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PAGE 4-THE CLUSTER, APRIL 22, lWFaaru
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Richardson teaches in
Netherlands on fellowship
By SUSANNAH VASS
Features Editor
What is higher education like in
the Netherlands? This is not a ques
tion likely to occur to the average
American student.
Common knowledge, however,
would compel most students to ad-
. mit that experiencing Another
culture and its own methods .\fithcr
firsthand or vicariously, is nearly
always a broadening experience.
Travel and study abroad are educa
tional and worthwhile for teachers
and students alike.
Dr. Gary Richardson, assistant
professor of English, took advan
tage of a FuJbright fellowship to ex
perience the culture of the
Netherlands for 18 weeks. He
taught a survey course in 20th cen
tury American literature and a
seminar in realism at Catholic
University in Nijmegan. east cen
tral Holland.
Richardson observes that one dif
ference between American and
Dutch education is that all Dutch
higher education is state-supported.
“The * '•l* and programs are
established at a national level. It is
more like a state university system
in which certain campuses are
given responsibility for certain ac
tivities,*’ he said. .
Technical schools are complete
ly different from the universities
because they are not a traditional
part of the Dutch university system.
Another difference from
American education is that students
are given a full loan to go Id School.
The national government provides
a stipend and money for books and
housing. _J
“Students are encouraged to
devote their full time and energy to
their studies," says Richardson.
“They arc expected to begin pay
ing back their loans within two
years of graduation."
According to Richardson, one of
the major differences in Dutch
education “arises at the secondary
level.*’ Students in Dutch high
schools are expected to aim for a
degree and have to take certain
classes emphasizing either liberal
arts and sciences or technical
education. This is to prepare them
for qualify ing exams they must take
to be accepted into a university.
There is not a core requirement for
students entering the university;
rather, their initial college degree
is more specialized, more like our
master's degree than our bachelor's
degree. It takes about five years to
complete.
“What happens is that secondary
education in the Netherlands is so
much more intensive than in the
States." says Richardson. “It puts
enormous pressure on very young
people to perform at a certain
Icvd.”
Richardson observes that the
Dutch students he came in contact
with were very hardworking and
had a much broader cultural
perspective. They were more
V politically aware of world politics
than American students tend to
be."
“They did not seem to be awed
by either the U. S. or the Soviet
Union. There was a great deal of
admiration for the United States,
but not the political United Stales.
The Dutch don't quite know what
to make of Reagan."
The students be taught were-
familiar with literature from several
different cultures. However, their
knowledge of the United States'
culture was analogous to American
students’ knowledge of the Soviet
Union.
"I had to examine much more
closely my assumptions of the
students’ knowledge about
America than I would have had to
do here," he says. “I was forced
to explain things in greater detail,
to provide more background."
"One thing 1 do like about Dutch
education^ that Dutch students ac
cept more of the overt responsibili
ty for their education than
American students," says Richard
son. "I taught only two 50-minute
classes a week. Most of the time the
students are doing the work,
teaching themselves. For this
reason. I think, they don’t tend to
want to talk as much as American
students. Having considered the
issues seriously over a greater
length of time before coming to
class. Dutch students tend to ask
more pointed questions than
American students and tend to con
sider the lecturer’s views more
carefully."
"In some senses," he continues.
"American students want to be
spoon-fed; many seem convinced
that the university is there to serve
them in the most superficial way
imaginable. American academics
have, regretably, turned into job
training. The Dutch supposition is
that the universities in themselves
are a good thing. Dutch faculty are
expected to teach and do their
research, but not to make the lives
of the students easier." he said.
Catching the Mercer vision: 10 years from now
Editor’s Mott: This is the second
in a series of articles projecting the
future of Mercer University.
Special to the Cluster
By DANA OWENS
"Mercer will be recognized as a
leader, in this century, as a private
comprehensive university," said
Dr. Doug Skelton, acting provost
for the College of Liberal Am. and
dean of the Medical School.
President R. Kirby Godsey said
there is "a new comitment to rais
ing educational quality^* and he
feels that the university is “right on
track."
Plan* are that Mercer will remain
a teaching institution serving a
small camp'us environment.
Godsey says he envisions more
graduate education and more em
phasis on research.
