COLUMN: Classes that make sense

From Todd Wise's, "Where Lovely Mermaids Flow," Fall '99 From Todd Wise's, "Where Lovely Mermaids Flow," Fall '99I preregistered for seven classes for the spring semester. I got into three. Now, if I'm a baseball player, I'm psyched about a .429 average -- three hits in seven at bats gets you into the Hall of Fame. But I'm not a baseball player. I'm a student haunted by words like "Access Denied" and "Restricted Enrollment."From Todd Wise's, "Where Lovely Mermaids Flow," Fall '99I preregistered for seven classes for the spring semester. I got into three. Now, if I'm a baseball player, I'm psyched about a .429 average -- three hits in seven at bats gets you into the Hall of Fame. But I'm not a baseball player. I'm a student haunted by words like "Access Denied" and "Restricted Enrollment." The fact that I was denied more than half of my course requests for next semester highlights one of Penn's glaring weaknesses -- a dearth of interesting smaller classes that students can use to fulfill their academic requirements. And sure enough, when I took a small class my freshman year to fill my Living World requirement, I found this to be the case. The professor took an avid interest in my progress and was concerned with the quality of my work. By the end of the class, I gained a new appreciation for a subject I had previously known nothing about. Unfortunately, I've usually been forced to take larger, more generic courses to fulfill my requirements. I've found large Math and Physics lectures to be the cure for insomnia. In most cases, I had already learned the material in high school. I didn't like it then. And I don't like it now. I just figured that this was the way it was supposed to be. But what if students were in fact able to take small, interesting classes? For one thing, the course guide would be more useful and less deceptive -- you see a class you like, you register for it and two weeks later, you're enrolled. At present, it sometimes seems like all of the truly interesting classes are reserved for majors. I don't understand why that should be. If a student wants to challenge himself, why not let him? In the end, interest will breed involvement. I'm not expecting things to change any time soon. Fortunately for me, after next semester, I'm finished with my general requirement. This should be the last semester I'll only hit .429.