How strong is student demand for Chinese and Arabic, Ithaca's newest language offerings? So strong that there's already a waiting list to enroll in courses. "Both classes are completely filled for the fall semester," said professor Sabatino Maglione, chair of modern languages and literatures. "They filled up in a matter of days."

According to Maglione, demand for the languages stems from global economic and political necessity. "China is becoming such a major economic power that Chinese will be one of the predominant languages of the future," he said. "Arabic is equally important. With the problems we have in the Middle East and the importance of that region to our economy, we thought it was an appropriate time to offer the language."

Due to the complexity of the languages, coursework in both new offerings will be intensive. The department has hired two new instructors, both native speakers, to run the classes. Each class is limited to 15 students. "We could have filled both classes with 20-25 students but chose not to," Maglione said. "These are difficult languages to learn. They call for smaller, more intimate classes."