PARIS still distant for 1645 students

The number of students blocked from registering for classes due to their failure to comply with administrative requirements has been halved, due to the efforts of College of Arts and Sciences and Student Health officials. 1645 students are currently temporarily blocked from registering, down almost half from last week's 3000 students risking of exclusion from PARIS. The reduced number of ineligible students is largely due to active publicity campaigns and the threat of obstructed registration, officials said. But they added that they have clarified their policies, which now allow ineligible students to register for spring classes through PARIS Monday by merely speaking to advisors in the appropriate office. College Dean Norman Adler said a letter sent to juniors and seniors created the mistaken impression that they would have to complete the declaration of a major before they would be allowed to register. "I apologize for the letter," Adler said. "It may not have been warm enough. All we want is for students to come in and talk to somebody." 550 College juniors and seniors will be unable to register on PARIS because they have not yet declared a major, 95 students will be barred because they have not turned in their immunization history to Student Health, and 1000 will be barred because they do not have an approved insurance plan. Student Health has sent letters to students who were not signed up for an appropriate insurance plan, but Student Health Director MarJeanne Collins said many students did not realize that their plans from last year would not automatically apply this year. "It might be that someone for whatever reason did not get the mailing," she said. "We have tried to work with the individual departments. They are usually the ones that can best reach their students." The insurance problem was intensified by the University's rejection of an insurance plan for which many foreign students had registered. The plan was deemed unacceptable because it did not offer coverage equivalent to the University's insurance plan. As a result, some foreign students were told this fall that they had to sign up for a $930 plan instead of a $360 plan, a cost which many had not anticipated. Some students did respond to administrators' prompting. Immunization coordinator Vernell Edwards said the number of students who had not turned in their forms dropped from 200 to 95 in response to a letter students received the same day an article ran in The Daily Pennsylvanian. "I was overwhelmed for three consecutive days with phone calls and students coming in and dropping off their forms," Edwards said. And Collins said the Student Health office hired three extra staff members to help students who she expects to respond during the pre-registration period. "The problem is there are a thousand people out there, and we won't be able to deal with them all on the last day," she said.

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