Campus Safety for Students

Ajit Vakharia

One of the main concerns a parent may have when their child goes to college is security and if their child will be safe walking around campus no matter what time of the day. The truth is every college finds it hard to give a hundred percent security for all its students but a lot of precautions are being taken place. After the dreadful shootings at Virginia Tech in the early months of 2007, the media has put a new emphasis on college safety and security. Many colleges have put new systems in place since to provide safety and security to all of their students. Even though a lot of measures have put in to place since the shootings, not enough is being done; students are still being robbed and mugged. Through a more improvised system, security can be granted to all students. A lot of city campuses do not have a distinct border and are more intertwined within the city. This makes it tough to provide security given that anyone is able to walk onto the “campus,” but if new rules and regulation such as monitoring what type of people walk around these city campuses and only students with special keys are allowed to enter buildings, colleges are given the chance to become safer places to help students grow and become into the people they hope to without having to worry about getting hurt. Another way for city campuses to become safer is to make campuses more enclosed in the city by making walls and making walkways for pedestrians only, prohibiting vehicles from being driven on campus. This way no unidentified automobile can come onto campus without being known of by the police or whoever may be looking after the institute. Colleges can only do so much to provide safety to students. Students can also do their part to make everyone around them and themselves safer such as: if walking at night time, make sure to walk with a group of people, and never carry around a lot of money in a flashy way, and not look vulnerable to criminals by looking scared or meek.

Diversity as a Part of College Communities

Jinhyun Kim

Many colleges in the United States have large campuses that form each community within them with a lot of different people including international students from all over the world. Diversity has become a big part of these communities. Therefore, colleges are trying several methods to help students that are from other countries in their adaptation to American culture and college communities.

According to the article "Orientation for Whites" by Scott Jaschik in Inside Higher Ed, many colleges started to make international students to attend a mandatory orientation for them prior to the orientation for all the students. The article also presents the two sides of opinions about this program by colleges. People who are in favor of this program suggest that this is a very good way to help foreign students feel comfortable in American colleges because it is making those students to meet many other people around the campus in advance. Also students can talk and share about differences in cultures. People who are against this idea claim that this additional orientation for international students will make them already separated from American students since the orientation is for international students, specifically and difficult to get along with each others.

In addition, colleges tend to focus mostly on international undergraduate students, especially on international undergraduate freshmen, by additional orientation in effort of promoting diversity. However, college communities consist of a large amount of people, and also there are many transfer students and graduate students that from other countries. If they are new to this culture, just like international freshmen students, they will appreciate the opportunities to accommodate better in new culture. For these people, colleges can have more and various events that can make diversity become a bigger part of campus communities.

I think colleges in the United States have a great advantage over the colleges in other countries. Not to mention the huge program of foreign exchange students, there is a lot of people from all over the world, and many of them are already everywhere in society of the United States. Colleges should be aware of this, and if make diversity as a bigger part of the community, they will receive numerous benefits for everyone sooner or later.

Sleeping in College

Subin Lee

College is one of the worst places to get a good night sleep. First of all, most new freshmen will not be used to the dorm they move in. Unlike their cozy homes, dorms are cramped, rickety, and noisy. It is quite hard for students to adjust easily into their tight quarters. First year of college is a whole new experience for freshmen, and they won’t just stay put in their rooms quietly. Though not all students will be partying crazy, the students that do party crazy all night long will create a significant amount of noise in the hallways, which would disrupt sleeping students.

Or, you might be one of the partiers. Noise is not the only factor that disrupts sleep for most students. College has numerous parties that students can join and bang up their night. Alcohol and drugs come together with parties, which might cause sleeping disorder.

The concept of freedom, where no one cares what you do, is college. When living at home, students probably had to sleep early, in order to go to school. Nevertheless, in college, it is not required for students to go to their classes; or even if they do, students have a choice no to, because it is not as strictly enforced as previous high school and middle school. Instead of going to their morning classes, many students have the choice of sleeping in, or just not go to class due to their laziness. Missing classes and sleeping in can then develop into a habit, which can also be another cause for sleeping disorder.

