The Griffin: volume 52, issue 09 - Dec. 11, 1981

              "It cannot be too otten stressed that the purpose is not to turn out from the liberal college hordes of applied mathematicians and technologists and computer scientists, any more than it was earlier the purpose to turn out hordes of philosophers and historians," White says. Minorities May Feel A lienated in White Schools Youko Searight, a senior biology major, considers herself a minority within a minority being a For Bonnie, college is not something she feels she must go through so she can survive in the real world. She intends to finish college to satisfy herself only. She seems to feel that the dorm students have a more difficult time dealing with prejudice here than commuters like herself do. black Puerto Rican, Japanese American. She said that she experienced strong alienation during her first two years here. "I was forced to stay by myself due to fear of rejection," she commented. Youko went on to say that, "Now as a senior involved with a group of students, finally I'm kind of seeing things from the inside out after having always looked in from the outside. It's a new perspective." Youko feels that, on the whole, there is rarely a social gravitation to minorities. She has found that, in her curriculum, some professors seem to be unconsciously biased in the way they deal out their concern and attention to students. Youko said that often is she had a problem, and went to see a professor, she felt she didn't always get the same attention that a white student would have. She feels, however, that people wtio voice such views without knowing the truth "only degrade themselves in the eyes of other, more intelligent people." She then added, "You just have to figure out who to be with." Clark seems to think that no matter where biacks go, they are always going to be stereotyped and prejudged. She said this doesn't bother her because she feels everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it is a prejudiced one. Valerie is in college because she feels that in order to get the kind of job she would like, she needs to get an M.A. She's not sure just exactly what her career plans are, but she.said it's much easier for a white college graduate with a B.S. to get a decent job than it is for any minority with the same degree. Alford adds that in the future, she would like to see Canisius become more racially integrated. Another freshman minority student, Bonnie Clark (this one a commuter) noted that, for her "It's not hard to find friends here," but added in a lughing voice that "some caucasion people here find us (blacks) under level for them." "Because of the type of college this is (private, expensive) you get a lot of people from the upper something like that," she stated. "These people are the least exposed to anyone; that's why there's tension." Alford feels that stereotyping is the result of a lack of contact between races. She said that by talking and allowing herself to open up to everyone, instead of shrinking in fear, she hopes to help abolish the old opinions and feelings people have about blacks. It seems that many blacks, who are the largest racial minority, have much to say in response to these and other questions concerning the obstacles they face on their way to graduation. Valerie Alford, a full-time freshman dormie, said that although she has found many beautiful people here at Canisius, she can sense a definite "tension" between the races. by Gerard Frank What is it like to be a non-white student in a predominantly white college? Do minorities face disadvantages here at Canisius that white students don't? Ironically, Youko noted that, "In terms of goals, it was innate to preclude that I would go on to college; that this woOld be my only alternative." This statement seems to echo the dilemma faced by many minorities here at Canisius who feel that college is not only something they must accomplish for themselves, but also something they must accomplish if they are to have any sort of worthwhile career. Like Youko, Manuel said that he felt stereotyping more intensely as an underclassman. But he added that he has learned to deal with this and now it isn't hard to handle. Although this statement may sound cynical, Manuel went on to say that he hasn't encountered any major problems as far as friendship goes and that, for the most part, the atmosphere here is "condusive to a good relationship between the races." Like everyone else interviewed, Manuel Pressley felt that, "There is a natural line of division between the races" here at Canisius. "In a predominantly white college," he said, "naturally things like activities and so forth are catered to the majority; minorities are naturally left out much of the time." "The hardest thing," he said, "is not having many other people of your own race to associate with. Many minorities feel they are here just to fill the college's requirement of black students." A lilac bush in the Quad, faint reminder of spring and life, is dotted with snow after Buffalo's first accumulation this Tuesday — initiating the new season of faith and celebration to come. the GRiFFiN/Mike mrsoh (Continued on Page 10) 'New Liberal Arts7Adds Analytic Skills White, is to acquaint students with their culture. Thus, he says, the nature of a liberal education must evolve as the culture evolves. by MikeHirsch A liberal arts education should be expanded to include greater technological literacy and increased studies in computers and mathematics, according to "The New Liberal Arts," a paper offering an exchange of views on the ideal college curriculum for today. It asserts that a modern liberal education must acquaint students with the mode of thought of the scientist as well as that of the humanist. The computer has changed our~ culture dramatically in recent years, according to White. "What the computer has done, quite beyond helping with airline reservations, is provide scope for analytical skills that has never before existed, and in so doing it has altered the world in which the student will live as well as the manner in which he will think about the world," he writes. White maintains that the purpose of teaching more analytical.skills is not to produce technicians. "The man with a truly liberal education is one who is aware of many modes of thought and aware, too, of the manner in which they interact among themselves and with the larger purpose of becoming a useful and a fulfilled human being," Stephen White, the author of the first essay writes. Richard Warch states, "the computer — and the analytical and technological skills that it represents — constitute the most important challenge faced by the liberal arts college in modern times. Unlike technological advances in the past, this machine cannot — and will not — be relegated or delegated to the select few who will use it directly." "We shduld set our sights on achieving a major reorientation and enrichment of liberal education that will not only accommodate, but will embrace, both the computer and the modes of thought that it employs," he adds. George A. Drake, in response to White, writes, "his challenge is most timely, as American higher education slides with mindless and unseemly haste into vocationalism. We are in ieopardy of giving way to the shallower dimensions of pragmatism; those which insist on the practical applicability of all studies, while ignoring the profound impact of an education which concentrates on teaching broad analytic skills, the ar-ts of communication, and knowledge of the great traditions of human thought and creativity." "To believe, in thia era, that a man possesses a liberal education who is ignorant of analytic skills is to make a mockery of the central concept of liberal education and to ignore the nature of the world in which the graduate will live, and to which he hopes to contribute in one way or another," he asserts. The purpose of a liberal education, according to See related editorial: page 2 The change, White acknowledges, is not going to come easily. "Barriers to evolution have become more formidable . . . remodeling a currrculum inescapably implies remodeling a faculty," he writes.