A Hint for UT Students
Don't attend college if you can't make time to attend class
by Courtney Robertson

Recently, Larry Faulkner, the new president of the University of Texas at Austin, stated that he would like to find a way to move students through the university more quickly and more efficiently. As a student, I would like to suggest a way to do just that -- make class attendance mandatory.

This week marks the end of my first year at UT. Looking back at this year, I am amazed at how much I have learned about myself and the world around me through wondering, questioning, reading, making mistakes, and, most of all, through attending class. It disturbs me to think of how many students cannot say the same.

Each day that I sit in my Math class, I am reminded of how common absences are at UT. When homework is due, I watch student after student enter the auditorium, drop off his or her homework, and leave. When homework is not due, most students do not even bother to show up, and one-fourth of the class sits scattered throughout the auditorium. There are times, however, when all 150 of us are present. What is the occasion? Once a month, my Math class takes an exam.

I wish I could say that this is an unusual class at the University of Texas at Austin. I wish I could say that my other courses are attended by students on regular days and exam days alike. But I cannot; the only classes that have good attendance that I have been to are the ones where students are penalized if they do not show up.

Some may say that class attendance is a choice; after all, we are not in high school anymore. I agree; in fact, if the only people who were affected by poor class attendance were those who skip class, I would not consider this to be such a large problem for UT. But this is not the case.

Last week, a student who does not regularly attend class walked up to our Math professor, showed her one of the problems that he missed on an exam, and challenged her ability to teach because he could not answer the question correctly. Both he and our professor became angry after this incident, but one left the classroom, and the other stayed to lecture. The week before, I found it hard to review my notes before a Classics exam because of two girls who were loudly complaining about everything from what the professor wore to how the material was not relevant to their lives. Eventually, one whispered, "Well we haven't been to class in a month," and they burst into laughter.

Whatever prevents students from coming to class, required attendance will help alleviate the problems these students create. For the student who avoids a true evaluation of herself by missing class, she will either discover her abilities through attending class, or she will continue to avoid evaluation outside of the university. For the student who misses class because he is unsure whether he belongs in college, he will be more able to appraise his situation if he attends his classes. For the student whose sole excuse for not attending class is laziness, she will have a very important decision to make -- either go to class or risk failing out. For the student who refuses to attend class because he believes that he learns nothing from it, he will learn otherwise. Finally, for the student who already attends class regularly, she will enjoy the greatest benefit of a required attendance policy -- an increase in the academic reputation of UT.

The best way for Dr. Faulkner to begin his presidency of the University of Texas is to re-emphasize what the university is here for and what the university's top priority is -- academics. If one listens to the conversations of students, one will discover that among the most frequently asked questions is, "Are you going to class today?" Let UT answer that question for its students; we have enough students as it is, so come to UT to attend class, or do not come to UT at all. There should be no in-between -- there should be no college without class.

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