University of Southern California
SUMMER
TROJAN
VOL. LXIII NO. 6
LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1971
Biology Semester's future undetermined
The Biology Semester is a 16-unit class in which students study only those subjects concentrated in the Biological Sciences. The Biology Semester is an experiment funded by the Esso Education Foundation and formulated by members of the faculty.
The intensive, inter-disciplinary program is designed to immerse nonbiology majors in the study of contemporary biological concepts and their applicability to existing and future social problems. Thirty-five students and ten staff members have spent 16 weeks working together in an informal, nondidac-tic environment.
(Translated, that means they meet in rather large rooms of a World War II-vintage surplus property structure known affectionately as The Annex where students have been given freedom on wall decorations and doodles relevant to their studies.)
In these casual surroundings students have heard dozens of speakers including Dr. Margaret Mead, Interior Secretary Rogers Morton, Ralph Nader and an impressive parade of M.D.s and Ph.D.’s, psychologists, psychiatrists, anthropologists, geneticists, lawyers, physiologists, and sociologists. They have talked about the here and now of such subjects as drug abuse, population control, sewage treatment, human sexuality. the aging process, space station life-support systems, cancer, the family structure and mental illness.
Speakers have come from Stockholm, New York, Washington D.C., Illinois, and the greater Los Angeles area. Some have asked if they can return to lecture to the students. “They are so impressed with the program and with the students' questions,” said Dr. Edwin M. Perkins, Director of the Biology Semester, in explaining the readiness of speakers to make repeat performances.
Perkins credits the success of the program to a number of factors:
•	First, the student is immersed in biology and only that He doesn’t have to leave a bene-
ficial discussion to get to another class about another subject.
•	Secondly, adds Dr. Bernard
C.	Abbott, chairman of Biological Sciences, “It was time for a change and the faculty put their minds, souls, and guts into this program.”
•	The students were hand-pick -ed for the program (35 out of 120 applicants, and the class notice had been up only for a few days).
•	Lecturers are confined to subject areas in which they are most interested and in which they can best demonstrate their expertise.
•	Students have an informal relationship with their professors and are not afraid to ask probing questions.
•	The size of the group.
•	Interaction among students.
•	The organization of the class.
In addition to the many classroom lectures, students are grouped (eight or nine in each group) to work on projects that involve biological problems in the community. This semester, one group investigated pollution in the Los Angeles harbor; another designed a comprehensive sex education course for USC students. A third group considered goals for human evolution and the problems associated with genetic engineering techniques, and the fourth group considered ways in which psy-chobiological needs can better be met in dormitories.
Research groups meet at least once a week to look at the interpersonal processes which are occurring as they work together on the project. These meetings are designed to help them express their feelings and needs more honestly to one another and to increase their awareness of group dynamics. These groups are under the direction of an experienced clinical psychologist. .
The advantages for the structure of the Biology Semester are many. Faculty who have taught in regular classes and the Biology Semester say the program would work well for incoming freshmen. It works for advanced students as well.
It helps a student to find his future. “Many coming into the Semester had little idea of what
they wanted to do as a career. The program has helped a number of the students clarify their plans for the future,” says Dr. Abbott.
“Students who complete the program know how to use their information. They can apply what they’ve learned," observed Dr. Perkins.
“This approach takes the suppressive nature out of education. It allows the student to think and use his education,” added Dorothy Millington, administrative assistant to Dr. Abbott.
Faculty expect grades to run high in the Biology Semester. The students, they feel, have worked harder, gained more, learned more about science and themselves, and visibly have accomplished more with what they’ve learned.
Students' enthusiasm is revealed in written self-evalua-tions of their progress in the course:
(Continued on page 4)
Photo by Bruce Bolinger OBSERVATION FOR BIOLOGY
Ted Pietsch, a student in Biology Semester, looks through a microscope for research. The 16-unit program of biological studies for nonmajors, which was started this spring, was termed successful. However, some of the participating faculty are concerned over the program's futi ;e.
FEDERAL PROGRAM
Spanish for teachers
There are 48 Title VII Grants, funded by the federal government, in the state of California for educating minority persons. Of these, 44 are directed at the Spanish-speaking minority person.
One of the most successful programs, which will be repeated and doubled in enrollment this summer is the Riverside bilingual program for teachers and teacher aides.
Directors for the pre-service training program for teachers and teacher aides are Rosa Kestelman and Susana Maizte-gui, U.S. Teacher Corps language specialists at USC.
