The Lumberjack, September 16, 1982.

              Cornerstone:
Plans for dormitory underway;
608 expected resident capacity
Steve Chernek/The Lumberjack
The following is the first of a three-part series on pro­posed
changes in the liberal arts program.
JONATHAN STERN
Senior Reporter
A proposal to eliminate the current liberal studies pro­gram
at NAU has come under intensive discussion since
school opened for the 1982 fall semester.
The new program, “Cornerstone: the NAU program in
essential studies”, has been proposed to NAU faculty as
an alternative to the present liberal studies curriculum.
An NAU delegation attended a workshop June 13-30 in
Colorado Springs, Colo., sponsored by the Lilly Endow­ment,
Inc. to study curricula.
The delegation - Joseph W. Cox, vice president for
academic affairs; Ann T. Foster, assistant vice president
for undergraduate programs; Earle B. Hoyt Jr., associate
professor of chemistry; and Thomas Lon Owen, associate
professor of physiology - suggested a new curricula which
includes the following:
The freshman year will mandate 12 semester hours of
writing, mathematical computation and reasoning. The
minimal freshman requirements are English 102-103 and
college algebra (MAT 110).
The reasoning component, called “critical analysis
courses” would emphasize comprehension of the nature,
structure and method of argument; including defects and
refutation.
Sophomore year courses would include nine semester
hours in ail area called “Watersheds in Western Cultural
Heritage. ” The courses would focus on specialized topics
of western history. Examples within the proposal include
“The Role of Empire in France, Spain and England in
1760” and “The Thomistic Influence in Catholicism. ”
The junior and senior years include a 12 semester hour
option of selected courses in at least two areas outside the
major or minor, or a 12-hour focus outside the major area
of concentration,
Upper level courses will be designated in the areas of
humanities, sciences arid social and behavioral sciences.
The focus would require concentration on an area or the
writing of a term paper under the direction of an ap­propriate
faculty committee. Papers will be collected and
published by the university.
Writing will be stressed at all levels, Foster said of the
proposal.
Hoyt said, “There may be something that really excites
somebody to do an individual project. If not, they can
keep tasting stuff in discipline level courses. ”
Foster said, “We want to give people a focus to explore
what they’re interested in, not have students say ‘this is a
program I want to get out of the way. ’
"We want to prepare the student for the world. ” She
said this can be done by offering a variety of concentrated
Hoyt said, “We want liberal studies to be just as ex­citing
and interesting as a major. My general impression
is that liberal studies doesn’t challenge students in the
way they should be challenged. ”
Owen concurred, “We view this proposal as one of
many alternatives presented to the faculty and university
community to improve liberal arts education at NAU.
“We had the advantage of consulting with faculty
from other universities (at the Lilly workshop) with fresh
ideas, ” he said.
“I can’t remember any negative comments. We felt
support all the way. ” Owen said.
Two weeks ago, selected faculty were invited to review
the new proposal during a series of meetings with the
committee.
“Initially, we were at a disadvantage because people
don’t know what we did (at the conference), ” Owen said.
“Now we’re getting positive constructive criticism
(from faculty reviewing the Lilly proposal) and that
makes the whole thing worthwhile. ”
Cox explained what the group went through at the
conference.
“There had come to be a dissatisfaction with the (pre­sent
liberal studies) program and the problem I inherited
was how to resolve the debate, ” he said.
Cox said NAU was invited by the Lilly Endowment last
November to participate in a national symposium focus­ing
on the role of arts and sciences to undergraduate
students.
Foster and Cox submitted a successful proposal
describing the liberal studies debate. Four NAU team
members were chosen to participate with people from 25
other schools.
The NAU delegation developed a philosophy at the
conference of what the delegation thought NAU
graduates should know, Cox said. Their ideas included
writing throughout the curriculum, a stronger
mathematical literacy, a sense of the culture that produc­ed
them and the ability to think critically in written
“We know it’s idealistic and we’re dreaming, ” Cox
said. “But dreams are what progress is made of. We’ve
played the role of a catalyst. ”
MARY O’DRISCOLL
Senior Reporter
A new dormitory for NAU will become a
reality in May, 1984, when a 304-room facility
linking the north and south campus centers
will be completed.
Construction bids for the $7, 750, 000 pro­ject
will be awarded Nov. 9 if all goes accor­ding
to schedule, NAU President Eugene M.
Hughes told the Arizona Board of Regents at
its meeting Saturday in the Executive Center.
Building plans and construction details
were also presented to the regents.
