Some professors and students also say thatimportant areas of study are left out of thecore's distribution.

"It would not be bad if there was some sort ofsimple math or science or statistic or computerscience course required," says Ali Partovi '94."It is really going to be a big thing in thefuture. People form much shittier schools will getjobs because they know more about computers.

"Computers teach a way of thinking that isapplicable to many intellectual pursuits," saysAssistant Professor of Computer Science Margo. ISeltzer '83. "They teach problem solving.

Even more shocking, some argue, is the absenceof math form the core curriculum.

"My own personal feeling is that math should betaken by undergraduates," says Putnam Professor ofPure and Applied Mathematics Shlomo Z. Sternberg."It is a part of general education."

And some students have also called for anethnic studies core requirement. Last year, acoalition of minority student groups listed such arequirement in the demands it issued at a Juniorparents Weekend protest.

What students want instead of the corecurriculum is a truly broad liberal artseducation.

"A lot of us miss out on a chance to get abroad background," says Benjamin J. Vilhauer '95."Without having a background it's like having afew little shards of a timeline withoutunderstanding how they fit together."

But students and professors disagree about whata good general education should include.

Many say the core is simply an effort to avoidthat question: in offering "approaches," notspecific knowledge, Harvard doesn't have to judgewhat knowledge is worth having.

"The idea of teaching modes of thought is anobvious dodge. It is patently false," says oneScience A teaching fellow speaking on condition ofanonymity.

The core is "a beautiful bureaucratic solutionthe unsolvable problem" of deciding what to teach,Professor of History James Hankins says. "TheUniversity ought to decide what people ought toknow and take a stand on that, rather than saythey're teaching approaches to knowledge.

Hankins, like many professors andstudents, would like Harvard to offer broad surveyclasses designed to introduce students to the"classics" of Western civilization.

A general education should include "the greatbooks, European history and American, a survey ofmusic and fine arts, and some venture into anon-western culture that would be serious and notjust a sample of the cuisine," says KenanProfessor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr.'53.

Many students say they would like to see thecore offer broad survey classes in a variety ofsubjects.