Drawing from their experience with the Teacher Corps and a pilot program in Spanish language training in the San Joaquin Valley, they formulated a program for the Riverside School District teachers and aides to equip them to teach math, science, social studies and language arts in Spanish
Junior high students to participate in annual tuition-free Mini College
Eighty junior high school youngsters in USC’s multi-racial community will get an in-depth exposure to university life this summer in the fifth annual USC Mini College.
The summer enrichment program for academically-oriented youngsters will be in session July 6 through Aug. 12 on campus, and will accommodate nearly double the number of participants served last year.
This year’s program themed “Youth and the University Community,” will be conducted in two sessions of 40 participants each, 9 a.m. to 12:30 and 1:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Despite many advance registrations already taken, there are still some openings in the tuition-free program funded by USC, said Mrs. Thelma Eaton, Mini College director.
Further information and registration forms can be obtained by contacting Mrs. Eaton, Mini College director, Summer Session Office, USC, University Park, Los Angeles (90007); telephone 746-7906.
Mini College is designed to open new vistas and broaden the horizons of youngsters who might
not otherwise have an opportunity to learn what a university can do for them, Mrs. Eaton explained
USC participants include faculty members from many subject areas, chosen specifically for their ability to relate to youngsters, and USC students who serve as counselors. Youngsters who were participants in Mini College sessions of previous years will serve as junior counselors.
This year’s program will address itself to exploring the college-university community, including generalized looks at what a university is, how students apply, what university life has to offer and what one can expect to gain from a college or university education.
Also planned are observations of college classroom sessions in action, and exposure to many subject areas of a university in USC’s various professional schools and individual departments.
Mini College also will include a number of fun-type learning experiences, such as a banquet, dormitory sleep-in, a beach party and theater party. The youngsters themselves will be involved in the planning for these experiences.
and English.
The 1970 pre-service program started with 10 teachers and 20 teacher aides. The 1971 program will double that number and even make use of some of those who participated in the training program. They will serve as staff members this year.
Misses Kestelman and Maiz-tegui, in other programs, have followed a total language immersion approach. While the Riverside program is not considered a total immersion program, Miss Kestelman does encourage program participants to “speak only Spanish during the luncheon hour.”
Teachers and aides gain experience and exposure by practice teaching their subjects in Spanish. The practice-teaching sessions are videotaped and played back to other participants and teachers who critique what they see and hear.
Results of the program are highly successful — even more than the directors anticipated. The 1970 group included teachers and aides from kindergarten through grade two; and grades seven through nine. The entire program is being expanded from kindergarten through grade ten this year. And the program directors contend that as long as migrant farm workers bring their families with them into the United States, there will be a need for bilingual teaching at all grade levels.
The 1971 pre-service program at Riverside will hold classes at La Sierra High School this summer and, in addition to language training, the participants will receive direction in: inquiry method, interaction analysis, curriculum development and discrepancy evaluation.
The need for the bilingual program is crucial, not only for the Spanish speaking students but for the English speaking students as well. The classes are to be taught in both languages.
The Riverside bilingual program is offered to Mexican-American and English speaking students. The parents, many of whom attend bilingual P.T.A. meetings are eager for their children to be a part of the program. The classes were filled for the 1970 classes and there is a waiting list for the 1971 classes.
All parents are invited to attend the classes and many parents whose heritage is Mexican are involved in teaching folklore in the classes.
Rosa Kestelman, a native of Argentina, came to the United States by way of Israel. She had served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. She worked in bilingual programs in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and in the U.S., trained teachers of American Indians. Prior to formulating the pre-service Riverside program with Susana Maiztegui, another Argentinian, she developed materials and trained prospective Spanish-speaking teachers to teach migrant families in the San Joaquin Valley.
Though Miss Kestelman feels that this country is “a little late in awakening to the fact that the country is multi-lingual,” she is optimistic that the kinds of programs she is involved in can help solve the problems within one generation.
'See How They Run'
Rehearsal is now in progress for the Summer Main-stage production of Philip King’s, “See How They Run.”
“See How They Run,” directed by Jed Horner, will be performed in Bovard Auditorium, July 21 through July 24. Curtain time is at 8 p.m.
For reservations and information, call 746-6663. Tickets are $1.50 Wednesday and Thursday night, and $2.00 Friday and Saturday night.