Detaining Peace
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shattered any doubts this week that he is willing to adopt a long-term peace plan when he put unfairly harsh conditions on Yasser Arafat's ability to attend an Arab summit meeting. Sharon's inflexibility was particularly unfortunate since the summit, dominated by a Saudi Arabian peace proposal that was adopted yesterday and endorsed in absentia by Arafat, marked a rare glimmer of hope in a region rocked by violence.
Israel, which has confined Arafat to his headquarters in the West Bank for the last three months, announced that Arafat could attend the meeting, but suggested that he might not be allowed to return. This was an unreasonable constraint.
Despite Arafat's glaring flaws, he is currently the only person able to represent the Palestinian cause at an international level. Any hope for peace in the near future cannot ignore his continued, if faltering, status as the leader of the Palestinian people. While it has good reason to be wary of Arafat's intentions, the Sharon administration does the victims of both Palestinian and Israeli violence little good by endangering prospects for peace.
By not ensuring Arafat's right to return, Israel lost good will, thwarted the momentum for the Arab blueprint and further called into question its commitment to long-term peace. Sharon now has to prove that he is prepared to work towards ending the violence, and the United States must pressure him to do so.
The Right Answer
The Graduate Record Examination will add a writing section in Oct. 2002, and the SAT is considering a similar change. Proponents of the change say that the additions will diminish socioeconomic and gender biases in the exams by testing students on a greater diversity of thought patterns.
Unfortunately, the problems inherent in the current test are unlikely to be corrected in the revised version.
While instituting a writing section may indeed move toward gender equity -- on multiple-choice questions, women on average score lower than men -- it may create a new set of problems. Adding the section raises significant questions about its potential effects on students whose second language is English. Also, the grading of the written portion may add too much subjectivity into the process.
The educational testing planners of the GREs and the SATs must find a better solution.
A House Divided?
If there is a need for French and Italian affinity housing on campus, its proper home is not in McCulloch Hall, where the Office of Residential Life plans to relocate the programs next fall.
As the newest and one of the nicest dorms, McCulloch is a highly attractive housing option. Many students will apply for this affinity housing option primarily to live in spacious rooms and not out of a desire to immerse themselves in French or Italian language and culture. Using McCulloch for affinity housing will undermine the cohesive community of East Wheelock, calling into question the College's commitment to a collective vision for the cluster. This move then compromises the goals of both of the East Wheelock and affinity programs.
Administrators have admitted that free-standing houses represent a superior option for foreign language immersion, and the College has at its disposal a perfect alternative for affinity houses in the River Cluster's Tree Houses.There, residents could interact without interruption, as may be the case in McCulloch.
If the French and Italian Department wants the best option for its students, the Tree Houses are the obvious choice.
