High school students can take college classes at YSU
High school students can take college classes at YSU
EDITOR:
I read with interest the article in the Dec. 3 Vindicator on the OCEAN program at Oberlin College. This program permits high school students to take college classes at that institution. However, since this article was in the Regional section of The Vindicator, your readers might infer from the article that opportunities of this type are not available in the Youngstown area.
At Youngstown State University, we have many students each year who take university level courses together with regular YSU students under the direction of YSU faculty. In my own experience, I have taught more than 20 high school students in the past six years in honors calculus. This course covers in one year what is normally taught in a three-semester university calculus sequence. Some of the high school students who have taken this class enter our University Scholars program. Others go elsewhere after high school graduation. Students in my classes have gained full three-semester calculus credit at a variety of schools, including those in the Ivy League and at top technical institutions such as Carnegie-Mellon, Cal Tech, and MIT.
Students with high ability and good academic discipline who are interested in these opportunities are welcome to contact me through the Youngstown State University web site. I will be happy to direct them to the appropriate person on campus to see for advice and enrollment. This provides an opportunity for high school students to see what college classes are really like. In addition, a university faculty member can be an excellent source of reference for students applying to very selective collages.
J. DOUGLAS FAIRES
Youngstown
X The writer is a professor of mathematics at YSU.
Overpopulation must be a concern of Americans
EDITOR:
Now that cloning of stem cells is back in vogue, we can begin to plan for medical cures for almost any disease of physical anguish. Is this a good thing? Well, yes and no. For those who benefit from the medical magic, it will be a miracle, and it will mean that fewer humans will die ahead of time. It will also mean that we will be sharing the remaining resources of our planet with more and more people at a time when more concerns and thoughtful minds are thinking about boldly suggesting that the world is already overpopulated.
As for America, the lamp beside the golden door may have overdone its welcome of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and if nothing is done within the near future to bring down the rate of human increase, Americans will find themselves living in an environment charged with miseries and an urgency to invent new ways to provide for not only the necessities but also the decencies of life.
Even Aristotle was aware of the potential problems for future generations and cultures. He said, "For the proper administration of justice and for the distribution of authority it is necessary that the citizens be acquainted with each others character, so that, were this cannot be, much mischief ensues, both in the use of authority and the administration of justice; for it is not just to decide arbitrarily, as must be the case with excessive population."
More recently (1967), the United Nations issued a Declaration of Population which read: "We believe that the population problem must be recognized as a principal element in long-range planning if governments are to achieve their economic goals and fulfill the aspirations of their people... ."
At this time, the Congress is engaged in more troublesome economic and international pursuits, but if it fails to soon confront long-range problems, like population growth and depletion and pollution of our natural resources, our future will be bleak indeed.
FRANCIS J. RAYMOND
Boardman