Washington State University - Chinook Yearbook (Pullman, WA)

Page 29 text:

Steve Kikuchi ASWSU President ASWSU President Steue Kihuchi University students are critically examining both the content and the processes of their education and ex¬ erting a meaningful voice in the determination of decisions concerning matters ranging from curricu¬ lum, classroom procedures, general university edu¬ cational policies, to rules and regulations govern¬ ing their lives. Higher education as it presently exists is sadly anachronistic. As the world becomes more and more complex in all areas, a rigid professiona¬ lism is not adequate to prepare students to function effectively as citizens in the society in which they live. The current educational pattern is extremely answer-oriented. Students are supposed to listen, as¬ similate a volume of factual information, and regur¬ gitate on examinations to questions formulated by others. The student’s educational career must con¬ form to the criteria of those asking the questions. This system, although efficient in the mass produc¬ tion of degrees, is a perversion of the educational process. A university education should develop the capacity of an individual to be inner-directed; rather than emphasizing the memorization of facts to answer externally imposed questions, the university should nurture in its students the ability to ask their own questions and to decide which questions are important and relevant in finding a solution to a problem or an issue. Students desire to be active participants, rather than passive consumers, in their education. They wish to test their ideas personally with professors and fellow students. They are de¬ manding that the university return to its primary purpose of education. Curriculum must also be ren¬ ovated to address the great social and economic prob¬ lems which currently face our society, and world. The lack of attention in the formal curriculum to such vital contemporary issues as racial strife, pover¬ ty, urbanization, war, technology, cybernation, and natural resource conservation is a shameful commen¬ tary on the irrelevance of contemporary higher edu¬ cation to the world we live in. That the university must break out of its imbedded conservatism and change in order to stay abreast of a rapidly changing society and world is undeniable. How, when, and the nature of the change are the only debatable issues. Alfred North Whitehead has related that “the art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.” This, indeed, is the task of WSU and higher education in America. 21

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1967-1968 Board of Control Front Row: Barney Fine Brian Benzel Marilyn Nelson Dave Reynolds Kathy Dahl Dave Longanecker Back Row: Steve Kikuchi Lucinda Harrington Ray Crabbs Duncan Carter Art Kidman Carl Wyman Peg Campbell Not Pictured: Rosalie Smith Tom Kingen Bob Coppock Nancy Savory Nancy Turnbull Harlan Jones Senior Woman Sophomore Man Junior Woman Sophomore Man Sophomore Woman Senior Man ASWSU President Sophomore Woman Junior Man Vice President Senior Man Graduate Representative Junior Woman Senior Woman Junior Man Administrative Assistant Secretary Freshman Representative Freshman Representative 23