Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY ThursAy, September 7, 1972 'Ptli HEMCIA DIYfusdi,5peme ,17 BGS: to your taste the unchained claS.1ro0o By ROBERT SCHREINER "The BGS can be either the salvation of geniuses or the re- fuge of scoundrels," commented romance languages department chairman James O'Neill two and a half years ago when the Ba- chelor in General Studies de- gree program was just begin- ning its second ful term of oper- O'Neill, along with many other members of the University com- munity, had expressed concern that BGS students would have more of the "scoundrel" in them as they found themselves freed of language, distribution a n d concentration requirements. However, it is becoming ap- parent that O'Neill's "scound- rels" to a large extent are com- pleting language requirements anyway, and formulating their own "concentration" programs. Moreover, the BGS degree pro- gram is not only gaining stature here at the University, but is also enjoying wide acceptance by graduate. schols throughout the country. The controversial BGS p r o- U gram was created three years ago by the literary college fa- culty in the aftermath of a long drawn-out dispute with students seeking the abolition of the col- lege's language and distribution requirements. Refusing to remove the re- quirements from the BA degree, the faculty instead established the BGS, a new, separate de- gree program without language, distribution and concentration re- quirements. The program's creation mark- ed one of the first major exam- ples of academic reform in the literary college brought about by presure from the students themselves. The only requirement for the BGS is that students elect at least 60 hours of advanced-level courses (300 level and above), with no more than 20 of these advanced hours in any one de- partment. In adition, there is a 40 hour limit on courses taken within any one department. While many faculty members have continualy expressed con- cern that BGS students would be viewed by graduate school ad- missions offices as being I e s s qualified than other applicants, a nation-wide telephone survey made by The Daily two years ago revealed that most grad- uate and profesional schools hold the BGS in as high a regard as any other University degree. Although critics have taken she view that the lack of require- ments in the program makes the BGS as "easy way out," t h e BGS candidates themselves seem to have different ideas. Although they are not forced to take language courses or elect a concentration program, a large portion of the BGS students have fulfilled the language require- ment and an ever larger num- ber are "concentrating" their programs in a selected disci- pline. While graduate schools admit students with BGS degrees, they sometimes look more favorably on students who have taken a language or havedgained exper- tise in some field. 20% OFF 20% OFF JAK'S MEN'S WA S--- --- - ------------ mm m - m mminm m mm w - ---mm mm " m -m'--- STUDENT SPECIAL 40 J R LET'SGET ACQUAINTED OFFER : 20% OFF on all purckoses* ", with this coupont JACK'S MEN'S WEAR 118 E. Washington-Ann Arbor Expires Sept. 9, 1972 except Fairtrade Items I 0 4 ,.ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm==i==am WmWW MMm"=mm Wnmmmmimm~mmmm~miniinu Wllmm /a0%OFF 20%/OF .. '~ __ IA / E't course mart: new class options Iq By GLORIA JANE SMITH Supplement Co-Editor Despite the numerous avail- able classes listed in official University catalogues, you just may find the selection inade- quate. If this be the case, Course Mart is the place for you. Initiated nearly four years TV & Stereo Rentals $10.00 per month NO DEPOSIT FREE DELIVERY, PICK UP AND SERVICE CALL: NEJAC TV RENTALS 662-567 1 ago, the program offers interde- partmental and unclassifiable courses with imaginative titles and creative syllabuses: Courses like "Directions: The Future of H u m a n Evolution", "History and Philosophy of Non-Vio- lence" and "Dimensions of Re- ligious Experience." Course Mart is ac"stockmar- ket" for ideas of courses not offered by the University itself, according to Pete Jacobson, Di- rector of Course Mart and coor- dinator of the LSA Counseling Office. During the 1969 Winter term, the first -four Course Mart courses were offered. Since then, the program has expand- ed with an estimated 1,000 stu- dents registered for at least 20 Course Mart courses last term. Credits received from the courses range from two to three hours and anyone from sopho- mores to professors are permit- ted to teach them. The courses are not depart- mental and therefore will not earn credits toward a major, but all credits are valid toward a degree. Resulting from a review last spring of the Course Mart pro- gram by the LSA faculty, the project's courses are now taught only on a pass-fail basis. Per- mission to teach a graded Course Mart course may, how- ever, be obtained by individual sponsors, as did two Law courses last term. Controversy arose two years ago when six sections of a Course Mart course being of- fered for the first time, Inde- pendent Political Action (Col- lege Course 327) were denied credit by the Course Mart Com- mittee, a student - faculty re- view group for the program's courses. Committee members cited "iriregularities" in the course's formation as reason for the ac- tion. Among other things, they claimed the section's instructors -mostly undergraduates and people from outside of the Uni- versity - had not been given proper clearance to teach the course.6 The course itself included a weekly lecture on general topics involving political action and 15 seminar sessions on such diversified topics as radical journalism, sexism, and ecology. The subsequent dispute in- volved on one side those who argued that the sections in question were undeserving of University credit and on the other side those who argued that the sections and instruct- ors were ligitimate and that the committee had no right to de- lete sections of an approved course for which students had registered and were currently taking. Following much debate and further investigation, the LSA curriculum committee (the fi- nal authority on all LSA cours- es) reinstated credit to the sec- tions and Independent Political Action was held without further trouble. PESC: reach out By GLORIA JANE SMITH Supplement Co-Editor Challenging the rigidly de- fined format of most University courses to a greater extent than even Course Mart, is the Pro- gram for Educational and So- cial Change (PESC). Initiated last winter by a group of professors, teaching fellows, students and members - of the Ann Arbor community, PESC opened both an assort- ment of regular University courses and two original courses to the gen'eral public for free auditing. No sooner had classes begun than PESC was confronted with severe opposition from the Uni- versity administration. Vice President for Academic Affairs Allan Smith released a statement charging that the PESC. free-auditing policy was in conflict with established University policy. Not all PESC instructors last term were University professors. Rainbow People's Party mem- ber John Sinclair directed a course called "Community Con- trol of Prisons," and Charles Thomas and Hank Bryant of the Black Economic Develop- ment League instructed anex- ploration of the social and po- litical makeup of Washtenaw County. Students who desired aca- demic credit for these courses were allowed to elect them as independent reading courses under the direction of a PESC professor. Many PESO courses empha- size independent study and of- fer a variety of means for Uni- versity students to incorporate them credit-wise. Following numerous meetings and hours of debate between PESC organizers and the ad- ministration, the University of- fered a position of tolerancy. Smith announced that he would allow PESC to continue if conditions remained relative- ly stable. A PESC spokesman assured that no "duly registered stu- dent" would be excluded from a class because it was filled with non-students. Although the administration decided not to discontinue PESC, this is not necessarily an indication of their approval. Admittedly, it would be very difficult to control the number of free auditors in University classrooms. A lack of administrative sup- port of PESC was shown last April when a request for fund- ing was denied. PESC submitted a request for $4,600 to the Executive Committee of the literary col- lege - who had at their dispos- al $52,000 set aside from the college's budget as "nnovative funds." Allocations were made instead to various professors and programs, to be used pri- marily for equipment pur- chases. rI v~ 0 to brighten vup Fall Days S OUiJe 334 S. State Street 663-5049 5 1 FOLLETT'S FOIBLES rl I 9 I- <2 . 'C> - 2 By E. Winslow With a good-as-new psychology text. A short-on-cash coed was hexed With a fear of being over-sexed. 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