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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T V O I C E F O R K A N S A S S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
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vol. 123, issue 87
kstatecollegian.com
friday, may 4, 2 0 1 8
Department of Modern Languages cuts Italian language courses
DENE DRYDEN
THE COLLEGIAN
As a result of the university-wide budget recalls in October, the Department of Modern Languages will offer only one Italian course in fall 2018. Courses typically scheduled for the fall semester like Italian I and Italian III have been canceled. The discontinuation of Italian courses will cause the loss of one faculty member: Alessia Salamina, a visiting assistant professor. Salamina was not available for comment. The department will only offer Italian for Travelers in the fall. Derek Hillard, head of the Department of Modern Languages, said the department relies on instructors in the area to teach that course, and that will be the case for next year. The only other Italian offering at Kansas State this fall is Italian Diction, a onecredit-hour class designed for students studying vocal music. The course is presumably unaffected by the cuts in Modern Languages because it is taught by the School of Music, Theatre and Dance faculty. Hillard said the modern languages department has moved some course offerings to evening college and combined some sections of low-
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er-level courses to accommodate the budget recall. Cutting Italian courses, Hillard said, was a decision made by modern languages faculty. “In the case of Italian, the faculty in modern languages had to look at our level of funding that we have and make some decisions,” Hillard said. “The decision that the faculty recommended was to finish out Italian to the best of our ability, to allow as many students to go as far as they could with the language and then to reduce the courses that would be offered.” Hillard said cutting Italian courses not would cause the loss of a program because K-State does not offer a proper program in Italian. “I think it should be remembered, as well, that our department doesn’t have a minor or a program in Italian because a program means that you are awarding a degree,” Hillard said. Without a proper budget in place for faculty under an Italian language program, Amit Chakrabarti, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the funding for Italian faculty comes from what he calls a “soft money bucket,” which is separate from the general university budget. “This soft money comes from someone leaving, some-
Photo illustration by Logan Wassall one retiring, so you can pull it together and that’s your soft money bucket,” Chakrabarti said. “It’s still financed by tuition and other things, but it’s kind of a soft money bucket that various departments asks for, and modern languages receives a large sum of that soft money bucket.” Current modern languages students will not see many changes in the department next year, Hillard said. “We’re going to maintain that presence of the Italian for
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Travelers course, but in our department as a whole, students will have ... the typical range of courses that we have to offer,” Hillard said. As for students partway through the Italian curriculum — like Abigaile Molzer, sophomore in anthropology and international studies — arrangements have been made so they can complete a foreign language requirement with two semesters of a different language. However, Molzer said this solution does not help
students who need four semesters of a concurrent language or want to be proficient in Italian. “I have one friend in particular — what he’s dealing with is to go to grad school, and you have to have four semesters of a consecutive language, but he’s graduating next year,” Molzer said.
see page 3, “ITALIAN”
K-State to host track and field invitational meet on Saturday
WEEKEND EVENTS Compiled by Conrad Kabus What: Cuatro de Mayo When: Friday at noon Where: Bosco Student Plaza The Union Program Council will host a Cinco de Mayo celebration on Cuatro de Mayo this year. The event will feature music from the K-State Latin Jazz Ensemble and a limited supply of catering from Qdoba. In case of rain, the location will be change to the Fireplace Lounge on the first floor of the Union. What: UPC May the Fourth be with you When: Friday at 7 p.m. Where: Bosco Student Plaza The UPC will host a celebration of Star Wars day featuring On The Spot Improv as well as a costume contest. An outdoor showing of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will begin at 8:30 p.m. What: Student Study Break When: Saturday at 11 a.m. Where: Beach Museum of Art The Beach Museum will host a study break for students preparing for finals this Saturday at 11 a.m. The museum will offer a free place to study for students as well as snacks.
Finals Guide on pages 6-8