Little Pollyana

[Latisha LaRue <kfischer@keller.clarke.edu>]

Not much traffic here lately, probably due to the zaniness of new school
year chaos, I imagine.  Just now, once again procrastinating my own
writing, I thought it was as bad a time as any to enter in with one of
those disgustingly wonderful stories of success in the WAC movement from
our very own campus.

Like all of you, for years now several of us have been working away trying
to woo faculty across the curriculum to see writing as a skill beyond the
sole responsibility of the English Department.  We have a friendly,
receptive faculty, generally without all the turf hangups that might be
present on some other campuses.  All the same, the changing of minds is a
difficult thing when most believe the reason they can write well is
because an English teacher (a darn good one at that!) somewhere along the
line taught them how to diagram sentences.

Anyway, at our opening faculty workshops this year when we were
scrutinizing and dissecting our current General Education program, a
proposal arose that will bring tears to your WAC ducts.  From a corner of
the room, Mr. Biology Faculty stood up and suggested, "We think it's time
that departments create writing-intensive courses required of their
majors.  Of course, this would be in addition to the required Comp I
class.  Unless we all make this a priority, students are not going to
write well."  

It was one of those moments that usually comes in early July, all green
and bright and sparkling, smelling of new-mown grass and baby's breath,
floating on the crest of a wave.

Anyone else have disgusting good news stories to share?

Ok, back to the writing desk.

Katie