Letter to the Editor

Dear Emily:

You either did not read my June 9th letter in The DM that gave one good example of why journalists need math and science classes. Others would be that since a lot of current stories/problems that you may be called on to report, such as climate change, the global economy, the housing/banking crisis, the recession, the Gulf oil spill and cleanup, just to name a few, require some knowledge of science and/or math. The classes that you consider sufficient in your article “Academic Freedom Would be Nice” would just about qualify you for a theater critic or a gossip columnist, but hardly as a real journalist. In the modern world math and science do have an impact on daily life. A reputable journalist should be able to tell real facts and conclusions from bogus ones.

You claim that you had those classes in high school, even getting an A in calculus; however, since you are having trouble with algebra at a community college you must have either not really learned them or have forgotten what you learned in only a few years. Math and science classes ARE part of a well-rounded education.

This is the second article on a similar theme in the last 3 months where journalism majors claim that taking math and science classes is a waste of time. I have to wonder what the journalism department is teaching or perhaps should be teaching and is not.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Sanders