Another big issue that leads to sleeping disorder is procrastination, which many students develop in college. Procrastination is a killer in college, especially when there is a big homework due or an exam the next day. There said, college is a sleep killer for most students.

The Trip of a Semester: The Disadvantages to Studying Abroad

Cherish Weiler

According to the Institute of International Education, the number of U.S. college students studying abroad has increased nearly 8% in the last year. With so many students choosing to study abroad, the idea may seem appealing and perhaps beneficial for anyone interested in the idea. Oftentimes, faculty and friends praise the chance to live and study in a foreign country, noting personal experience or relating the experiences of fellow travelers. However, the decision to study abroad carries disadvantages that should be taken into consideration by prospective participants.

A study published in Open Doors 2008 by the Institute of International Education reported an increase of 150% in the number of U.S. students choosing to study abroad over the last decade. Students expect colleges and universities to have study abroad programs and oftentimes the absence of such programs weigh heavily on a students decision to attend a particular college. Colleges view study abroad programs as a mark of prestige and rank among other universities and usually community colleges rarely offer a multitude of study abroad opportunities. Colleges that do incorporate study abroad programs typically offer as many options as their resources and funds allow. The decision to study abroad may initially seem overwhelming; many times, faculty or advisers inform students of the benefits of studying abroad but fail to mention the disadvantages. For many students, traveling to a new country comes as a culture shock. Living and studying in a foreign country away from home, family, and friends can carry a heavy psychological toll if students are not able to cope with the change. Additionally, a student’s academic track may be affected due to the limited number and type of classes available in foreign countries or whether or not a semester away from their college affects their graduation date. A student may also discover they do not want to study the culture or language they are surrounded by; this unfortunate discovery would come after a student already paid for the study abroad program. The decision to travel abroad and study in a foreign country is a personal one; students must weigh the cons in addition to the pros and ultimately make the decision best for them.

Academic Freedom

Cheating: Is the Punishment Worth the Risk?

Cessie Ryder

The temptation to cheat in college is a big issue that many students face. They have to decide whether to give in to the temptation or stand strong and deny it. The course work in college is very difficult and involves a lot of time input and hard work. Most students enter college willing to put in this time and effort, but after a while many can become burned out on their studies or just get lazy and that is when cheating can look very tempting. Cheating is an easy, immoral way out of getting something done and students usually tend to cheat when they have procrastinated and are in a rush to finish something. Most people do not consider the full consequences of their actions when they cheat and do not take the time to think about if the effects and potential punishment is worth the risk.

Many colleges are extremely strict on their cheating rules and usually enforce a “no tolerance” policy. A lot of schools are working towards lowering the amount of cheating that goes on by enforcing honor codes and creating standards committees. Internet sites like turnitin.com that require students to upload their papers onto this website that then searches the entire Internet for anything that is plagiarized are also being utilized to catch cheating. Hopefully, through strict policies and special committees, colleges will be able to motivate their students to do their own work and reduce the amount of cheating.

Athletic Scholarships in College

Ajit Vakharia

According to Mike Knobler of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, athletes in college do not nearly have the academic credential their non athletic counterparts do. For example, the average SAT score difference between athletes and non athletes at the University of Florida is three hundred and forty-six points, the highest in the fifty-three schools polled. This raises the question about fairness. Is it fair that athletes with substandard credentials be accepted into colleges with higher requirements? The answer is no, and not because of their credentials but because of the scholarship money. According to a concerned citizen, their scholarship at a fairly expensive university is twenty-one thousand dollars while athletes with less than remarkable school statistics have a full ride scholarship. There are many students all around the country where their potential scholarship money is actually going to athletes, so the school has a better chance of recruiting. Though a school could potentially be making more money by having better recruitments and in turn having a better athletic program for different sports, the scholarship money that could go to more deserving students is being lost. In times of financial turmoil, student families need scholarships more than ever, and if schools are using their scholarship funds on athletics, a lot of students are missing out on getting the best education possible. One way for colleges to fix this problem is to only budget a certain amount of money to athletic scholarships, and only give out scholarships to those students who meet all the schools requirements and leave the rest of the money for students in need. If all colleges become stricter on requirements for their athletes, the playing field for all the teams would then be leveled leading to no unfair advantage between teams in the same division and conference.