TUNICATA

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Having just finished re-reading Charles I. Kingson's article "Wellesley College: The Tunicata" (CRIMSON, Friday, May 8, 1959), I would like to commend you for such a thought-provoking analysis.

I believe Mr. Kingson has perceptively pinpointed several aspects of student life at Wellesley. Much of what he says is extremely valid. However, from the viewpoint of a Wellesley girl (one in partial agreement with him), the strength of his arguments is lessened by the several inaccuracies that occur throughout the article and betoken haste and inaccurate research.

In discussing the "lack of concentration, of independent study," he has completely overlooked the possibilities of independent study in 350 work. 350 work consists of three to six hours of research or independent study. It may be elected in her major department by any student, whether she be an honor student nor not. The theses of which Mr. Kingson speaks, and the program under which they are written are specific Honors work for honor students only. It is for this reason that student eligibility is determined by a committee of the college.

In addition to the course taken by Sophomores in Biblical History (which he mentions as the only specific course requirement) there is a requirement that all freshmen take the six hour course known as English 100, "Language, Literature, and the Individual."

As a participant in the section meetings which Mr. Kingson discusses, I would like to make two points. First, it has been my experience that in many classes girls do not participate in a discussion when they feel the instructor is consciously pitching the discussion at a low level. Many questions with obvious and simple answers are left hanging in the air by students who feel it is a waste of time to be dealing with them. My second point is that in our three years here at Wellesley, neither my friends nor I have ever been in any class where the discussion was voluntarily participated in by more than 50 per cent of the class. Throughout the article a great point is made of the freedom of, abundance of, and wide participation in class discussion. There is often excellent discussion in our classes, but I think that it has been over-emphasized in your article.

Although Mr. Kingson has slanted his illustrations to reinforce his points (i.e. the case of a student interrupting an instructor to ask, "Should we be copying this down?" is ludicrous and fortunately rare), and despite the fact that I do not agree with some of the statements made about our lives and our studies, I as an "insider" who hadn't thought much about it, would like to thank an "outsider" for his thought-provoking arfticle. Damaris Harlow '60