THE NEXT BEST THING

Harvard has been subject to criticism from all sides in the past few years for failing to turn out liberally educated students, and one of the most pertinent of the claims has dealt with the over-concentration allowed by the lenient rules on distribution. The Student Council recognized this defect in the present system in its Education Committee report of last June which proposed a system of five broad, introductory courses to be required of all students. Now before the Faculty is a report from its Committee on Distribution which proposes a different solution designed to remedy this Achilles' heel in Harvard's educational system.

Essentially the plan divides the curriculum into the three areas of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the arts, letters and philosophy. Under this plan John Harvard '45 would be required to take at least one course in each of these three areas. He would be exposed to the scientific, the sociological, and the philosophical methods of tackling a problem. It would be an invaluable experience for him even if the pill is a bit hard to swallow at first. In turn these areas are subdivided into sections which contain similar fields of concentration presented in the same manner. The important change, however, is that the student must take six courses outside of any one section. This will prevent the student from taking too may courses in any one field in order to make sure of passing his general examinations in his Senior year. It will broaden the intellectual horizon of the honor student with a narrow viewpoint by forcing him to take more-courses in closely related subjects. Certain courses will not be included in the various sections as they are too elementary; these include elementary language and composition courses and such others as are primarily interested in acquiring a technique.

This new plan, although it is not nearly as comprehensive as that suggested by the Council Committee, will certainly tend to prevent the undergraduate from avoiding a broad education. It will force him to acquaint himself with the different types of academic approach: that of the humanities as well as that of science. Although it will affect only a small fraction of the students in every class, it will make it virtually impossible for a Senior to graduate from Harvard without a liberal education.