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PACE 2-THE CLUSTER, MARCH 13, 1*90
Editorials
Is The Goal Of Higher
Education To Produce
Good Students Or To
Produce Good People?
Ai i senior in Mercer's Biology
program, I have observed many
technically 'good' nudeno—by this
I mean students that have high
CPAs, leam well, and memorize
even better. Upoo request, they can
recite to you everything from
Otganic Chemistry equations to the
names of cat muscles to the mating
habits of huh flies. As Biology ma
jor*. we have mastered (or at least
taken) courses in Genetics.
Vertebrate Biology, Plata Biology.
Physics, Organic Chemistry, and
even (God help us) Enzymatic
Pathways. Armed with all of this
mformanoo, we go out into the
world, perhaps to be doctors or
research biologista-the doctors
who would turn away critically ill
patients because they cannot pay,
and the research biologists who
would find bigger and better
biological weapons to play with.
And we would play with our
knowledge because we do not
understand its ethical
imp!K-ahfxis—because, in all the
claaaea and labs of Mercer science
departments, the one topic that is
never discussed is the ethical ap-
And many of us will have to be
forced to take a class in the ethical
application of science. When the
stereotypical image of the science
student is the student who avoids
even English and Philosophy
classes that would count in the
core, it is easy to see why an ethics
class would have to be a require
ment in the curriculum of all
science majors.
I suppose many would be quick
to say that such a class could not
teach an immoral person to be
ethical or moral, and that is ab
solutely true. It is also true that any
clasa which attempts to enforce the
professor's or the institution's con
cept of morality an its students it
in violation of the spirit of a liberal
arts education. The effectiveness,
then, of such a data would lie in
its ability to force students to stop
and think about what they are do
ing m then-aCience classes and labs;
Imagine, if you will, a genetics^
class that NEVER MENTIONED^
the morel and ethical dilemrtwa of
genetic engineering, or an tvolu-
uoo class that allowed ten minutes
ate (and that the last ten
I of the quarter). I unders
tand the need to get to chapter such-
and-such or page so-and-so m order
to prepare us for graduate school;
but when, if not in a liberal arts
school, are we going to be forced
to evaluate what we have learned?
science classes and labs; and to
make certain that their future ap
plication of that knowlddge will be
in accord with the edifoal standards
that they want 10 govern their lives.
The student who does not m»ki-
such an evaluation—who ibmV.
with his teat tube, if you will—is a
significant danger to society. For.
as Theodore Smidgeon wrote:
A giant without a brain it
dangerous; a giant without a cons
cience is deadly.
Science and technology are
dangerous tools—let us Hake some
investment m assuring that Mercer
graduates do not them dead
ly. Suppon the addition of an ethics
class to science curriculum*.
Buck
Letter To The Editor
Dear Editor:
As a regular participaal in the
faculty's protest match around the
adnummadou building. I wish so
thank all those
joined us. There are naff red
m. mo,
a great mmuragrtnem to the
beleaguered faculty. Special
recognition it due so the Student
Activist Committee for ihcir
effort*—efforts that
foikires of our Iredmhip. But com
munity cannot be killed by
authoritarian pom. it is up to all
of us—faculty, naff, students, and
severely undermined by ad-
irreapoosibsUty,
the morel
1 with to encourage all i
not only to participate in the daily
protest marches but also to anend
the rally planned for April 20. the
day of die Trustees meeting. And
once again, to those who have
alrebAr made their voices heard,
thank you from the bottom of my
Sincerely.
obn M Dunaway
Modern Foreign
The Mercer Cluster wishes you a
fun and exciting Spring Break!
Make it a safe break by taking
some advice from Mickey...
Buckle Up For Spring Break ’90
Mmnm Cluster
Editor-In-Chief Heather Kimble
^ ,0r ™ Marcus Durtam
Activities Page Editor . Nea ,
Business/Advertising Manager Darcy Johnson
Features Editor Chris Carrollton
Rich Benson
Hidtofriplicn Danielle llnderferth
. . , and Stephanie Nordenhaug
T° V c“ r i'' ‘ ‘ ’ Gary Blackburn
Technical Consultant David Tucker
' Staff Writers
Chuck Junkins ' Jodie Evans, Tobie Gass,
Travts Graven, RhettThomas, Mark Rosen, Michelle Renn, Jarome Gautreaux,
Drew Nord, Tnsh Warrick, Terry Browning and AvilJ Young.
BO * A ’ MerCer ' 0mce loca,ed o" “drd floor of the Student Center.
Welco ? es le “ ers the editor. They should be concise and
ShouW ■“■■*■** by a current
EditoMn-Chief ^ 0 "" " " ShOU,d ** addr * s *cd to the
*
iD Tbe MerCer CIUS * er “» those of ‘be editor or the writer
of the article and are not necessarily those of the university or student body.