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COMMENTARY Thursday, April 12, 2001 - Page 7 nline registration: a process WMC needs and deserves. Meeting with advisors. Talking Assignment of appointments- There will be a registration pe- to professors. Reviewing course Registration times arc supposedly riod of one week. Each student will back a forth to and from the fo- rum during registration week. The descriptions. Double-checking re- determined by a student's earned- be assigned a time, much like the offices staff will have less overall quirements fulfilled. What do credits. In the same manner, every current system, according to the work to do during that week. these actions all have in common? student is assigned a time that docs number of credits he/she has This new process will be al~ They all signify that registra- not conflict with a class. Achiev- earned, tion time is just around the cor- ing both of these goals is impos- II will not be necessary to work low students to know their wait- list-position immediately upon ner. While some might be look- sible. around class conflict when assign- registering for a course. Register- ing forward to registering for What happens when a student's ing these times because the time ing will be quick and convenient. courses, perhaps others are dread- earned-credits causes his/her as- actually spent registering will be Students will nor have to stand in ing the whole registration process. signed time to fall during class? Is much shorter. I feci that it should long lines. They will be able to Why? Unfortunately, there are that student moved to a later time be left to the student's discretion register at a time that is based numerous disadvantages and in-' once his/her class is over, with the BJ Shorb whether or not 10 leave class for a solely on earned-credits. conveniences with the current reg- possibility that another student few minutes to register. The times WMC the schools, will join istration process. with less earned-credits will regis- closed course. In practice, however, will be spaced every 15 minutes like Penn State, Montgomery Col- Students comes to WMC. a ter first? the way that Wait-lists are used at throughout each day. A student may lege, and the University of Mary- private liberal arts college. expect- Or. is that student moved up to this time is not ideal. register online anytime on or after land, who currently have online ing to be able to get into the an earlier time before his/her class Upon being wait-listed, it Is cru- that appointed time. for their students. courses of their choice to fulfill begins, with the possibility that hel cial for the student to know whether What are the COSI1l? The initial registration importantly, WMC will Most their graduation requirements. she will register before other stu- he/she is first, third, or sixteenth on set up of the websites will be the These are not minimal require- dents who have earned more cred- the list. Ask any student; there is a largest portion of the costs. meet current as well as prospec- ~ ments I am talking about. When a its? very big difference! Unfortunately, Once the initial websltes are set tive students' expectations with process. the registration student has double/dual majors Long Lines- Although the 15- that information is not available to up, someone will be responsible for Given the various problems and/or double minors, it is essen- minute are 'divided evenly,' there the student in the current registra- maintaining the system. That will and disadvantages associated with tial to take certain course at cer- exist times when the forum is much tion process. include updating students and the current registration process, tain times. more crowded than others. After I would like to propose H new courses before registration week the costs do not even compare to At WMC, they would expect performing a survey, I found that registration process that will elimi- each semester. So, maintenance the enormous to have much fewer dilemmas the average longest wait is 38 min- nate the problems explained above. should be the only cost after the registration. benefits of online than had they chosen to attend a utes, and the average wait is 20 What Iam proposing is online reg- initiation of the process. Like Isaid, everyone benefits: larger public college. minutes. It could be worse, but it istration. How would this new pro- Online registration benefits a staff, faculty, and lastly the stu- The current process fails to could also be better. cess work? wide range of people. The dents who keep the college suc- meet that expectation by falling Wait-lists- In theory, the idea Whether a student is at school, registrar's office will not be wast- cessful and prosperous. short in three main areas: assign- of Wait-lists has much potential work, or home, he/she will be able ing as much paper. The office ment of appointments, long lines, Ideally, it would allow a student to would not have to close-down and -BJ Shorb is a junior communi- and wait-lists. . cation maier, On environmental-friendly policy, Bush strikes out Matt McGowan discusses names of over I million Americans in California, Bush's concerns are emissions into the waterways on Bush is ignoring the environ- President Bush's recent who said yes. Business vs. the understandable. "which we depend for drinking wa- mental ramifications of his ardent environmental policy. people. However, he is sacrificing long- ter. support of Big Business, and he is Clinton chose. the people, and term environmental stability for He cut a testing program which Shortly after President George when Bush postponed the protec- short-term energy relief. The oil he focuses on protecting from salmo- doing so at the expense of those W. Bush took office, he stayed an tions, he negated over a year of ef- expects to be able to drill