Our
View: Interim classes unsatisfactory
Thank
God for the University Extension courses
offered in the winter and summer. How else
could we pay $520 for a four unit class
that lasts two weeks? How else would we
fork over a ton of money, get less than
a month of education and no real knowledge?
Sad to think that someday soon we could
lose all of these wonderful opportunities.
It
seems to be a real problem. The schedules
seem to offer fewer sections of those classes
everyone desperately needs to graduate.
And now we hear that maybe sometime soon
we could lose even more classes to the big
red beast of the California deficit.
Not
only will we be losing classes during the
regular semester, but we could lose a lot
of the summer and winter courses as well.
This could make the already difficult procedure
of graduating just that much more difficult.
And where does that leave us? The long-suffering
students will be left with a decreased chance
of actually graduating in the prescribed
four years. Even though the interim sessions
are outrageously expensive, many people
who don't want to take 15 or 18 units a
semester still have the opportunity to make
it out of here with that little piece of
paper before celebrating their 30th birthday.
What
can the students do then, to get the ball
rolling and keep those oh so necessary classes
in that schedule? Who knows? Write your
assemblyman or woman, write to Arnie and
see if he's willing to make a tax-deductible
donation to your department. Or maybe you
should start slipping the department chairman
a twenty every week to keep the classes
you need on the agenda.
This
is all about the almighty dollar. When our
tuition starts going up 40 percent every
year we're going to want to be getting out
of here darn quick. But what is really great
is that as we begin to pay more, our section
availability will continue to decrease.
We
don't know if there is a way to fix this
problem. If the system is heading the way
it seems it is heading, then we're just
happy we're graduating soon. But for those
people who are just starting the long, lovely
road to a happy destiny, i.e. graduation,
you might start planning ahead to make sure
you can get all that general education squared
away before you're a sixth-year senior.
Anyway,
for those students who bravely faced a five
hour line to register for a $500 class that
lasts three weeks during the winter break,
we salute you. For others who are hoping
to graduate on time by taking $50 plus per
unit in the summer, good luck. If things
keep going this way, the supposedly self-supporting
University Extension courses could be going
under before next June.
Hopefully,
the administration will do everything it
can to keep our schedule of classes full
of graduation requirements and those darn
capstone courses. The more students that
camp out on the floor of the class they
absolutely must pass, the more it becomes
apparent that our curriculum is shrinking.
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