Editorials

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Harassment incidents beg correlative response

The Islamic Society's claim that it is the target of harassment on campus must be addressed in a matter that is proportional to the events that spurred the accusations. The deletion of the Society's Web site at the request of someone posing as a member of the organization should be thoroughly investigated and the party deemed responsible severely reprimanded. That the action of one or a few individuals caused the Society to loose access to important information for a full 10 days during the month of Ramadan is inexcusable.

There is currently insufficient evidence, however, to support the Society's claim that its notice board was the target of the most recent vandalism incident on the north side of the mailroom. Public Safety's report confirms that a number of other organizations had materials damaged simultaneously.

Furthermore, President Liebowitz's all-campus e-mail response to the incident was not an especially efficacious action and misled students to believe that it was certain the Islamic Society Bulletin Board was specifically targeted. The vandalism of other notice boards, such as moqa's, has not elicited the same response.

Blame for such unfortunate incidents should not implicitly be placed on the entire College community, but should instead concentrate on determining and reacting to the responsible parties.



Curricular changes highlight areas of academic excellence

Middlebury College should be applauded for the recent endeavors to increase academic offerings, especially in those areas relating to its "peaks" of languages and International Studies.

Given that Middlebury is often considered the premier undergraduate institution for foreign language study, adding a formal program in the study of linguistics - the study of the nature of language itself - is an important step in curricular development. The proposal to offer a minor in Linguistics beginning in the fall of 2006 is also representative of a curriculum that is responsive to student demand: 10 students are currently focusing their studies on linguistics through the College's Independent Scholarship program.

The College has furthermore responded to the increasing interest in African Studies by endeavoring to streamline the study of that discipline. Students can specialize in African Studies as part of the International Studies Major or minor in the subject. Events sponsored by the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, such as "Children's Rights in Africa Today," this past Friday also reflect an effort to focus on an often overlooked part of the world. It is only lamentable that students majoring in African Studies cannot yet tailor their language study at Middlebury to their geographic area of study.

Although the Department has yet to permanently fill several key positions, since its formation in 2003, the Middle East Studies Department has managed to offer a wide variety of courses across various disciplines to keep up with the demand for study of the Arab world.