ' help prevent hsghway siaughter, but without driver support safety campaigns eannot ttestmsessful,'* Clifton said the "Patrol will have ati troopers atid auxiliary persstinsiel patrolling during speak traffic hour?*. They wili be using unmarked cars, radar, VASCAR, and aircrafi to apprehend law breakers aad will be receiving assistance front 0:msetvalio*i and Wildlife Officers, fhe Holiday period begiits al C p-m- WsL-dne-tday. November 213 and en.4* midnight, Sussday, November 30. Lsts«i year 40 people were kilted in a similar 102-hour Thanksgiving holitlay. These and related problems are now being discussed and s-sotssidered by many members of the Lini-versity - faeuiif trad by mmts stadents. Unfortunately, with only few eseptions such as the letter in last week's Beporler by Mr. Eose, tbe student bod* has taken no action tn the direction of joining nt this dialogue. There ao? some areas where agreement of sorts has already beets steachisd. it is generally felt tbat the General Education rosjrses as sow taught are pretty ranch passe. Almost all of the forms that are prea-stiied -atsewhere in this isst* of The feporter, wh-ethev from within Set-son or from other schools, see tte need tor only two or three basic, ail university, sa-sesuired courties. Another isiea which appeared in many of the proposed formats involves ihe dfeeontinitarice ef the honsrs system of credit, and tte substitution of a coutse system. This ettaage would entail changing the Uiiiversity degree s-equirements from te present given number of hours to a given naatiber of courses taken and completed: the number of courses rstsoomnieadetl varies from 32 to 36. Giber ideas which appear to have sosiie degree of support include tbe se#egation of the Wiater Term from the geneml r^ua^atenta aad simply stating that each student will be expected to participate in four Winter Term ejarperiences during his stay at Stetsson. This proparn it t3s felt would empbaasw tte uiaqite eduearionai sapeiiemee whieh is a part of tbe Winter Term experieaee. Some of tbe proi^ais-tis are baaed on a greater emphasis on the us** of exemption laminations in one form or another, Almost ail of the proposed ideas place great emphasis on expanding tbe isidividuai students available range of choice. fls-ie agaifteaot point which is made at any time these narious ideas are bantered about is that they are ait only tentative. There ia ao program which bus the *%sside track." There is no guarantee that there wil be any changes sought for or granted. The point is that the field for ideas is wide open, and that any eontributiotis arc welcome and sought after. There does appear tu be a rational for change, hut. there is absolutely no definitive tdea or program which is dcenteel the Ideal, and no program which is aot open tu revisioii, correctioa, or dtsoard.