Viewpoints
Entertainment
The Quickie
Health & Fitness
Sports
O’Reilly, Stewart debate
Walking Dead new season
Club Spotlight: Men’s rugby
Safety on campus
Tritons hit the court
Our staff writers express opinions on upcoming election.
Take a look inside Season 2 of AMC’s revolutionary smash hit “The Walking Dead” before you tune in. page 16
Men’s rugby looks forward to a winning season.
Tips to remember from campus resources and input from students and staff.
Check out the back cover for your 2012-2013 Eckerd College basketball preview
page 9
page 20
page 17
page 21
The Official Student Newspaper of Eckerd College
Vol. 4, Issue 4—Oct. 26, 2012
Eckerd Steering Committee deliberates future general education curriculum By Ely Grinfeld Asst. Viewpoints Editor Faculty on the Eckerd College Steering Committee are working toward choosing a new general education (Gen Ed) curriculum based on four possible models. The Steering Committee includes one faculty member from each collegium. While the curriculum is tweaked every year, discussions to revise the Gen Ed curriculum for future students--current students will not be affected--has been in the making for several years when the Steering Committee envisioned an overhaul to the Gen Ed requirements. President Donald Eastman, in a recent meeting with The Current, said he feels that parts of the current model are integral parts of the Eckerd experience.The unique experience of the current Eckerd Gen Ed model introduces students to a new way of thinking. According to Eastman, “If you catch that wave in Western [Heritage in a Global Context] as a freshman, you’ll get a different experience.” So let’s break down the four models under consideration. The first model is called “Status Quo Plus.” As the title suggests, this model stays true to the majority of the current general education curriculum, but encourages students to take majorrelated courses in the first year and to declare a major by sophomore year. Freshman and Senior capstone courses, resembling our current Western Heritage and Quest for Meaning classes will have less texts. The service learning requirement will be spread throughout a student’s four years at Eckerd. Moreover, faculty would have to devote a block-schedule to teaching certain Gen Ed courses, meaning professors may have more of a workload. The second model is called the “Task Force” model and is based on a proposal made in 2008 by the Gen Ed Task Force. Ten
photo by Alex Zielinski
President Donald Eastman officially names Center for Molecular and Life Sciences. See page 2 , Local Briefs
Eckerd gears up for Celebration of the Arts Saturday Nov. 10 See page 5 for schedule of events
See Gen. Ed. on page 7 Please Recycle
INDEX: News 2 - 8
Viewpoints 9 - 12 Entertainment 13 - 16 The Quickie 17 - 18 Health & Fitness 19 - 20 Sports 21- 24
The Current is a free, biweekly student newspaper produced at Eckerd College. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers.