Thu, Nov 26 2009
|
|
Published September 08, 2008 12:11 am - A textbook won’t be the most important part of Dana Robison’s college classroom this fall. His students will build their own long guns of choice in a gunsmithing course at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami. College not just science, math By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com A textbook won’t be the most important part of Dana Robison’s college classroom this fall. His students will build their own long guns of choice in a gunsmithing course at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami. It’s just one of several unconventional courses that area colleges are offering this year. Parents and other students might do a double take at the schedule, but instructors say it’s all in an attempt to produce well-rounded students who continue learning well after graduation. Robison’s gunsmithing course at NEO falls into the continuing-education designation for college courses that offer a certificate of completion but not college credit applicable to a degree. “I’ve had an awful lot of people that want to take this class,” Robison said of the gunsmithing course. “It runs the whole gamut. You’ve got your everyday Joe, then you’ve got your bankers, doctors and lawyers.” Like most continuing-education courses, the gunsmithing class meets for more hours at a time but for fewer weeks than traditional college courses. Robison’s class meets for eight hours a day for eight consecutive Saturdays this fall. During that time, his students will learn how to use precision tools to make a custom firearm by hand. For some of his students, Robison said, it’s the first step to a hobby they’ve always wanted to pursue. For others, it’s a pathway to a successful career. For all of them, it’s an area of knowledge they didn’t have before. Despite teaching the gunsmithing class for several years, Robison said he still gets his share of strange looks. “Yeah, people are surprised,” he said. “They say, ‘You mean, you’re gonna build a gun?’ With the attitude toward firearms on campuses these days, some people are taken back by that.” Gene Hilgenberg, chairman of the agriculture division at Crowder College in Neosho, is used to that response by now. For years, he’s taught a meat science and production class in which students take a whole, slaughtered animal and break it down into retail meat cuts. The course is part of the academic requirements for several agriculture degrees at Crowder. In a laboratory that would make David Letterman proud, Hilgenberg’s students are quizzed on cuts of meat for beef, pork, lamb, goat and deer. “We wear smocks, but it can get a little messy,” Hilgenberg said. Well-rounded students 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
Hundreds served at churches, shelters in Joplin area Budget cuts, enrollment declines take toll at some Kansas schools PSU planning forums to discuss latest round of Kansas budget cuts |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
Locals react with dismay to new breast cancer screening guidelines w/ new cancer screening recommendations and American Cancer Society response
 |
 |
: Special Offer For New Subscribers
:
 |
|||||||
|
|||||||
 |
|
|
Published by Newspaper Holding, Inc. 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. 
|
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