Because Mercer’s heritage is
founded in Christianity, a
Theological Seminary has been
suggested. This is currently not
projected within the next 10 years;
however. Dr. Robert Skelton, vice
president for finance and tresurer,
said this woul^ioly occur through
an adequate gift of endowment.
Godsey staled. “Inside faculty
have raised their own vision of
what Mercer can be. The great pan
is seeing it achieved."
Funding is essential to ensure
that Mercer is able to achieve its
goal as an academic leader. "The
university’s strength is in en
dowments." said Godsey. “(They)
served as a base for ted stability
..." Skelton rcportetjroat Mercer’s
current $90,000 endowment will
exceed the $100,000 mark in 10
years.
He v also projected that tuition
would double within the next
decade. Thus, border to off-set the
increase. Mercer will strive to
"maintain its current scholarship
support, and make a significant
gain in scholarship funding,"
Skelton said. Presently 70 percent
of the Mercer’s student population
is on financial zsf. Adequate fund
ing is important to provide substan
tial academic scholarships.
Associate Provost Marjorie
Davis does not see Mercer becom
ing “the Harvard of the South."
She, as well as other ad
ministrators, see it being an educa- .
tional institution that is comparable
to its competitors, such as Duke or
Wake Forest.
Mercer Echoes
Compiled by ART TENNILLF.
50 Years Ago — 1938
Students passed an amendment to the constitution that made
beating and detrimental hazing a punishable offense.
The Phi Omega and Theta Sigma Beta sororities combined
to form the Sigma Phi sorority.
The Mercer Museum was opened to the public. In the building
were relics, trophies, and records dealing with the history of
Mercer aDd the Baptist denomination.
High school seniors from every part of Georgia came lo
Mercer as guests under the university's Pilgrimage program
which was designed to give them a picture of what Mercer was
like.
Macon's XV Clothes Shop placed an ad in the Cluster show
ing thai their prices for men's suits were as low as SI2.95.
40 Years Ago — 1948
There were two political parties on the Mercer campus under
which one could run for office in the student government. The
Representative Party and the Progressive Party each had distinc
tive party platforms.
The first annual convention since 194-1 of the Georgia Col
legiate Press Association was scheduled to be in Macon May
14 and 15 with the Cluster acting as host.
A new treatment for food poisoning was disclosed by Pro
fessor H. Mac Vandivere of the biology department at a meeting
of the Association of Southeastern Biologists at the University
of Florida.
The laundry of Mercer students was done at this time by a
university laundry service. , „ * *
Mercer officials denounced a move to revise the constitution
to provide for athletic scholarships.
30 Years Ago — 1958
A proposed amendment to the student constitution which
would have changed the Honor System to require students to
report cheating was defeated.
The editorships of the Cauldron and of the Cluster were
elected positions at tips time.
A group of 36 Mercer students made plans to attend the fifth
Baptist Youth World Conference in Toronto, Canada for the
purpose of "fellowship, inspiration, and a sharing of Christian
experience with young people of the world."
As was custom each year, the senior class voted to give
Mercer a gift upon its leaving the school. This year the class
chose to furnish a prayer room in the economics building since
few churches were in the immediate area of the campus.
Mercer s "Student Social Hour," a new concept which was
sponsored by the BSU, was begun on Tuesday nights. Its pur
pose was to create fellowship and to ease some of the complaints
about there not being enough to do at Mercer.
20 Years Ago — 1968
The Board of Trustees approved a tuition increase of $150,
bringing the total cost of one year's tuition to $2145.
University officials made a proposal to the Macon City Coun
cii for "growing room” for Mercer consisting of a 35 acre area
east of College Street and west of the Central of Georgia
Railway. The cost of the.project would be shared by Mercer
and the federal govcramenl.
' ^ Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity was chartered on March 30,
1968, making it Mercer's eighth Greek fraternity.
Four Mercer students and a professor attended a convention
in Washington D.C. April 7-10, and an article in the Cluster
gave a recount of their somewhat frightening experiences amidsi
the rioting that was occurring there following the death of Dr
Martin Luther King. Ir.
Mercer hosted a drug seminar entitled "Escape To No
Where April 16 because of the current need to educate pco
pie of the dangers of drugs, although testing was very limited
at that time.