from the nella beef which is served in the Americans who want clean drink- executive order issued late in the fort by his predecessor's adminis- tracts of Rocky Mountain land nation's schools. This reversal of a ing water. who want coastlines un- Clinton administration which tration, as well as the wishes of which the Clinton plan would have Clinton policy took by surprise marred by offshore drilling, and would have protected almost 60 those million+ who supported Si- set aside will supply us for less than Bush's Agriculture Secretary, Ann who want to enjoy the roadtess for- million acres of our National For- erra with names and funds. a year. E}.tracting the oil available M. Veneman, who learned of the ests which were set aside for their enjoyment. ests from deforestation by the log- He postponed the biggest pres- from the Arctic Wildlife Refuge backtracking not from her boss, but ging and mining industries. ervation effort we've had since would mean the end of that facil- from the press and consumer ad- Bush has failed, thus far, to lake That policy, which would have President Theodore Roosevelt cre- ity. vocacy groups. into consideration the problems in ignoring the environ- taken effect a few weeks ago, was, ated the National Park/Forest Sys- Bush has said, "We will not do On the campaign trail, Bush inherent and 'his EPA has remained ment, from the beginning, ambitious and tem - the chance to preserve a full anything thai harms our economy." promised to cut carbon dioxide virtually silent. well-intended. The Logging and 1/3 of our tax-bought National For- So he has cut back on many envi- emissions. But now, he has not only The president needs to wake up Mining Industries, which last year ests- as failed to to the importance of environmen- poured a combined total of over reduce the 250 million dollars' into political ~~~~~esssSe;~I~ B~sh is ignoring the environmental ramifications amount of tally-friendly policy. There needs campaigns, had their lobbyists start ::~~::~ido~;of his ardent support of Big Business ... at the the harm- to be balance. The answer to en- barking at the White House. ful gas in ergy problems is conservation, not Grass roots organizations also hence.0" ef- expense of those Americans who want clean our atmo- exploitation of resources better left took notice, among them the Sierra :~~t'i~:~e~e~: drinking water. .. coastlines unmarred by offshore sphere, he alone. The answer (0 a sagging Club, whose fundamental mission has de- economy is not destruction of our is to preserve the national preserves the Interest of drilling, and ... the roadless forests which were clared tbat air, land and water; a saturated - parks and forests - first created he willre- market is helped only little and about a hundred years ago. Bi\~~Stin~:~ set aside for their enjoyment. nege on temporarily by cheaper, less regu- Classic tale: Big Business vs. just strike one. the United the common folk ..And this is what Now, Bush is beginning to reveal ronmental pol ides enacted by States' agreement to the 1997 lated resources. Bush has sworn Unfortunately, it was, as Logging and Mining in- why he undid Clinton's progress. Clinton's administration which Kyoto Global Warming Treaty, terests poured money into the Reuters News service reported tightened policies regarding pollu- which called for reduced emis- allegiance to Big Business from the beginning, and his .environmental beltway, and the Sierra Club beat on Friday that he has also decided lion, and further opened publicly- sions. inadequacy is no major surprise. the street. to open US-held areas in the Gulf held land to deforestation and road Arsenic in the water, bad beef He has good intentions. It became clear early on that of Mexico for offshore oil drilling, building in the interest of Industry. in our schools, and exorbitant But President Bush needs to be Clinton would sign something, but despite vehement opposition from Our land, set aside for our enjoy- amounts of carbon dioxide in our less shortsighted on policies which the question remained concerning his own brother, Governor Jeb ment by the generations before us, air point to one final sacrifice. Bush help business at the expense of the how much land he would protect, Bush of Florida, who is supported is being sacrificed. is sacrificing our health to (he Big environment which so many and specifically whether he would by the vast majority of his state's That was strike two. Next come Businesses that helped elect him set aside the Tongass in Alaska - denizens. President Bush is also the details of the protections he's and the precious economy which Americans have fought so hard for North America's last remaining looking at the Arctic National repealing. they want to preserve. so long to protect. unprotected virgin deciduous Wildlife Refuge, as well as por- Aside from his business- Strike three.Clinton worked for -Matt McGowan is a freshman rainforest. tions of the Tongass. friendly policy in the National For- eight years to develop a sound eco- undecided major. Industry, backed by millions of Bush wants to stabilize Ameri- ests, he recently repealed Clinton- nomic policy, and his administra- dollars in political support, said no. can Energy options, and make the era regulations concerning the ac- tion managed to do that at the same Sierra_and other Environmental country less depended on imported ceptable level of arsenic in our time as it gave us the best economy Editor's note: The writer is cur- organizations, on August I, deliv- energy sources, specifically oil. water. This will save big business in decades (and despite some set- rently planning an on-campus En- ered to the Forest Service the Especially given the energy crisis money, as they can loosen their backs, we still have that). vironmental Action group, and urges any interested students or fac-