Graduate students teach beneath the trees

Even the trees can speak German now. After all, they spent a whole day listening to graduate students teach German -- and Spanish and French -- outside on the Green yesterday as part of a teaching assistant awareness day yesterday. More than 55 TAs began their fourth "Class in the Grass" session yesterday -- which is planned to continue today -- in order to make themselves more visible to the University said Jessica Neuwirth, Graduate Student Associations Council board member. Oscar Sierra, a modern language graduate student, said he had not planned to bring his Spanish class outside but "they requested and I thought it was a good idea." He said that he planned to take the other two classes he teaches outdoors also. His students also said they were enthusiastic about their temporary location under a tree by College Hall. "I think it's great, it makes class a little more lively," said junior Jessica Shoemaker. Most students said they enjoyed having class outside, although many did not know why their TAs moved outdoors. College senior Paul McKenzie said that he thought his history class met outside "to commune with nature." McKenzie's TA, GSAC Treasurer Brian Huck, explained that the day was intended to "attract attention to what the graduate students do." "It's for us to feel some comraderie," said Linda Odgen-Wolgemuth, who teaches a German class. GSAC used the event to collected information. When graduate students registered at the table set up by the Button, they were asked to fill out a questionaire identifying their concerns regarding funding, health insurance, the quality of their education and teaching and research assistant positions. For members of the newly-formed Coalition of Graduate Students, it was a day to inform people about their group and increase membership beyond the History and English departments, said graduate history student Denise Davidson. "It seems like more people from different departments are interested," Davidson said. "By the next meeting, we'll have a large enough and varied enough group that it will be representative of the graduate students." Students from the Education, Sociology and Engineering Schools as well as various departments in the School of Arts and Science expressed interest, Davidson said. Huck said that attendance this year may have been better than in the past because of the warm weather. Last year, it was held in the spring and some classes were discouraged by the cold weather. GSAC plans to hold "Class in the Grass" again next spring anyway, Neuwirth said. "I think it's a fine way for graduate students show their importance," said Janice Madden, vice provost for graduate education. "I can't believe that anybody working with graduate students is unaware [of their importance.]"

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.