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Letter to the Editor: Major discrimination

By Billie Haas

There are seven students in Intro to Mathematical Reasoning, a math course reworked specifically for students in The College of Arts & Letters. The two CAL students of those seven — including myself — sat content in class when we were told that we would not be covering Chapters 5 & 6 in the textbook. I assumed the reason regarded irrelevant material. Nope. In fact, the assumption was that CAL students (again, for whom this course was reworked) would not be able to grasp the concepts in those sections that reflected programming knowledge. My jaw hit the floor, and here is why.

I knew coming to Stevens that I would be majoring in a humanities program: Visual Arts & Technology. I wouldn’t have bothered applying if I weren’t in some manner interested in technical subjects. (Notice the “Technology” in my major’s name.) Even a few math and science courses are required of CAL students for graduation. I have not taken them all yet, but that does not mean that I lack the ability to handle a couple of extra chapters even if I find them challenging.

I have met people here who weren’t aware that my program existed; however, I had never experienced an acknowledgment of my program but simultaneous failure of recognition of its competitive worth until that day. The students in CAL are doing such incredibly impressive work and some of them have not even graduated yet.

Let me be clear though, I do not blame the professor of the course, as he is only trying to mold the curriculum based on the information he is given. In fact, he is an incredibly caring professor and integrates every single student with the course; when the other CAL student and I spoke up about this issue, he was more than willing to cover those chapters. Thus, this piece is not about the quality of the course—which is great—but the more deeply rooted issues that exist within Stevens.

So no, I’m not an engineer or scientist; I am an artist. I am an artist who speaks in terms of “when” rather than in terms of “if.” I am an artist who aspires to do creative design or maybe even creative direction for internationally touring recording artists. I am an artist with an excellent GPA, strong academic drive, and no fear of the challenges ahead.

Admittedly, I do understand why so many make these assumptions about CAL programs when, in stark contrast, the majority of the school’s programs are on the other side of the academic spectrum. However, that does not justify the sweeping conclusions made about my program and my level of intelligence and individual capabilities. If anyone believes otherwise, give me the time to prove you wrong.

But if I’m totally off the mark here, I suppose I’ll just stick to crayons and magic markers.

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