Tuesday, October 27, 1998
Thumbs up,Thumbs down
Alleviate the confusion of transferring
Thumbs up to the UC Board of Regents for allotting $18.5 million
to community college outreach.
This comes as an attempt to simplify the process for students
attempting to transfer into the UC system.
Over 10,000 students transfer from community colleges annually,
but many are often confused about which units are transferrable to
CSU and UC campuses.
The funding from the regents will work to alleviate the
confusion of transferrable classes, or articulation.
The move is long overdue.
By easing the transfer process for the thousands of students who
enter the UC every year, the regents are addressing student needs,
making higher education more accessible and encouraging students to
pursue four-year degrees.
E-mail voting increases turnout
Thumbs up to the University of Chicago student government for
successfully conducting student elections using the e-mail
system.
The electronic ballots helped increase voter turnout as well as
decreased the potential for voter fraud.
This past spring, our own Graduate Students Association held
e-mail elections, providing a further opportunity for people to
vote.
These are positive attempts that can only boost voter turnout
and get more students involved in electing their student leaders
and representatives.
Adult status should come at age 18
Thumbs down to the clause in the recently passed Higher
Education Act that will give universities the right to notify
parents of a student’s alcohol and drug violations. The previous
law prohibited universities from disclosing information about
students 18 and older. This clause in the act illustrates the
ambiguity present between being considered an adult at 18 and still
being tried for drinking before age 21.
The national drinking age law prevents 18-year-olds from truly
enjoying full "adult status." The universities should treat
students as adults with full rights to their privacy.
Eighteen-year-olds can vote, buy tobacco products, be tried as
adults and die for their country, but they can’t buy liquor. A bit
odd? We believe so.
Prisoners have rights as well
Thumbs up to the revised Department of Corrections policy which
now restricts the use of deadly force as a means to break up
non-lethal inmate fights. California is the only state which
allowed guards to fire assault rifles to break up inmate melees; in
the past four years, 12 prisoners have been shot to death. In all
other states combined, only six inmates were killed for trying to
escape during the same time period. The civil liberties of humans
should be protected even when they are incarcerated.
Thumbs up/Thumbs down represents the majority opinion of the
Daily Bruin Editorial Board. Send comments and suggestions to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]