STAFF EDITORIAL:Spanish division needs help

Recent faculty departures and a surge in interest have left Penn's Spanish division without enough professors. For any number of reasons -- including increasing numbers of native Spanish speakers in the U.S. and increased foreign trade with Spanish-speaking countries -- Spanish courses are in demand. Unfortunately, Penn's Spanish Division, which has gone from 10 to five standing faculty members in the space of a year, is ill-suited to handle the situation. Proficiency-level classes are stuffed to capacity and the department faces a self-proclaimed "crisis in upper-level classes." Such a situation would be a cause for concern at any department on campus. But for the Spanish Department, in this day and age, it is nothing short of deplorable. This is not a classic case of disjoint between Penn's research and pedagogic priorities -- the importance of studying Hispanic culture has also never been greater. But for all the warning signs, Penn has been caught in an embarrassing fix -- too many students, too few professors. The School of Arts and Sciences has granted permission for the division to pursue two Latin-American literature appointments -- one senior and one junior -- over the next year. And although the department did hire three part-time faculty members in August, that is nothing more than a temporary patch. That is entirely inadequate for a division that lost four professors -- three to retirement, one to resignation -- over the past year. With interest in the division's course offering only likely to increase, what possible sense does it make to replace no more than half of last year's faculty losses? SAS has declared its intention to wait for the findings of an external review committee this fall before considering the authorization of further hirings in time for the fall semester, 2000. It shouldn't take an external review to comprehend the importance of making Penn's Spanish division second to none.