Come to Class!!--Or Not?

College Attendance: Should colleges become stricter?

In college today, when speaking of attendance, it is all in the
decision of the student. This is obviously not like high school to
where you must go to class or else you will receive a cut. In college
rather they student must make the decision to attend class and this is
in order to receive an education. But experiencing college thus far, I
have noticed that not all teachers have made attendance mandatory.
Some of my own teachers do not even take attendance therefore given
the opportunity for students to be regularly absent. While most
teachers therefore believe it is the student’s choice to come to
class. So the real question is should all professors make attendance
mandatory rather than students come and go as they please? This may be
going back to the days of high school but this is an educational
institution and their goal is to further our education. College
though is supposed to be about being more independent and making your
own decisions. So how strict or attentive
should college be about students’ attendance or do you like the way it
is?

-- Mach

Sex Problems--Got Your Attention, Didn't It?

Is our sex education system failing us? If anyone attended The J Spot seminar in the Mountainlair, you know a little bit about what I'm talking about. The US has extremely high statistics concerning teen pregnancy, STDs and rape, yet has the most conservative sex education plan of most developed countries. At the seminar, we were shown an educational tape that is used to educate middle school students about sex and STD protection in the European countries, only to learn that the same tape is banned in all high schools in America. Do you think that if our sex education programs were more open and positive about sex, that our unhealthy statistics would decrease? Or do you think that speaking openly and positively about sex would only make matters worse?

-- Scarnato

Which 'Neer Gets It?

Steve Slaton and Pat White are both very eligiable to win the Heisman Trophy this season. Who has a better shot of winning this trophy and why?

- Seigrist

Whoops, He Did It Again--sort of...

What do you think about OJ Simpson's situation? I cannot believe that he is being tried for crimes that could result in a life sentence, after the whole murder trial a few years ago. I dont see how anyone could even consider committing another crime in OJ's situation. Do you think he will be able to get off of this one or receive life?

-- Malcomb

How Far Should Free Speech Go?

I really liked this article [Bowling Alone]. It was alot easier for me to understand than the Freire article. The one thing that bothered me about it though was the part about the KKK. They said they want to be a part of the community. I don't know about anyone else but I don't really want to see the KKK cleaning a highway. These people perform hate crimes against other races, why should they be allowed to do this. I feel very strongly about this and I want to hear everyone elses opinion about it.



--Mathess

Dorms or Home?

I don't think many others have the same experience as me, but I'm hoping everybody will know what I am talking about, and possibly want to add your imput on the dorms... Yesterday, I was talking to somebody about how my college experience has been so far and we got onto the subject of the dorms. I'm from Morgantown, so I live about 5 minutes driving, 20 minutes walking, from downtown campus. So, many people over the last few months have asked why I am living in the dorm. My answer, simply, is that if I lived at home, college would be like high school all over again. I'm a very social person, so my favorite part about Stalnaker is meeting new people. I like to leave my door open and talk to anybody who walks by (if they want to stop and chat). There is no way that I would meet so many people if I was living at home. And of course you've all heard about how most of what we learn in college won't come from classes; I think that living in the dorm is part of that non-class experience that college students should have. Sure we'd rather have home-cooked food, but is it really that bad that you'd rather be at home with your parents? College is about learning to do things on your own and I think that the dorm experience is great for doing just that.

-- Li

If You Were President...

Now that we have all been college students here at West Virginia University for one month you have learned a lot about college life and our college campus itself. Is there anything you would change about our school after spending a month here? For example, your schedule, the campus layout, increasing the student body, or decreasing the student body. Basically, if you were President Garrison and you could do anything to our school, what would you do and why?-

-- Hunter Timko