And students say they see no difference inteaching style between basic department classesand core courses.

"I do not really see any difference in the waythe cores are taught," says Antony R. Garcia'93-'94, a biology concentrator.

"I really do not know what the 'approaches toknowledge' means," says William M. Jones '95.

Christopher Basaldu '94 says he thinks thewhole idea is a farce.

"The famed 'approaches to knowledge' is eithera. a smokescreen: b. a myth; or c. a pipe dreamthat the Faculty has," he says.

Rather then a broad education in"approaches," what most students get from theircore classes is knowledge of the specific topicsof the course.

"I think it is bullshit," says Trey Grayson '94about the "approaches to knowledge" teachingmethod. "In 'Beethoven' [Literature and Arts B-69]all they teach is Beethoven."

"Last semester in Historical Study B-40,Basically all I had to do was memorize tons ofdates and facts," says one student, who spoke oncondition of anonymity.

In some ways, the core is like a weakdistributional requirement that makes studentstake classes in different disciplines.

But the Core's limited offerings do not ensureany kind of broad distribution, students say.Instead, narrow, specific courses give themesoteric knowledge in useless topics.

"My roommate took a his torical studies classon the white plague," says Laura M. Brew '95, areligion concentrator. "I think it is sad thatwhen she graduates her entire knowledge of historywill be confined to tuberculosis."

"I think the core exists so the teachers canteach what they want everyone else to know that noone else wants to take," says Robert E. Jordan'94.

Student input on what topics are included inthe core comes mainly form members of theUndergraduate Council who sit on the standing corefaculty committee and subcommittees.

The professors on these committees do listen tostudent members, says Hassen A. Sayeed '96, who ison the standing committee. But Sayeed is one ofonly two undergraduates on the standing committee,which must approve all core classes.

Areas Left Out