First, there is blissful silence. You are asleep, left alone in a world of rest and relaxation.
Then, a sharp buzzing — your tranquil paradise has been interrupted. You are abruptly returned to the real world.
You are awake. It is 8 a.m. It’s time for school.
Today, however, for whatever reason, you don’t feel like going to school. Perhaps you are tired. Perhaps you are hung over. Perhaps you have swine flu.
“Huzzah!” you exclaim. There are no worries, because unlike actual employment, being a college student doesn’t necessitate your showing up to class every single day. You can take this day to rest and recuperate and view the numerous episodes of “Nova” you’ve missed in weeks previous. Right?
Wrong. A wave of consternation hits. You remember you cannot stay home today because you have two classes to go to, and they only allow two unexcused absences per semester. But you only have one left — one you’ll need later in the semester.
I’m not sure at what point ASU began mandating more regular attendance, but I will offer a twofold analysis of it.
Taking attendance is a waste of time and overly parental.
Roll call uses valuable class minutes to merely establish who is present and who is not. It would be similar to beginning every board meeting at General Motors with each member stating what he or she had for breakfast. Clearly, there are more pressing issues to discuss.
Taking attendance is overly parental. This is college, ladies and gentlemen, and if we don’t possess the responsibility and appreciation to show up to our classes at least most of the time, we probably shouldn’t be here in the first place. Having an administration police the least productive and least motivated students conjures the image of a parent scolding a delinquent juvenile.
Again, I simply ask if the various colleges of ASU really should be concerned with a student’s attendance record.
If a student is capable of maintaining acceptable grades without attending class, then let him or her do so. If a student doesn’t attend class, and his or her grades suffer accordingly, again I say, perhaps he or she shouldn’t be here in the first place.
I applaud ASU’s efforts in improving its image over the past decade.
However, I am distressed that this has occurred not by raising acceptance standards, or promoting more thorough intellectual discourse, but merely by keeping butts in the seats by enforcement.
Forced attendance does not increase a student’s willingness to learn.
Instead, it keeps an unwilling butt in that seat while more willing derrieres are left out.
So, ASU, I have a request. I’ll put forth full academic effort if you stop mandating how I go about doing so. Those who simply want to take a day off now and again shouldn’t have that privilege revoked because of the irresponsible and unmotivated among us.
Alex will be attending a mandated lecture but can be reached at alexander.petrusek@asu.edu.
