Jamieson's Comm 226

They've seen her on "Nightline" and the "Tonight Show," but most students enrolled in Annenberg Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson's Communications 226 probably never expected to watch her class on television. When students arrive at Annenberg 110 for Jamieson's first lecture this afternoon, approximately 80 of them will be directed to a closed circuit TV set in another room. "I like to teach the class at 120 [students], but we had over 270 who wanted to get in and I didn't think it was fair to cut people out arbitrarily," Jamieson said yesterday. "One hundred and ninety students will get into the large classroom; the rest will have to watch on television from the other room. If that makes them uncomfortable, they can drop." The class was originally scheduled for room 102 in the Chemistry Building. That room would have held the whole class, but it was changed to one which could accomodate the audio-visual materials Jamieson uses to teach her class, she said. Registrar Ronald Sanders said that communications classes often require the use of A/V equipment found in the Annenberg classrooms. Jamieson said she thinks that the unusually high enrollment in the class is due to its having been advertised in a brochure produced by the School of Arts and Sciences' Dean's Advisory Board. Jamieson said she was not consulted about the advertisement. "No one has ever made an announcement that this was a class recommended for Arts and Sciences students before," she said. "In fact, in the past it has primarily been an Annenberg class and people know that Annenberg classes are hard to get into." Jamieson added that because of the advertisement she did not feel it was fair to cut people from the class using an arbitrary, computer-based method. "It's not fair to say a senior should get in and a sophomore should not," she said. "We couldn't come up with a fair computer-based selection method, so we decided to let students decide whether they want to stay in the class or self-select out. Besides, I was in a good mood when the enrollment figures came in." Jamieson said that the decision not to cut anyone from the class was not made for financial reasons. "[The Annenberg School] has a capped undergraduate enrollment, so we get nothing for any additional students above that cap," she said. "The school is actually putting up resources without any financial return." Jamieson said that the Annenberg School has used closed circuit broadcasts in the past when popular speakers have lectured on campus and for the school's graduation ceremonies, but not for a regular class. "We're being creative," Jamieson said. "In fact, I'm rather proud of us." Jamieson added she does not think students should complain about the class structure. "Students are always complaining that they pay very high tuitions without getting the most well-known faculty on campus," she said. "With this system, everyone gets to take the class they wanted to and probably gets a better experience than in many standard lecture classes." Jamieson also said that teaching assistants will be in both rooms to assist students and that the 80 students in the small classroom may get a better view than those in the back of the larger room because the camera filming the lecture will be able to do close-ups. Students in the small classroom will be able to ask Jamieson questions via a two-way audio-visual link and see all of the class presentations just like those in the large room, Jamieson said. (CUT LINE) Please see JAMIESON, page 4 JAMIESON, from page 1