<p>all well and good, but not solving a real problem i percieved during my time at smith: that many students are afraid of math (often having had bad experiences with it in high school) and never get over that in college.</p>
<p>most of the students i know who took math classes (in the math dept or other depts) at smith loved them, and many–myself included–went from hating math to majoring or minoring in a quantitative subject. </p>
<p>while i chose smith in part because i’d never have to take a math class, i think a quantitative skills requirement is really in order–and there are a lot of current students, faculty, and alums who agree. jya and postbacs are great, but pretty tangental imho…maybe 20-30 people will take part each year, as opposed to hundreds of smithies who don’t take math now and would if required.</p>