Comm 226 off the air, live in spacious DRL

All 270 students in Annenberg Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson's Communications 226 class will get the chance to see her in the flesh starting Tuesday, when she holds class in a David Rittenhouse Laboratories classroom large enough to hold everyone. Jamieson originally planned to lecture to a portion of the political communication class, which was oversubscribed by 100 people, in Annenberg 110 as the rest watched a closed-circuit television broadcast of their professor. University Registrar Ronald Sanders said the room change was officially processed Wednesday afternoon after Provost Michael Aiken requested that all of the class's students be fit in one room. Sanders said that Jamieson originally did not think that DRL had the necessary equipment, but added that she told him the rest of the equipment would be brought from Annenberg. He added that the move was routine and that similar acts are taken by the registrar's office throughout the year when classes are oversubscribed. "This was the right thing to do and she agreed . . . so we went ahead with the move," Sanders said. "This happens all the time with large classes, and we just have to find a home for them. This is not a big issue." Jamieson said she had decided to teach class in the two Annenberg classrooms because they were equipped with the extensive audio-visual equipment she uses in her class and it would not disturb any other courses. "We did not want to disrupt another class in DRL and I had thought that the large Annenberg room would be sufficient and a move would not be necessary," Jamieson said. "Usually, people take a look at my syllabus and 20 percent decide to drop the class, but this time only three people dropped after Tuesday." Jamieson said the move to DRL was her "back-up plan." "[The move] is disruptive," Jamieson said. "There are classes on both sides and while you will still be able to hear, the DRL room doesn't have the acoustic capacity of our [Annenberg] large classroom." Jamieson said students in the large Annenberg classroom seemed upset yesterday after she announced the change. But College sophomore Stephanie Ghertner, who said she has lined up half an hour before class in order to get a seat in the larger Annenberg room, said she thought the move was a good idea. "I think that the whole idea of the size of the class is absurd," she said. "There is absolutely no reason for the class to be divided in two. It is a good move to DRL, but [the class] won't be the same as in years past. Still, it is better than seeing it on television because she is a fabulous speaker and you lose that on TV." Ghertner added that she did not understand why the class had become so much larger than in previous years and added that she thought Jamieson should have restricted its enrollment to sophomores and older students. Jamieson said that she is concerned about the new room's audio-visual capabilities and how the class might be affected by the move. "We certainly wouldn't go through the kind of trouble we have been going through if we didn't think it was worth it for the students," she said. "Still, the audio-visual equipment which we will have to bring over from Annenberg is cumbersome for the TA's to set up and take down and the seating is certainly tighter than in Annenberg."