School of Communication to drop second major requirement
The School of Communication plans to remove the double-major requirement, Sam L Grogg, dean of the School of Communication, announced yesterday.
Grogg made the announcement at the Dean’s Forum to about 35 students in Shoajee Hall.
The double-major requirement, which has been part of the Comm School since its founding, is expected to change by fall 2008. Grogg said most of the university’s sister schools do not have the same procedure, and he wants to remove the requirement to give students more flexibility to add minors or study abroad.
“We want to give students the freedom to enjoy everything that we have to offer at the university and outside of Miami,” Grogg said.
The proposal still has to be presented to the Faculty Senate, which Grogg expects will happen next semester.
Although a majority of the students at the forum nodded their head in approval when Grogg announced the removal of the double-major requirement, other students believe it is a mistake.
“As a freshman I would have taken the easy stuff like golf or tennis,” said Jay Dryburgh, a senior and broadcast journalism major. “Instead I added a double major in English and wound up forming a great rapport with a whole new set of faculty.”
Final decision: Halloween Ibis Ride canceled
BY KELLY HERSON
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
There will be no Halloween shuttles to the Grove this year, Patricia A. Whitely, vice president of Student Affairs, said during Wednesday’s Student Government Senate meeting.
Whitely presented more than half a dozen reasons against the Halloween shuttle, citing logistical problems, limited resources and last year’s chaos when shuttles were “forced to pick up highly intoxicated UM students staggering down 27th Avenue.”
Whitely said she was inflexible in her decision, and that she had consulted Provost Thomas LeBlanc and President Donna E Shalala.
The Ibis Ride had no incidents during its first run from 2004-2005, but on Halloween last year Whitely said “more than 1,000 students overwhelmed the shuttle system,” resulting in several incidents.
“We called for Student Government’s help, and Student Government leaders were unable to do anything,” Whitely said. “We had to call the police to quell the situation.”
Several senators asked what was being done to ensure safety for students who may go to the Grove and return intoxicated, but Whitely said that she hopes students will stay on campus, though she admitted “maybe that’s not being realistic.”
Whitely dismissed several proposed alternatives to canceling the Halloween ride, and many senators were upset that they had been left out of the decision-making process.
Many senators expressed concerns over student safety.
“While I appreciate Whitely’s concerns, I feel that more students will get hurt by the cancelation of the rides,” said senior class senator Rikesh Patel.
Manny Melo, Honor Students Association senator, agreed. “I’m personally nervous about the outcome of this year’s event having learned that there is nothing planned for students in terms of transportation,” Melo said.
Whitely said that there is a “fine line between safety and enabling unsafe and illegal activity.”
Still, senators remained skeptical of Whitely’s reasoning that the removal of the shuttles would not significantly impact student safety, since logistically the shuttle service could only accommodate 500 students.
“I think we should have the Ibis Ride despite not every student being able to [use it],” School of Business Sen. Obediah Samuel said. “Overall, the safety of some students is better than the safety of none.”