LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Professors who can teach should be tenured

To the Editor: Mr. Han states that, "Teaching is secondary here, because any member of this student body should possess the competency to teach themselves." So as I understand it, everyone who goes to Penn must be pretty damn smart: Any one who can teach his/herself everything that one learns in college is intelligent in my book. However, our friend goes on to say that, "?they (the students) generally don't have the capacity to evaluate the important traits (of a professor) even if they tried." Well, Mr. Han are we stupid or are we smart? Let me also remind you that the "they" that you refer to includes you. Don't you think that you can "properly evaluate the necessary traits," you seem to know every thing else. I think that most of Penn's students are capable of evaluating a professor's skills. Who better to assist in deciding the professor's future than his/her pupils? I also don't understand why Mr. Han insists on believing that the students here are narrow-minded idiots who are only concerned about whether or not their teacher is cool or a "nice guy." Most students don't come to college because it is nice or cute. Students come to college to learn from professors who know what they are talking about, and are interested that the student grasps what they are being taught. Having a professor who publishes and receives grants is fantastic, but they should be hired because they are good teachers. Why should universities even exist if students could obtain all of their knowledge from text books? The answer is so that students can learn from people who have a deep understanding of a subject, not because they published an article in magazine X. What a professor does outside of the classroom should be secondary to what they do inside. I don't think that Penn has attained the prestige and recognition it has only because the professors are well known in their respective academic communities, but because the graduates of the school have illustrated in the outside world what kind of knowledge a person has after graduating from Penn. Secondly, the author states, "Who cares if your professor is a good or bad teacher?" Well, for one I care; I care a hell of a lot. My parents care a lot also, and that is why they are shelling out thirty G's a year for me to come here. The professors should care or at least respect the students enough to teach them properly. The classes that professors teach should not just be a waste of everyone's time, but it should be a time when students are expected to be challenged, and not just kept busy so that the professor can return to more important work. I am sure that most universities, including this one, want this to be the rule, rather than the exception. The idea behind a university is to provide a place for higher learning. Mr. Han is right in that we, the students, should do the work on our own, and that we should not need to have the professors take us by the hand through the basic principles. However, I don't know about you, Mr. Han, but I am not here to learn about basic principles. I want to go a whole lot deeper than basic principles, and that is why I am here. I also think that Mr. Han should stop looking at his chemistry book for a while and open his eyes so that he can see that life exists beyond the chemistry department. Not all of the professors here are teaching because they are doing research, but many of them are here because they want and love to teach. So I suggest that you get off your high horse, Mr. Han, and really think about what you are saying before you start writing about it. I am not here because I think that in three years my degree is going to hold weight. I am here because I want to learn something. The reputation of a school can carry you only so far, but it is what you got up stairs in your brain that is going to take you where you really want to go. That knowledge comes from professors who know how to teach, not just bring in money. Got it? Rodney Ficker College '98 Recognizing students' efforts To the Editor: I am uncertain about the purpose of the series on Shaw Middle School. While detailing the events taking place in the middle school is important, the series fails to highlight that these events occur through the efforts of many University volunteers. The fact that so many undergraduates and graduate students take time out of their studies to help younger Philadelphia kids with their work is amazing. Although the Environmental Education project, as well as the Saturday Journalism school, is an enormous undertaking, there are many other projects aided and coordinated by University students in Philadelphia schools. I commend my friends Abby Close and John Seeg for their work both in and out of Shaw with the Environmental Education project; I equally extend my appreciation to the other volunteers that make the project so successful. Without these volunteers all of the mentioned and ignored programs could not occur. All of the volunteer's names cannot be listed in an article. Their existence should not be forgotten. Kris Juncker College '97 West Philadelphia Improvement Corps (WEPIC) Coordinator Dangerous undertones To the Editor: A response to a most offensive reaction by Rafael Alcantara, to my comment on Mr. Halvorssen's editorial in The Red and Blue magazine. My credentials are irrelevant to the matter at hand and, as such, are not up for debate. There is simply no reason to justify my writing skills to a person lacking a college degree who attempts to sterilize intelligent debate by attacking my periods and commas. My record speaks for itself: Amherst College '93; Spanish teacher at Milton Academy; Penn Law '97. However, I reiterate my offer to debate the merits of the LALLP with anyone who so desires in a climate of respect and understanding. Mr. Alcantara's implications are clear: "Your grammar is poor. Therefore, your opinion is worthless." His undertones are offensive and dangerous: "You have an accent, and therefore are not intelligent, and your opinion does not count." I take issue with these undertones and will not tolerate them. Jorge Luis Armenteros Law '97 Resident Advisor LALLP

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