Phase II registration

Editorial: Returning final work

During the semester, most students can expect to receive thoughtful and frequent feedback from professors on their coursework. However, as students prepare to turn in the most substantial assignments of the semester, many of them know that they will never see that work again.

Editorial: The Amethyst Initiative

Since it was drafted in July, more than 120 college and university presidents have signed the Amethyst Initiative, a statement that calls for a public discussion about the 21-year-old drinking age. College presidents who have signed the statement are not asking for a specific change in policy; instead, they hope to stimulate "an informed and dispassionate debate over the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age." The signatories represent schools ranging from Ohio State University to Hamilton College?but Bowdoin is absent from the list.

Editorial

This piece represents the opinion of The Bowdoin Orient editorial board.

May 2, 2008

For students already wounded by not getting into their top-choice classes, yesterday?s Phase II registration served them a healthy portion of salt. The inefficiencies of Phase II registration become immediately evident upon taking one?s place at the back of the line snaking through Moulton Union beginning at sunrise. With only a few beleaguered employees to assist the masses of students with finding new courses, students often find themselves spending more than an hour in line to complete a process that ought to take no more than a few minutes. For other students who are unable to complete Phase II in the morning because of class schedules, the situation is even bleaker?course selection possibilities are significantly decreased by lunchtime.

While we look forward to the College?s implementation of the new online course registration system, these much anticipated improvements to the Phase I registration process will not fix the current problems with Phase II. There are a number of ways to make Phase II less stressful for students, some of which are more complicated and costly than others. However, a simple and effective approach would be to hire more staff for the overflow so characteristic of Phase II. By increasing the rate at which students can be helped in a timely manner, the College will decrease the number who go home disappointed.

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