Mast Fall 2001
For Alumni and Friends of Ohio University
 

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Across the College Green

The sneetches as teachers
By Katie Fitzgerald

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon thars.

When Bill Manhire, BSCE '01, read these first lines of Dr. Seuss' "The Sneetches and Other Stories" as part of a spring College of Business class assignment, he didn't know what to think.

"At first when I saw the book at the bookstore, I thought it was a joke," he says.

Assistant Professor of Management Systems Lenie Holbrook used Seuss' lesson in prejudice, characterized by furry yellow Sneetches who are divided by those who have stars and those who don't, as a way to introduce students to societal issues in the business world.

 

Photo by Bill Graham

 

Amesville kindergartners tear into their copies of "The Sneetches and Other Stories."
"I quickly saw what concepts he wanted us to pick out of the book, such as stereotyping," Manhire says.

He also realized he could pass the moral message along by donating his copy of "Sneetches" to his mother's Amesville Elementary kindergarten class. Holbrook picked up on the idea, asking all of his students to donate their books. After students wrapped their copies of "Sneetches," Holbrook made a special delivery.

"I thought it was such a wonderful idea," Patricia Manhire says. "I read some of the books in class and then had the students take them home to share with their parents."