Dear Editor,
One of the principles emphasized by the ULV Honors Program is the development of critical thinking, not to be confused with unsubstantiated criticism. It appears that the author(s) of your Nov. 15 editorial [“Honors Program needs revision”] are unaware of this distinction. It would be enlightening to find out exactly who these “many” students are who have allegedly left the Honors Program because of their “dissatisfaction with the unorganized implementation of the program itself.” Enrollment in the Honors Program has remained constant at 55 for the past several years, and this May we anticipate graduating at least 10 students with full distinctions, the greatest number of Honors graduates since the Program was inaugurated.
Particularly disturbing is the statement that “many students [how many? But then again, why bother with hard data?] say that classes are a waste of time because they are irrelevant to many majors.” What appears to be irrelevant to one’s major today may well prove in the long run to be most valuable to the quality of one’s adult life.
Those students who feel that open intellectual inquiry in a number of areas interferes with their progress toward graduation are probably not ideal candidates for the Honors Program and should not feel constrained to remain in it. There is, however, documented evidence that the majority of students who choose to remain with the Honors
Program do so because they find it stimulating and beneficial. Those who feel otherwise are invited to raise their concerns with me or with any other Honors Committee member, and we’ll be happy to listen. I urge you to come forward, discarding the anonymity that an editorial provides, and let us hear from you. Dialogue is a more mature approach than diatribe.
Dr. Andrea Labinger
Professor of Spanish
Honors Progam Director
Dear Editor,
I am in great sympathy with Christie Reed’s problem with waiting in long lines to register for the spring semester [“Registration process muddled,” Nov. 15]. Every student who attends an academic institution must put up with some inconveniences when “crunch time” comes and the students are all trying to register at the same time.
Although I have no connection with the Registrar’s Office, I would like to offer the following for consideration:
1. The University has tried to alleviate some of the problems by staggering registration, and they allow registration for both January and Spring courses at the same time.
2. Would Christie stand in line for an hour to see a concert that she really wanted to attend? I would hope that her investment in her education makes the registration process an hour worth spending.
3. The University of La Verne is doing everything it can to hold down costs. An automated registration procedure, while a goal for the future, is a very costly investment. As such, ULV is weighing the costs of adding such as system against the added costs the students would incur.
4. My understanding is that many students come to the Registrar’s Office first thing in the morning, making that a very crowded time. If students would stagger themselves during this process, perhaps the lines would not be so long.
I appreciate Christie’s frustration with what she sees as a waste of her time. However, education and all the attendant paperwork that encompasses it is still a very small investment for the lifetime of learning for which it prepares our students.
Janis Dietz
Assistant Professor of
Business Administration
Andrea Labinger
