To the Daily:
Ever since I have been a student at the University, I have enjoyed reading the Daily every day between classes. Checking the scores in the sports pages, laughing at the comics, and trying to complete the crossword puzzle have all become routines of mine. I can honestly admit that I am a fan of the Daily. There is one thing, however, that I wish it would change. Every other week or so, an advertising insert is placed in the paper. These inserts usually range from credit card application forms to vacation guide fliers. A large portion of these inserts usually find their way to the floors of the University's buildings. In the April 15 Daily, a Jet's Pizza flier was placed in the paper. As I was entering Angell Hall for my history class, it was impossible to ignore the large amount of these advertisements lying on the floor. It was somewhat disturbing to see this mess, and quite honestly, it annoyed me and a number of other students.
The placement of these inserts within the pages of the Daily prompted me to conduct a survey. This survey asked 100 students two questions in an attempt to get a general idea of how students feel about these inserts. When I asked students if they ever read these inserts, 70 percent replied that they never, or hardly ever, read them. Then, when asked if the students were bothered by the cluttering of the floors by the inserts, more than than 90 percent responded that they were annoyed by it. I realize that this is a very small survey, but I am sure that these results are very representative of how the rest of the student body feels.
I understand that advertising is a major part of a newspaper's success. That is why I am not asking that these inserts be completely removed from the Daily. All that I am asking is that these advertisements be placed within the paper so that they do not fall out onto the floors. The University's buildings could be made to look a great deal better throughout the course of a day by simply preventing these inserts from falling from the newspaper.
Michael Seested
LSA junior
To the Daily:
I greatly appreciated the editorial "Northern exposure" (4/9/98). I can't believe how alienated students are up on North Campus. It amazes me when I talk to Central Campus students that they don't even know where it is. My favorite comment was: "There's a music school? Where is it? There's a North Campus?" I guess the students up north are forgotten. This stinks.
It was stated that the busses run every 30 minutes on the weekends but actually according to the schedule, it's every 20 minutes. Although it's always late, which is even more of an inconvenience than it actually being on time every 30 minutes. And yes, I do follow the schedule religiously - I admit I have a copy in my backpack.
As for food options, let me see, I can choose overpriced Espresso Royale, cafeteria food (didn't I move out of the dorms?) and Little Caesar's, which is even worse than the cafeteria.
After I choose which establishment I'll hand over too much money to just to get sick, I get to wait in a huge line. There, I ponder the concept of North Campus. Why the hell are students up there anyway? (Maybe it's just because the freaky engineers, artists and musicians aren't wanted near the "normal" Central Campus students).
But please, the University should give students more timely busses and yummy, affordable food. It would do it if I played football, right?
Tabitha Treber
School of Music
To the Daily:
Sitting in Angell Hall at 1:04 a.m., seven hours before my CRISP date, I think I will take this much-needed opportunity to voice my opinion. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the University did not print course guides for the fall semester. I do not know what its argument is, but I will guess that it claims to be better for the environment. Really, well, I know many people who printed the entire course guide (sometimes more than once) and not only was just one side of the paper used, but the font was so big that it took many pages.
I bet the University also claims that it is more convenient for the students. Eeeh, wrong again: I couldn't bring the course guide with me to look at during breaks, I couldn't look at it on the plane coming back to school, and I couldn't sit on my floor as I have done every other semester with the guide and the time schedule and work out my class schedule.
Further, I bet the University claims that the online courseguide is faster and can be updated sooner. No, not unless I sit in a computer lab instead of my room. My modem doesn't produce the speed I need to sit and click back and forth between classes, and I can't sit at a computer all day, I have other silly things to do such as studying and working. As for the updates: Great, tell me when to care, I have checked the guide six times, and it has been the same every time.
Lastly, I bet the administration claims it saves students money. Why and how? Tuition is going up, and the University has the nerve to tell me I am over my free-print quota (printing the courseguide, of course), and it is now charging me eight cents per page. But then again, my out of state tuition must go to something, right?
Stacey Gish
LSA sophomore
To the Daily:
I wish to express my wholehearted agreement with the April 14 editorial concerning the need to expand the use of Advanced Placement courses ("Head of the Class"). I was pleased and surprised to see the Daily take an interest in the unavailability of AP courses for many high-school students.
The benefits of taking AP courses at the high-school level cannot be denied, yet these benefits are being denied to many college-bound students due to a lack of available funds in their respective school districts. Thus, those students from more economically disadvantaged areas are unable to utilize this form of college preparation.
The results of this inequity in resources are not fully realized until students are enrolled in institutions of higher education. It is then that the true discrepancy in educational attainment between students in lower- and upper-class districts can be understood.
The transition from high school to college-level education in terms of academics and social activity can be unsettling, not to mention shocking, for many students. Those students who had the advantage of taking AP courses in high school are able to make the academic transition to a college setting much easier. Not only have they already been exposed to more rigorous course loads, they sometimes are able to embark on their college education with a handful of credits to put toward their degrees. The result is that students from wealthier school districts have a head start in their pursuit of higher education.
As a high school graduate from an extremely economically disadvantaged school district, I suffered much academic strain adjusting to the University's rigorous academics. As many of my peers around me drew upon their already substantial educational basis, I found myself struggling to catch up to their level. This phenomenon should not be happening to incoming college students.
The U.S. government should be allocating money to more economically disadvantaged districts to allow these students every available advantage in order to compete in our increasingly intellectual and technical society. An individual's ability to compete in this sort of society is based largely on the quality of his or her educational experience.
Michele Bourrie
LSA sophomore
04-17-98
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