The Lumberjack

Issue date: 11/28/07 Section: Campus

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

Media Credit: Stephanie Haller

If you think Humboldt County is green, you haven't been to Germany.

Students and professors from the German department gathered on the Humboldt State University Quad on Nov. 14. They rallied to save the German program.

Their reasons to save German varied. Some students said that the faculty who teach the program are too good to lose. Others spoke about Germany's rich history. A few people stepped up and said that Germany is the world leader in appropriate technology. For that reason, they said that the university can't afford to cut it.

Last spring, when he served as dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Interim Provost Bob Snyder stated in the Budget Reduction Narrative that the best way to deal with budget problems at Humboldt State University is to cut programs.

Programs that he considered cutting were graduate programs in English and sociology, as well as programs in art, music and communications. He decided to cut German because it has little ethnic diversity amongst its majors, he said.

The university still plans to cut German, but supporters for the program won't give up until it's saved.

At the rally, a lady with gray hair wore a blue, yellow and black-checkered vest as she walked through the crowd. In her hands, she held a bundle of orange signs with loops of orange yarn tied to them. Most people on the quad had these signs around their necks. They said, "We're not dead yet - Save German"

Kay La-Bahn Clark, a German professor at Humboldt State, said that every student in the program received a petition. The petition started to circle the university on Nov. 14, and will do so until the end of this month.

At that point, La-Bahn Clark will take the petition as part of a package that she will present to the administration to show them that Humboldt State students and faculty support all language programs - including German.

For Carol Balch, a double major in appropriate technology and German, the program can't be cut. Germany is the world leader in appropriate technology, which is a major that the university supports. After she graduates from Humboldt State, she plans to move to Germany.

There, she will get her master's degree in eco-sociology. She said it is the best program in the world. If not for the German program at Humboldt State, this wouldn't be possible.

It doesn't make sense to her that the German program will be cut. She wondered why the university touts its commitment to sustainability, then decides to cut the program that can link students to the country that is the world leader in the field.

"If [Humboldt State] wants to market itself as an eco-hip school," she said, "they need to check out their allies."

La-Bahn Clark visited Germany several times. She takes a group of students there each summer to immerse them in the culture. She's walked the streets of many German cities and has seen just how "green" the place is.

She said that many houses have solar panels on them. There are recycling bins everywhere. There are also wind turbines. The pressure to recycle and use renewable energy isn't a burden that is placed on individuals. Through legislation, Germany has made appropriate technology a priority.

She said that Americans have a lot to learn from Germany when it comes to the environment. To benefit from those lessons, Americans need to understand the culture and the language.

It's true that most Germans can speak English she said, but university classes are taught in German. Government policies are written in German. A person who doesn't know the language and heads to Germany can only scratch the surface of the society.

"[Humboldt State] students don't come here to cut themselves off from the world," she said.

Brett Lee, a student at Humboldt State, wrote a letter to President Rollin Richmond. In it, he pleaded to Richmond to save the German program. He came to Humboldt State to major in appropriate technology. He decided to double major in German when he realized that the major would help him in his chosen field.

Germany produces more solar panels, wind turbines and bio-diesel than any other country in the world. Germany isn't much larger than Montana, but it produces almost half of the world's wind power, he said.

In 1991, Germany enacted the standard pricing law. The law gives people who make more power than they use the option to sell it back to the grid. The price they sell it for is above market value. It is a model that America can follow, he said.

La-Bahn Clark said that German classes will be offered next semester. She doesn't know what will happen after that. She and other supporters of the German program at Humboldt State will continue their fight to save German.

"I hope that everything we do will convince the administration that eliminating a language program is not the way to go," she said.


David Garrison can be reached at dlg32@humboldt.edu

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