Letter to the Editor

Year-round is a positive plan for CSUS students

I would like to address his statement about CSUS becoming “an education factory.” If Nicholson had spent some time doing the math, he would come to realize that the “compressed schedule” is not really that compressed. If CSUS were to offer a trimester system, I could see the semesters dropping from 16 weeks to 14 weeks. This would allow two three-week breaks and one four-week break between the semesters.

If the new schedule was to be 14 weeks (13 weeks of instruction plus finals), on average we would lose five to six hours per semester of instruction per class. That comes out to be only 12 minutes lost per class that meets MW or TR and 10 minutes lost per MWF class.

What does this mean for the structure of classes? I suppose there are several different ways to go about “making up” that time. One way would be to continue two-day classes, but instead of one hour and 15 minute classes, they would be one hour and 25 minute classes (Sounds like long classes!). The way I suggest would be to continue with three-day classes and have them be one hour and 10 minutes, You could also continue three-day classes at one hour and 15 minutes each and get an extra 15 minutes of learning each week. That’s a little over three extra hours of quality learning each semester.

Now, I can understand that some students are concerned about going to school year-round. But in reality, you don’t have to go all year. In fact, the point of a three-semester system is so more students can attend the college. If every student goes to all three semesters, then there is no change in the number of students CSUS can educate. Furthermore, having the school open year-round gives you the freedom to choose which semesters you want to attend.

If you are like me and love to snow ski, we could go to school during the summer and fall semesters and take spring off to work at a ski resort full-time; an opportunity I have always wanted, but have never been able to fulfill because of what? School!

Nicholson also wrote, “faculty use summer break to retool their classes, add new material, and take care of personal business.” These professors can still take time to do all of that, but they would be able to choose which semester to take their break. In the article “Gerth wants year-round classes,” Dan Witter wrote, “Glassmire anticipates hiring more faculty and staff to help with the new students.” There you have it in black and white: hiring more faculty is the solution for adding another semester.

Shall I continue with reasons to support a three-semester school? How about money? Those of you who have taken winter or summer session courses know that it costs $137 per unit. The third semester would be just like a regular semester, and the same fees would apply. Sounds like a savings to me.

Last, but certainly not least, if Nicholson is spending so much time working during summer to pay for school, how can he have the time to travel?

— Chris O’Connell
Communication Studies Major