Writing requisite gets mixed reviews

Students this week gave mixed opinions about the new writing requirement that the University plans to implement for next year's freshmen. College sophomore Douglas Rozek lauded the new program, saying that "teaching people to be better writers should be a goal of any university." And English Chairperson John Richetti said that one can "never have enough training. Writing is central to the whole process of education." Under the new program, next year's College of Arts and Sciences freshmen would be required to fulfill an intensive writing requirement before they graduate. It could be fulfilled in several ways, including by passing specific freshmen English courses, or taking a special recitation with an intensive writing lab attached to it. While the Wharton School and the Nursing School already require a freshman English class that would fulfill the requirement, the College currently has no such requirement. Wharton freshman Adriana Lopez said the requirement is a good way for students to learn the communication skills they will need for any career. "Good writing skills are very useful in business and in the real world," Lopez said. "The class should teach how to write succinctly. High school teachers tend to encourage verbosity." College freshman Glory Udobot, however, said the intensive writing courses should be used for more than just career-oriented purposes. The courses should give students "a chance to write about something you really enjoy," she said. "If you can pick the topic then you automatically want to write more and will improve." Ubodot said that the writing lab classes which give students additional credit for attending a special writing-intensive recitation are an excellent way to fulfill the requirement. But College sophomore Katina Banks said she thinks the writing courses should not be mandatory because "you get more out of a class when you volunteer to take it." Richetti, however, stressed that the requirement could be fulfilled in a number of ways, not just in a freshman composition class. "This is not an imperial strategy of a self-asserting English department to make students take another English class, but a school-wide effort to make writing a central part of the curriculum," he said. But he added that many students may still opt to take an additional English class in order to fulfill the requirement as "English teachers are used to teaching writing and will probably pick up the slack."

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