"I had to turn away people to other sections,"Blank says. "We should have had at least one moresection for the class, but the core program didnot see it that way."

Sections are not the only aspect of thecore class structure that alienates students andmakes teaching difficult.

"Cores are so big," says Literature and ArtsA-16 head teaching fellow Cambille Lizarribar. "Ithink if students do not get to touch base withsomeone on a more personal level, then you lose alot."

According to figures provided by the Office ofthe Registrar and the core office, enrollments incore classes this year have included lectures of933 (Moral Reasoning 22), 866 (Social Analysis10), 567 (Literature and Arts A-66) and 475 (MoralReasoning 40) (Please see graphic, thispage).

Cores consistently make up at least half of theCollege's 10 largest classes, says Greg Atkinson,department administrator in the registrar'soffice.

The huge lectures make it difficult for thecore to accomplish any of the tasks it isassigned.

Students who can sleep in the back of a largelecture hall can drift through the semesterwithout connecting with the course material.Lectures provide "comfortable anonymity," saysNora E. Connell '94.

And in large cores, "you do not get to be intouch with the professors," says Brian J. Hunt'95.

The lack of contact with professors in coresmakes them even less likely to engage students inunfamiliar topics.

"I really think that students in theirbeginning years need to have morestudent-professor contact than there is to gobeyond the lecture," says Foreign Cultures 14 TFAdnan Afridi '92.

Professors say it is also difficult of monitorthe effects of their lectures on core students insuch large classes.

Weary Professor of German and comparativeLiterature Judith L. Ryan says core lectures cuther off from students to such an extent that thereis a "remote control effect."

When professors do manage to bridge the gapbetween distant lecturer and large audience,students say cores can be a more personalexperience--one more likely to engage them in anew topic.

Mark J. Adams '94 says he enjoyed Literatureand Arts C-37 partially because Starr Professor ofClassical, Modern Jewish and Hebrew literatureJames L. Kugel took the time to talk to him whenhe was transferring into the class.

"He wasn't in a hurry to get off the phone withme," Adams says.