As director of first-year composition, I am writing to respond to Benjamin Studenski’s statement about the English department in the March 4 issue of the Daily.

Mr. Studenski spends half of his statement attacking a syllabus that was used last year. Apparently, he did not remember the statement I wrote in the Daily last year. Before the complaint was published in the paper, I had already dealt with the problem policy sheet, and students had been given a new policy sheet. I do not condone the use of profanity in a policy sheet, and an instructor should be able to explain why a paper receives the grade it does.

“The Student’s Guide” to composition states that “a C means satisfactory work.” Most students who take English 104/105 receive a final grade higher than a C. Traditionally, courses in the sciences have a lower grade average than courses in the liberal arts, and faculty in the English department try to be fair and reasonable graders. However, if a student believes grading is unfair, he or she can — and should — appeal the final grade.

Mr. Studenski, in criticizing “the overt politics that pervade the [English] department,” specifically cited a memo I wrote that stated the Teach In was an excellent opportunity to see how the rhetorical issues we discuss in class are relevant outside of class. Because the Teach In was held during the day when our composition classes are offered, instructors had asked me if they could have their students attend the Teach In rather than go to class. I thought the request was reasonable — if instructors required students to write about the presentation, and if instructors permitted alternative assignments if students believed a topic was objectionable.

Although I do not support changing the name of Catt Hall, I do support students’ right to lobby for change, and I support their efforts to take learning beyond the classroom. As I look at the Teach In schedule, I see topics that almost anyone, whatever their politics, should be interested in: Derrick Rollins on diversity on campus, Theresa McCormick on the transformation from monoculturalism to multiculturalism, and Jerry Stubben on a better understanding of Native American history, government and sovereignty. It looks to me as if most of the Teach In was not about The September 29 Movement but about other issues involving diversity and democracy. I am bewildered, in fact, that I am receiving criticism for suggesting that a forum on diversity and democracy is not worthy of rhetorical analysis.

I think Mr. Studenski’s use of “overt politics” is important because I would argue that all classes are political. (What an instructor or discipline chooses to privilege and to ignore are of political import.) One of the best functions of the university system used to be that it affords students and faculty the opportunity to address a wide range of issues in non-threatening forums.

As to the relationship between political issues and language, I provide here one example: My husband, in talking to a Pakistani lawyer about Pakistan, quoted recent news reports about a leader who had been “assassinated.” The lawyer shook his head vehemently and said the leader had been “executed.” The U.S. news reports and the lawyer agreed on facts — a leader was shot to death — but they disagreed fundamentally on the interpretation of those facts. Improving punctuation and style are important issues in composition, but so too is helping students become aware of the consequences of language use.

The role that TAs play in a research university is a complex political and economic issue. It is unlikely that teaching assistantships will cease to exist as long as land-grant universities are committed to low tuition and faculty involvement in research. No teaching assistants at Iowa State receive more training and supervision than those who teach in our department. Some of the best teaching I have ever seen has been done by teaching assistants. However, problems can occur in any program. I would hope that students, advisors and parents who are troubled by something in the composition classroom would talk to the instructor or to me.

Margaret Graham

Director of First-Year Composition