I'm a big believer in the liberal arts. So when I first began attending Brandeis, I was proud to say that I went to a college that was concerned with more than just vocational training but was also dedicated to producing well-educated graduates. Indeed, just a brief perusal through the University Bulletin will illustrate Brandeis' commitment to "encourag[ing] ... students and faculty to pursue a true liberal arts education." However, after spending a year and a half here at Brandeis, I have learned that our school's commitment to "a true liberal arts education" is quite shallow.

While Brandeis has a set of what it calls "General University Requirements" that are meant to ensure that each and every Brandeis student graduates as a well-rounded and educated individual, I certainly think that every Brandeisian knows that these requirements are more than a bit malleable.

I know that I'm not the only Brandeis student to have placed out of University Requirement or studiously avoided classes that would have pushed me out of my academic comfort zone.

The ineffectiveness of our General University Requirements stems from flaws in both the standards and lack of enforcement of these requirements.

When it comes to standards, Brandeis allows relatively low scores on virtually every Advanced Placement Exam to exempt students from University Requirements. A score of a 4 on the AP Calculus AB Exam, for example, can exempt a Brandeisian from our School of Science Requirement. Now, it's possible to get a 4 on most AP Exams while only getting approximately 60 percent of the questions correct. Apparently Brandeis feels it has done its job of producing students familiar with basic science by making sure that they know a little bit more than half the material on an exam that they took in high school. Furthermore, even if one would argue that similar test patterns exist in the heavily curved hard science classes at Brandeis, our University ought to take responsibility to ensure that each and every Brandesian gets an education that is up to Brandeis standards. I know from personal experience that many of my high school AP classes were nowhere near as challenging or thorough as their equivalents at Brandeis.

The quality of the education one gains in any given class cannot be measured by a single test. Since Brandeis cannot know what goes on in any high school classroom, it seems foolish to count so many AP credits toward fulfilling the University Requirements.

Furthermore, and most importantly, I have suggested that our University Requirements lack "specificity." Let me explain what I mean. The way our current requirements are structured, students are required to take classes from various "schools," for example, the School of Humanities or the School of Science. This gives students a tremendous amount of leeway in choosing which classes will count for any given "school" requirement. Although this flexibility may seem enticing, it allows students to avoid exposure to the foundational texts, methods and knowledge that any well-educated citizen ought to possess.

As I mentioned earlier, a student could easily fulfill his/her School of Humanities distribution requirement without ever having read a single play by Shakespeare or a single line of the United States Constitution. These are classic texts full of ideas and images that form the foundation of Western social and political thought and culture. It is equally possible for a student to fulfill their School of Science requirement without ever setting foot in a lab.

The natural and physical sciences are the way in which we understand the world around us-they give us the tools to move civilization forward and make societies more prosperous.

How can someone claim to be well-educated without receiving a foundational education in the natural and physical sciences?

So what should the University change in order to stay true to its alleged commitment to the liberal arts? It ought to establish a real core curriculum that provides each and every Brandeis student with training in the liberal arts and sciences

Now, I'm not one to offer up criticism without any possible solutions, but space precludes me at this time from offering my own proposed core curriculum. I hope to detail the specifics of what I believe can constitute a truly well-rounded liberal arts education in an upcoming column.

For now I'll end with the following thought. Some of you may be thinking that I want to remodel Brandeis into a place that it isn't. We aren't Columbia University, but we aren't Brown University either. Brown has no University Requirements; it is truly dedicated to letting each student take full charge of his or her own education. But that isn't Brandeis. We have University Requirements, and the reason we have them is because our University is dedicated to producing graduates who have received a well-rounded, liberal arts education.

But our University Requirements don't achieve that goal. I'm proposing that the best way to achieve that goal is to have a thorough core curriculum. Such a curriculum will help us fulfill the truly Brandeisian commitment to providing each of our students with a world-class education in the liberal arts and sciences.