Bag the Books, Lose the Lectures

Rita A. Morgan

;unior Beth Grenier, a community health major, struggles through the crowd. The stakes are high; the chance is hers She crouchesbeside thelifelessform

Flawlessly,sheperforms cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The victim'schestrises and falls with the rhythmic pattern ofherbreath. She anxiously awaits theoutcome ofher labor. Willthegauge on the dummy show she gave itlife?

The crowd gathered around her erupts inapprehensive chatter; one of them willhave totryitnext They know it all comes down tothis Willtheybe ableto perform when it counts?

Beth standsup and wades back through thecrowd asanother stoopsbefore thestill figureon thetable

A shortwalk through campus willtakeyou toa classroom ofstudents working independently and intently atsmall computers. Everyone works at his own pace; a professor and astudent assistantwander theroom,availablefor random questions David Fletcher, a sophomore transferfrom Bob JonesUniversityand agraphics major, scanshistextbook forthenextinstructions.

"These computers aredinosaurs!"he says, commenting on theage ofthe networked Macintosh system before itwas updated.

Late thatsame day, acrosscampus,on thehill by dorm 17, an artist hurriedly sketchesthe sunset. The brightcolorsand deep hues spread beforehim, almost as if aMaster Artisthad smeared them onto agiantcanvas. His is araceagainst time. The brilliantdisplay willlastonly afew minutes more.

Beth didn'thappen upon a terribleaccident, nor was David's comment a random mumble. The artist knew he had tohurry. His grade depended upon it.

These areall classesinwhich any student can enroll. Beth'sclassis Health 205, Accident Prevention and Care (FirstAid). Here studentslearn important information about emergency healthcare.

"(Health 205) is such agood class. It's important foreveryone toknow how toreactinan emergency. Ithink it's necessary even if you're nota community health major,"Bethsaid.

Journalism 299 is a one-hour course forpracticalintroduction to PageMaker and other Macintosh software This classis required forall journalism majorsin preparation fortheheavy computer work theywillbe required to complete in their laterstudies.

A popularelectiveamong many studentsis RECR 203,Horsemanship. Many students enrollinthecoursehaving littleorno prior experience and learn basic horsemanship techniques asthey become more comfortable handling theanimals Senior MattJones even developed an affectionforCandy,hisfavorite horse

Mrs Eva Barbour,professor intheartdepartment,heads therecently introduced artminor The courses cover a variety ofdifferent types and stylesofart. They aredesigned todevelop an overallunderstanding and appreciation forartisticexpression.

Hands-on learning is an important aspectofmany majors Without theseclasses, theireducation is nothing but lectures full ofstatisticsand logic. Many journalism classesofferoutside assignments, even requiring a three-semester practicum ineither the Champion or Selah. Leading the requirements intheHuman Ecology department is HUEC 101 — Clothing Construction and Selection. The drama department hostsActing 1 and Acting 2 Those enrolled intheseclassescomplete several stage performance assignments

Hands-on learning is more than alab feeorextra preparation forclass. Only inthese classesdo students get theopportunity topractice what they'llsoon be paid for And it's awhole lot bettertoearn aB on aproject than toearn a pink slipon thejob