Construction funds will be available
through 20-year NAU system revenue bonds,
at 11. 2 percent interest. The university will
sell more than $9 million in bonds, Hughes
said, so it can buy Stroud Hall at last year’s
assessed value of $1, 050, 000.
NAU is currently leasing Stroud Hall.
The new facility, which has been in the
planning stage for two years, will be located
east of the Executive Center and the north-south
campus walkway on the hill overlooking
the campus’ south center, Bryce Pearsalt, ar­chitect
for Lescher & Mahoney Construction,
said.
The dormitory is expected to house 608
students in what Pearsalt termed “suite ar­rangements,
” meaning one bathroom will be
shared by residents in two adjacent rooms.
The brick facility will be composed of three
east-west wings, linked by hallways, Pearsalt
said. This design will make it easier for small
or large conferences to come to NAU and
house members in the dormitory.
The east-west building situation will lend
itself to passive solar construction, lie added.
Because the windows on the dormitory will
face south, sunlight will help heat the rooms.
The dormitory construction project will be
tied into the phasing out of Old Main Hall,
Hughes said. Old Main will go “off line” (the
power will be turned off) at the same time the
new facility will be made available for
students.
Old Main, which now houses 150 students,
will be preserved as one of NAU’s historic
campus sites.
Major parking provisions were not included
in the dormitory plans, said David Markee,
vice president for student services.
Dormitory residents will park in the
“valley” on the campus’ south center, where
many students from SAC Hall now park. The
SAC students will park south of SAC in park­ing
areas yet to be developed.
However, a small parking area will be adja­cent
to the dormitory, Markee said. These
units will be used for short-term parking.
“This is consistent with our plan for campus
improvement to have parking on the
perimeter of the campus, ” Markee said.
Dorm alarm installation
S um m ertim e snow
Roy Deaver, 18, of Flagstaff, enjoys his own pre-season run on a patch of snow at the top
of the ski lift on Mt. Agassiz, Sunday. The San Francisco Peaks were dusted with three in­ches
of snow during Saturday’s storm. Deaver, a senior at Flagstaff High School, is a lift
operator at the Arizona Snow Bowl.
nears completion date
Is the Arizona Strip doomed
to becom e a natio n al
sacrifice? Are the energy
companies really listening
to public concern? See
page 4A.
The Equal Rights Amend­ment
is gone, but it is not
forgotten. Advocates have
learned from their defeat
and they have vowed to
fight back. See page 4A.
The Lumberjacks score the
most in two years. NAU
q u a rte rb a c k and w ide
receivers move up on the
career record charts. All in
one game! See page 8A
G et Rid of Icky Muck
Everywhere! Physical Plant
s ta ff’s b ra in c h ild gets
students, faculty and staff
into the GRIME of it. See
page 2A.
Last year, it greeted you
w ith b e lly b u tto n s , red
fingernail polish and skin.
This year, it attempts to
tempt you without it. See
page 1B.
Board of Regents 2A
Letters 4A
Sports Shorts 8A
Et Cetera 2B
Campus Capsules 5B
Classifieds 7B
Individual room
sprinklers and hall fire
alarm systems will be in­stalled
in Babbitt, Peter­son,
Taylor and Bury halls.
The installation of fire
alarm-sprinkler systems
began last year after the
State Legislature reacted
highrise buildings across
the country.
The estimated cost for
the systems is $300, 000.
said Rick Brandel, acting
assistant director of
residence life. Installation
should be completed by the
end of November, he said.
Last November, systems
were installed in Stroud
Hall, High Rise, Sechrist
and SAC dormitories.
When the sprinklers
operate, about 80 gallons
of water per minute are
released, NAU officials
“If there’s a fire, we’d
rather have it flood than
not have any water at all
because we want to put the
fire out before it creates a
lot of danger. The water
itself is easier to clean up
than having to replace
everything because it's
been burned to a crisp, ”
said Bennett Harris a
maintenance mechanic.
The new 304-room dormitory, scheduled to be completed in May, 1984,
will be be built east of Knoles Drive between the Executive Center and
Campus Heights. The building, which will utilize passive solar construc-
New Dorm
NAU representatives present studies
program proposal for liberal arts
Th e
Lumberjack
A student newspaper serving the Northern Arizona Community, Flagstaff, (602)523-4921 Volume 72, Issue 4«Thursday. Sept. 16. 1982
Steve Chernek/The Lumberjack
tion will house 608 students in suite arrangements. The dorm is tied to
the phasing out of Old Main, located on North Campus.
Editorials Opinions Sports News Tempo Index