OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Split Term Benefits

The decision of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee not to hold split summer sessions is a travesty, since shorter terms could serve campus in many ways.

Flexibility would be the benefit of a split session. Athletes could take courses and intern over the summer. Students and faculty could have class and still take vacation time. The monotony of a usual semester could be broken up with more fun, liberal arts classes. A short, intensive term could allow a student to focus on one or two subjects of interest. A student could benefit from a more challenging and academically-intensive class held here, instead of going to a community college for a quick course and then transferring the credit.

The perception that split sessions would be viewed as lowering Georgia Tech's standards is unfounded, since other nationally-recognized, high-caliber universities have split or shortened terms for students to pursue independent studies or take compressed classes.

Proposals for a split session have been on the table for months, and the final decision against them was selfishly motivated, based on an unwillingness to plan for shorter classes. The decision should be reconsidered, since it is in the students' best interests to hold a split summer session.

Overdue Parking Pains

The Parking Office needs to be careful in its attempts to collect on past due fines.

Some of these tickets were issued over 18 months ago, when enforcement was lax. Since there was no disincentive to park illegally, it was common practice on campus. Even though it was wrong of students to park illegally, even without enforcement, some have accumulated large fines from events that took place a long time ago.

Even worse is that the people targeted by this enforcement action will be students with valid permits, because they are easier to track. The Parking Office's focus should be to protect paid permit holders, instead of targeting them in this manner.

If the Parking Office chooses to collect these fines, it should make allowances for students who can not afford to pay the potentially large bills. Also, an efficient system should be in place for paying fines immediately. With such old records, mistakes will be inevitable, and the appeals process should be streamlined to prevent needless hassles.

The Parking Office needs to seriously examine its current policies and its customer service issues before the enforcement of old fines begins.

Graduation Planning Begins

The Student Regulations Committee will meet this Tuesday to discuss how to hold a meaningful graduation ceremony since seniors must now take finals during finals week. This is surprising, since the committee denied that they had any authority over graduation ceremonies during the deliberations concerning senior finals.

Although the committee has proven unwilling in the past to address student concerns regarding senior finals, hopefully, they will listen to the students during these discussions. Anyone interested in the proceedings is encouraged to attend the meeting and let their opinions be known. If you have any questions or concerns, e-mail the committee chair, Professor Paul Benkeser at paul.benkeser@ee.gatech.edu.

Consensus editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of The Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.