. THE CADRE TUES,, NOV. 27, ‘1973 Page 6' 
     
    
   
   
    
     Dear Editor, . 
     
    

    
     It was delightful to att- 
     
     end the grand opening of 
     
     Dalton Hall on Friday, Nov. 
     
     9th. A fine job was done 
     
     for the old building. In 
     
     fact with all those bright 
     
     flourescent lights and se- 
     
     mi-glass walls I'll be su— 
     
     re to wear sunglasses the 
     
     next time I go over there. 
     
     But that Friday saw the 
     
     grand opening of another 
     
     project as well. I speak 
     
     here of fourth floor Main 
     
     Building. 
     
    

    
     The inhabitants of the 
     
     floor really did things up 
     
     grand. Signs were posted 
     
     to mark all the major att- 
     
     ractions such as the dis— 
     
     tinguished columns, the 
     
     ultra modern uni—sex wash— 
     
     room facilities, the hide— 
     
     away skylight, the functi- 
     
     onal wheel chair ramp and 
     
     the boutiques dealing in 
     
     rodent and fly sales. The 
     
     place, I think it is fair 
     
     to say, literally reeked 
     
     with character. 
     
    

    
     . It was with dismay, how— 
     
     ever, that upon further. 
     
     examinationI I found that 
     
     much of their advertising 
     
     was false. A pile of lum- 
     
     ber (?) supposed to be 
     
     auctioned off remained in 
     
     its corner, still adorning 
     
     the stairwell. Professor 
     
     Andrew Robb's Sauna Bath 
     
    

    
     ( $2.00 per hour) didn't 
     
     live up to expectations 
     
     while old faithful (the 
     
     radiator) seemed to be on 
     
     holidays. Bob Lippen's 
     
     "mice for sale" business 
     
     was dragging because he 
     
     couldn't catch the little 
     
     critters. walter Fobes' 
     
    

    
     'dead flies boutique held 
     
    
   
   
    
     Dear Mr. Dalton: 
     
    

    
     Without wishing to de- 
     
     tract from Prof. Von Dreg- 
     
     er's reputation for "inno— 
     
     vative, bold and humanita- 
     
     rian“ approaches to curri— 
     
     culum reform, I must con- 
     
     test his authorship of 
     
     proposed curriculum C pub— 
     
     lished in the November 20 
     
     Cadre. 
     
    

    
     This scheme parallels very 
     
     closely a proposal I Circ- 
     
     ulated among UPEI faculty 
     
     in the fall of 1969. Vete- 
     
     rans of those halcyon days, 
     
     when our university was 
     
     struggling from the womb, 
     
     may have within their fil- 
     
     es a copy of my stillborn 
     
     plan. It had no impact 
     
     whatever upon serious cur- 
     
     riculum planning at UPEI 
     
     during the university's 
     
     crucial first year. 
     
    

    
     Since Mr. Von Dreger was 
     
     not here then, he probably 
     
     never read my proposal, & 
     
     undoubtedly formed his own 
     
     plan quite independently. 
     
     Unstructured curricula of 
     
     this kind have been discu— 
     
     ssed for years, but rarely 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     “Yeah, I got my degree. I delivered the London Express." 
     
    
   
   
    
     terrible business hours. 
     
     These people, I would urge 
     
     should thus be Sued for 
     
     false advertising!! 
     
    

    
     Before leaving this thri- 
     
     ving business and tourist 
     
     area though I heard some 
     
     faint remarks of criticism, 
     
     by its inhabitants, on the 
     
    
   
   
    
     enviornment of fourth flo- 
     
    
   
   
    
     or Main. How dare they? 
     
     Don't they realize how lu- 
     
     cky they are to occupy su— 
     
     ch magnificent premises? 
     
     With only one phone on the 
     
     floor the professors are 
     
     spared having to deal with 
     
     that impersonal ornament. 
     
     With four flights of stai- 
     
     rs to climb to get to the- 
     
    
   
   
    
     ir floor they get lots of 
     
     exercise. With the dim li— 
     
     ghting of the hallway they 
     
     can enjoy more fully the 
     
    

    
     historic presence that su- 
     
    
   
   
    
     .\rrounds them. Sure, some 
     
     rooms may encourage frost- 
     
    
   
   
    
     bite one day and malaria 
     
     the next but professors 
     
     should be hardy people.Th— 
     
     ey should think of themse— 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘lves as pioneers and what 
     
    
   
   
    
     better enviornment would 
     
     they ask for stimulating 
     
     such conditions? 
     
    

    
     I really don't know why 
     
     some should complain. Adm- 
     
     inistration should look 
     
     into this. 
     
    

    
     ' Don Pridmore 
     
    
   
   
    
     adopted. They have been 
     
     tried with mixed results 
     
     at a handful of New Eng- 
     
     land "experimental" coll- 
     
     eges. I was a participant 
     
     in one such experiment, as 
     
     a teaching fellow at Mark 
     
     Hopkins College in Vermont 
     
     during the middle sixties. 
     
     I am pleased that the 
     
     Faculty of Arts Curriculum 
     
     Committee has resurrected 
     
     my forgotten program. The— 
     
     re is, however, a joker in 
     
     VOn Dreger's curriculum 
     
     which I was careful to om- 
     
     it from mine. - 
     
     Von Dreger proposes tha» 
     
     "levels of achievement(wi— 
     
     ll be) stipulated by the 
     
     several Departments," whi- 
     
     ch will also "set down... 
     
     substantive requirements 
     
    
   
   
    
     .for a...major," etc. As 
     
    
   
   
    
     all students of the polit- 
     
    
   
   
    
     Vics of higher education 
     
    
   
   
    
     must be aware, it is the 
     
     departments of the chief 
     
     agencies of academic orth— 
     
     odoxy in the modern uni— 
     
     versity. If such a "bold' 
     
     curriculum as Von Dreger's 
     
     were instituted at UPEI—— 
     
    
   
   
    
     a most unlikely proSpect, 
     
    
   
   
    
     I am afraid—~leaving it 
     
     in the hands of the depar— 
     
     tments to implement would 
     
     be like handing over the 
     
     Palestine Liberation Move- 
     
     ment to the Israeli Cabi— 
     
     net. 
     
    

    
     In my 1969 version of an ‘ 
     
     unstructured curriculum, 
     
     the department as an inter- 
     
     mediary between student & 
     
     teacher was eliminated, as 
     
     was that monstrosity, the 
     
     departmental major. (Since 
     
     academic "disciplines were 
     
     to a considerable extent 
     
     artificial creations of 
     
     the late 19th century, the 
     
     departments based upon 
     
     them were largely adminis- 
     
     trative conveniences that 
     
     have become political fix- 
     
     tures in university life: 
     
     there'is no genuine need 
     
     for them.) Planning and 
     
     co-ordination of degree 
     
     programs was turned over 
     
     to ad hoc committees. 
     
    

    
     Although I did not dwell 
     
     upon it, the implication 
     
    
   
   
    
     LETTERS can't to pg. 7