University of Wisconsin Oshkosh - Quiver Yearbook (Oshkosh, WI)

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THE WATERS The waters have come clear to the soul; I have sunk into the abyss of deep waters. Like the currants clustered upon the vines I have taken my nourishment from the leaves and the roots of the earth. Song O song of my love during the night! Eyes dark like the pebbles on the bottom of the sea! Can you not hear the waves running like elephants, Gray and huge, as they crash on rocks of the shore? The waters have come clear to the soul; I have sunk into the abyss of deep waters. Like the currants clustered upon the vines I have taken my nourishment from the leaves and the roots of the earth. Thomas Davis MEMORY a memory of rain in a night when the wind filled and spread the sky a rain upon us and thru us, on sounds little known as feet of deer, a rain falling between us, upon two voices almost heard above the wind. by Ethel Davis 26 Business falling ... s Advertise in I The New Quiver Call for information: 424-1152

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continued from page 20 As we do this we become less homogenous in terms of student interests, abilities, etc., and it becomes imperative that we provide a type of program which is good for the individual student. When I say this I am not talking about watering down the program. As I see it the most able student ought to be given apro-gram that starts where he is, however high that is, and which provides a genuine challenge for him. Hopefully the university will be able to provide a program which will be good for the individual. We talk a lot about mass education, but as far as Pm concerned that’s a misnomer. You don’t educate masses; you educate individuals. Of course, an institution or university does not move forward because of an individual. It moves forward because a great many people are willing to work together. In the past at Oshkosh the situation has been particularly favorable for progress. We’ve had good support from the legislature and the Board of Regents, enthusiastic support from faculty, and certainly the administrators have been dedicated. Along with all of this we have had a student body that wants to move ahead. After considering all the elements that have been involved , and the team work that has beer, necessary, I’m pleased we can say that this university is recognized as a strong institution by people outside of Oshkosh. When I came here we had no counseling department. We had one teacher who was giving some attention to counseling, but we had no counseling center. At the present time we have the largest counseling center in the former state university system. I think this is important because students who come to the campus need to be able to go to someone who is truly interested in helping them achieve their objectives. When I came here we had one physician who spent two hours a day on campus administering to emergency needs of students. As the student body is well aware, today we have a staff of five full-time M.D.s with supporting nurses and clerical help. Along with all this, in 1959 when I came here, we were completing the first section of the student union. Since that time the union has been expanded to three times its original size. Food service centers have been developed, and other related programs have been made available to students. Early in my presidency we also recognized that students sometimes have special learning needs or handicapping disabilities. Because of that realization a reading clinic has been developed during the last ten years. It is quite unique in the state, and as competently staffed as any you’d find in the Midwest. We could also mention the testing center which really is an adjunct to all the things we’ve been talking about. From that standpoint I believe we can say with all modesty that we have moved farther in this direction than most universities in the country and certainly farther than anyone else in our own state system. One erf the most unhappy experiences I’ve had in all of higher education is the experience of a few years ago when black students became involved in activities that led to disap-disappointments all around. I’m sure it was a disappointment to hem, and it led to great disappointment for us. Because I believe very strongly that higher education has to be for everybody, I think we must find ways and means of helping students who have special needs. I find it personally difficult to separate human beings in categories. As far as I’m concerned everyone is a human being, and everyone should have certain priveleges and opportunities. I believe that different groups may very well have special needs and problems, but this is true not only of the so-called minority, but also of those who in the past have been passed over and sluffed aside. I believe we must find ways of opening doors for any student who has special problems or a culture which ought to be preserved. We are basically a pluralistic society. The university experience should not make our society less pluralistic, but help each person become what he is capable of becoming. We are enriched by the multiplicity of cultures that we have the privilege to enjoy. This nation has become strong because people of all ethnic and national groups brought with them their hopes and aspirations. I suspect that if my philosophy has changed over the years, it has changed at a rate that has not been very percept able. However, I think that one’s interpretation of the situation does change. Going back to my early college days, things were seemingly very well settled. We had a feeling that if we developed certain skills and abilities there would be an assignment in life for us. We felt very comfortable pursuing the academic goals of the classroom. This was in a world that had not started to change as rapidly as it has since World War n. As a result of that change I have become aware that we cannot prepare today for something that will be adequate ten or twenty years from now. We are living in a world which makes changing demands upon the individual. So while my philosophy has not changed--I’ve always believed that education ought to serve the individual--the way in which education ought to serve the individual has changed greatly over the last few years. When I was appointed president in 1959 I had very little time to think about my new position. I was invited to a board meeting on June 10, and somewhat to my surprise, two hours later I was told that the public was being advised of my transfer to Oshkosh. THE END

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What Makes a Good Teacher ? To some students Watson Parker is an evil conservative who would prefer cleanliness and good sense to flashes of the most brilliant genius. He makes students in his classes work hard, and at first turns his more hip pupils off by wearing a bow tie and a crew cut in this day of unbuttoned shirts and long hair. In many ways he looks like a teacher from the dark ages, or at least the 1950’s, who will bore you with long lists of facts and a monotone voice. The facts are that he is conservative, he believes that “the most important thing in teaching is to get the students to master the substance and details of the subject before the y begin to theorize about it, and he is one of the best instructors on campus. His lectures are always filled with fire and wit, and though he often upsets students with his unabashed philosophy on life in general, a good portion of the time lie actually manages to teach something. The secret of his success seems to be a hard headed realism. He asks a lot from his students, and he believes that “teaching is like raising cabbages. Some of your vegetables just aren’t ever going to sprout, and a teacher has to learn to live with the fact that he can’t teach everything to everybody that finds his way into his classroom.” His art is one of gardening. He nurtures students that are learning, and gives them a chance to work on their own, but if the nurturing fails, he doesn’t act as if the world (either his or theirs) has ended. A typical semester in Parker’s class can include up to ten required one page papers, five or six classroom lectures, reading in eight to ten books, and a lot of discussion. The pace is hectic and a few students drop out along the way, but those who finish normally have the satisfied feeling of a- • omplishment. His lecturing style in courses like the ‘Trans-Mississippi West’ or his sophomore surveys of American history is flamboyant and entertaining. Usually the lecture material is not taken from the textbook, but deals instead with a subject that Parker feels competent enough in to handle with an extra dash of flair. He never tries to fool the students into believing that he knows something that he knows nothing about, and he always makes an effort to be pleasant, “and to suffer fools gladly.” Possibly the best thing to be learned from Parker is that good instructors cannot be stereotyped. Inevitably a good teacher has a personality that sets him apart from his fellows and makes him stand out. His demanding style may upset some students in his classes, but for the majority he is exciting and effective. Some of the best advice about teaching that he ever got, he likes to confide with a wry chuckle, came from the battle-scarred principal of a public school in the Bronx, advice which he tends to apply more metaphorically than literally. “Watson,’ said this old beldame, ‘never turn your back on the little bastards.” Wisconsin The Fall issue will be on sale in mid-October. Single issue .... 75 Annual Student Subscription Rate 4 issues .... $2.00 27