Why on earth is the first question asked in nearly every class meeting, “are we gonna get out of here early tonight?”

As this fall semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee winds down to a close, all students are aware of the meetings that need to be scheduled with advisors to weed through the overwhelming choices of classes offered. However there is one other source of information that some of us need to check before making the critical choices those classes depend on: our social calendars.

In the case of a few of my classmates, both past and present, this is perhaps one of the most important, and often overlooked, decision-makers for our class schedule.

With Gov. Doyle and his Democratic minions in Madison creating new programs and spending accounts that all but make a university education a right rather than a privilege, I ask the question, “Do the students today really value the ‘cost’ of their education?”

For example, eighth-graders across the state are signing compacts with the governor that essentially guarantee them a spot in a state school as long as they maintain a B average and remain a responsible citizen who avoids trouble with the law.

I am a non-traditional student, returning to school after starting my family. I am driven to get my degree to further my family and career, so I feel that the age gap between many of my classmates and myself often results in this differing viewpoint.

However, when there are 30 or so students in a required discussion section for a required class of a major program, why on Earth is the first question asked in nearly every class meeting, “are we gonna get out of here early tonight?”

In most of the courses I have taken here at UWM, I can count on one hand the number of class sessions in which attendance has been graded upon. If getting to the classes you select is such a chore, or is such a huge scheduling conflict with the parties you absolutely must attend, please pick a different section that doesn’t conflict with these other social obligations!

More times than not, there is more than one option for a lecture and discussion section for each class. For the sake of everyone else taking the class, take the time to think about how this class is going to affect your social standing among your circle of friends.

If partying is so much more important than a solid education that will hopefully be the foundation for the rest of your life, find the classes that will allow you to party the most.

Some (probably more accurately most) of the people in the classes that I am in now are there to actually learn something that may be useful either in future careers, or, as I notice now, that we are able to apply to our current jobs. The never-ending distraction of those of our classmates who see class as a waste of time is just that – a waste of OUR time.

If there is some other event going on at the same time as your class that you don’t really care that much about in the first place, do all of your classmates a humongous favor: Go to that other thing instead. So to everyone planning your next semester of classes, check the TV Guide and party schedules first!

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