Walla Walla University - Mountain Ash Yearbook (College Place, WA)

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academics Academics: who — or what — are they? How, and by whom, are they made? For most people, or at least most of the people I asked, the word “academic” conjures up visions of intellectual school standards. Often, the standards were viewed negatively, as in “It’s purely academic,” or unnecessarily fussy. For others, the words “academic” primarily applies to aging pro¬ fessors of history at big universities. For me, “academic” means some¬ one who has thin, floating white hair who translates classical literature. Contrary to popular concep¬ tions, academics are usually made, not born. Very few people come into this world as wrinkled scholars fluent in ancient languages. If this is the case, then, how are academics made? They are made with money. With very few exceptions, reputable colleges are not charity institutions. Those who wish to at¬ tend must somehow amass a cer¬ tain sum of filthy lucre which, at the beginning of each quarter, is handed over to Student Accounts. The first step to becoming academic, then, is to get money. Here at Walla Walla College, this Like all finer institutions of higher learning, ours is sup¬ ported by several pillars— among the foremost a fine faculty, loyal alumni, money, and ivy. Lots of ivy. Sometimes study (right) goes beyond books and the library. is generally done in four ways. First, (and it generally is the first one tried) the prospective student asks Mum and or Dad to support him in his intellectual endeavors. If Mum and Dad are average, they say they’ll do their best, but they’re not made of money. The amount that they propose to contribute often falls short of both the stu¬ dent’s hopes and the full rate of tuition. In all fairness to Mum and Dad, it must be noted that tuition at Walla Walla is considerable, and getting more so all the time. Ac¬ tually, it’s a wonder that more Mums and Dads aren’t giving up altogether, telling their children to either find their own way to college or else be happy pumping gas. Once the student-to-be has ac¬ cepted the fact that his parents will not be supporting him through col¬ lege, he is free to look around for other ways of getting money. He may fill out a basic grant form which, if he qualifies, will allow him to get either government aid or else work study. He may apply for the various scholarships and en¬ dowments available around campus. Or, as a last resort, he may apply for a job. Jobs come in two varieties: On- campus and Off-campus. Each group has special advantages. For instance, off-campus jobs tend to pay more than on-campus jobs, and the student gets the actual cash in his hand, rather than just a credit on his bill. However, on-campus jobs can be arranged around a dif¬ ficult class schedule, and Christmas break. For the dormitory student, on-campus jobs present less transportation problems. One additional resource that should not be overlooked is God. According to Cassie Ragenovich, director of Student Accounts and Employment, many students receive money as a direct answer to prayer, often from people they do not even know. Most students use some com¬ bination of the four financial sources to get themselves through school. With the proposed budget cuts in Congress, students will have to rely more heavily on sources other than government aid. However, the cuts — if passed — will not go into effect before the Mountain Ash 27

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The Brain Trust: A Growing Pain by Sherry Wachter

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academics 1986-87 school year, so the pro¬ spective academic still has some time to arrange other financial support. After money, the second re¬ quirement needed to become an academic is scholastic standing. This is the aspect of the word “academic” that most students identified. If one wishes to attend college — become academic — one must take a few classes. Classes involve tests. To pass tests, one must generally study. In fact, the necessity of studying looms like a dark cloud over the life of the student. Some students, often freshmen in their first quarter, ignore this cloud, blissfully ignorant of its threat. They discover the meaning of the cloud during Dead Week of the first quarter, when they try to make up all the work that has been “sliding” all quarter. If they are to continue in their academic career, they quickly learn to discipline themselves. This is probably the most important thing that the con¬ tinuing student learns in his first quarter of college. The second most important thing that he learns is that Walla Walla College has an exemplary Teaching Learning Center, which provides tutors for both “drop-in” — or emergency — tutoring, and “private” — or long-range plan¬ ning — tutoring. This service is free. Most students employ the ser¬ vices of a tutor at some point in their college career, usually to help them over some particularly rough assignment. With these two tools, the average student can cope with the average class. When the student gets farther on in his academic career, he acquires other concerns, like whether the classes he needs will be offered at a time when he can take them? Students on a relatively small campus like WWC find this to be more of a problem than do students on a larger campus, where a greater number of classes are offered. For students in a small program on a small campus — like the students taking Speech Pathology — budget cuts may not only limit class offerings, but also totally eradic ate the major. If the student chooses to take an uncommon major, he must learn to organize himself, taking classes that are not likely to be offered again soon, and leaving more conventional classes to be taken later. The student who wants to become an academic must learn to organize himself. Although the average student is pretty well occupied between fill¬ ing his financial and sholastic obligations, he has yet another responsibility. He must keep himself mentally fit. Students do this in a variety of ways. Some par¬ ticipate in organized activities, like College Bowl, Sonnenberg Games, Saturday night programs, and banquets. Others prefer to resuscitate themselves in more per¬ sonal activities, like running, swim¬ ming, recreational reading, weight-lifting, bowling, dating, talk¬ ing, and going to McDonald’s (for shakes and fries). No matter which path is chosen, the student who seriously plans to become an academic realizes that he will not be taken seriously if his mailing ad¬ dress is a mental home, and takes steps to prevent this. The student who wants to become an academic must learn to balance his activities. For some, however, attending Walla Walla College is not an in¬ tellectual affair, but a social one. All the jokes made about “going to college to get married” tend to belittle the student who does this. This prevents the student who primarily wants to find a Christian spouse from acknowledging his The practical end of educa¬ tion is covered here as well— as exemplified in this painstak¬ ing reproduction (left) of the Bayeaux tapestry. Purely academic pursuits are sup¬ ported by the best and fastest growing, library (right) in Col¬ lege Place. 28 Mountain Ash