At UM, we feel lucky to count on a fairly comprehensive and easily available advising system. The goal for the University now, however, should be to find a level of consistency in advising across the Schools and Colleges.

Non-business students, for example, envy the School of Business for its effective peer counseling and academic advising program. Although all the schools employ academic advisors (and even peer counselors in some fields, like psychology and engineering), students often express their discontent with the hit-or-miss advising that may leave them taking useless classes and having to make up requirements unexpectedly over the summer.

As students, we assume part of the responsibility for our education and thus should take some of the blame for class problems if we haven’t taken the time to understand an ACE and look up the requirements for each major. However, we still need a little guidance, particularly for undecided students or those that want to change fields.

In effect, undecided students face the largest disadvantage when poorly advised. A student can fulfill his or her general education requirements in the first two years of college, hoping that one of those classes will be so interesting so as to pursue it as a major. Yet, what happens when the student remains undecided after two years of a general education?

Ideally, a student should go to an academic advisor to create a year-by-year class plan and then register online, avoiding the lines at the Office of the Registrar and other registration offices. The online registration system needs improvement to allow students to register for 18 credits if their advisors approve them, something that happens now but often malfunctions. It should also let students register for classes in a different school (an education student registering for a communication class, for instance) if they declared a double major or minor in that school.

The University should also eliminate the classes that appear “On Hold” on EASY. Students may register for an On Hold section that fits into their schedule beautifully only to find, a couple of weeks later, that the section has been cancelled. This might present a minor problem with electives, but with requirements, it creates a dilemma. Luckily, professors in some cases accommodate students by listening to their complaints and opening a section of the class, but the problem could be avoided entirely by not putting On Hold classes in the system. If a new section opens, a flyer can be posted in the registration office or an email can be sent out informing students of the new class.

In fact, the registration offices should overall use email more often. If a class gets cancelled, unexpectedly placed On Hold, or changes professors, students should be informed so as to avoid rude surprises the first day of the semester.

Classes that don’t list the professors’ name also pose a problem. Usually, students avoid registering for the “TBA” or “FACULTY” class until the rest of the named-professor classes fill up. However, if all the classes appear as TBA (see ECO 301 and almost all the lower-level MTH classes), students are left with no choice but to register to fill the requirements they need and hope for the best. A possible solution for these departments would be to list possible professors or display a date when the professor’s name will be available.

UM has made great strides in providing students with resources they need to choose classes. Until the University solves key problems that still exist, however, it will continue to hear students groaning on registration week.

RE: “Soccer suffers through an abysmal season,” 11/5

As a former member of the women’s soccer team, I am both disgusted and upset over its record this year. I offer no excuses for their performance; however, I do believe that if you are going to publicly scrutinize an individual over the performance of a group, you might want to give an accurate portrayal of the situation. So let me offer Darren Grossman a little free education.

I concede that the Big East Tournament records Grossman cites in his column are accurate, but he fails to mention that the women’s soccer team never escaped the Big East quarterfinals in its tenure in that conference. He also fails to mention that Tricia Taliaferro, not Jim Blankenship, coached the soccer team to victories over highly-ranked opponents within the Big East (UConn and BC) and led the team to its highest-ever regular season finish in conference play (2nd).

Grossman dwells on scoring disparities against teams like UNC, Duke and Virginia, yet he ignores that these are three of the best teams in the country. And by the way, we lost by more than two goals to lesser teams under Blankenship.

Grossman’s column states that Taliaferro is playing with her “own” players now, but in reality the only players on the team she has recruited are freshmen and sophomores who are hardly in a position to lead the team. If Grossman were to look at those game tapes he so desperately wants to watch with Paul Dee, he will see many of these young kids are talented players, and older players are just now picking up a new system of play. Grossman might also want to note that the team lost four players to season-ending injuries, including one who still managed an All-ACC selection; and cancelled or rescheduled several games due to the tumultuous hurricane season.

I enjoyed playing for both Blankenship and Taliaferro, and continue to maintain close relationships with them. When Blankenship left UM, the women’s soccer team turned into a fractured group of individuals. Taliaferro came to UM and brought this team back together. The current team cares about each like family, it participates in the community more each year and show greater dedication to spreading its sport than the teams before it. Taliaferro did not have an easy job this year. Her competitive spirit is greater than almost anyone I know and this year easily could have driven her insane, but she continued working hard through the season. I understand Grossman’s frustration with the women’s soccer team this year, but if he is going to publish that frustration, he might want to include all the facts. He might also admit that the whole team is responsible for performance, and some things just cannot be controlled.

Of course, he might know these things if he actually played a sport.

Rachel Elsby

Ph.D. student

Y’all aren’t going to want to hear this, especially from me. We liberals must undertake the seemingly paradoxical necessity to be more tolerant. But Chris, you ask, how does the political affiliation of open-mindedness go about being more tolerant?

We need to respect the “rednecks.” It is nothing short of hypocritical for us to fight to allow Muslim women to wear burquas and fight to ban those who display the confederate flag. We expect everyone to respect our opposition to Bush’s quagmire in Iraq, but God forbid some cowboy with a thick southern drawl has a political opinion. After all, he must be racist. And ignorant.

I grew up in a small town in rural north Texas full of Friday night football, southern accents and rednecks. Most of these people that own a confederate flag are not racist. In fact, not one of the 2000 citizens in my town is openly racist. Any time a vendor is selling confederate flags, he displays a large “Heritage, not hate” sign. Surprised? Is it so hard to fathom that there are actually people in this country who are proud to have southern roots and who don’t hate black people?

Maybe these people wouldn’t be so hostile to liberals if we would stop looking down upon their culture. In fact, with the right message, we might even win a few votes from the Deep South (just like Clinton, Carter, J.F.K., Stevenson, Truman and F.D.R., the liberal Democrat who got 98 percent in South Carolina). If I can get a city hall full of people cheering for the repeal of the USA PATRIOT act in Celina, Texas, it can and must be done.

That was what Howard Dean was getting at when he said, “I don’t want to win without the South. I’m going to go to the South, and I’m going to say to white guys who drive pick-up trucks with confederate flag decals on the back of their car, ‘We want your vote too, ’cause your kids don’t have health insurance either.'” Of course, some Democrats cried racism, and what was an honest attempt at tolerance and reaching out became a political liability among us liberals. Even if so-called rednecks continue to vote Republican and even if they let wedge issues take precedence, we, as liberals, must respect their way of life.

Whether you or I would like to admit it, the same goes with Republicans. You know they are wrong; I know they are wrong, but let me tell you, they aren’t wrong for speaking their views.

To the Republicans on campus, despite my pleas for tolerance among the left, I’d still quit walking around here with your damn stickers like you own the place. Half of the people aren’t going to read this, and half won’t buy it. Keep in mind, the Convocation Center voted 66 percent for Kerry. That makes you the super-minority beneath an extremely pissed off majority. Don’t get punched in the face for your arrogance.

Chris Fisher can be contacted at c.fisher2@umiami.edu.

It is time for all of us to wake up and realize that this nation is not the best in the world and there are certain issues that we need to address.

Our life expectancy in 2000, according to the World Health Organization, is ranked 24th in the world, and our overall healthcare is ranked 37th. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy: 80 percent are out of wedlock.

Richard Estes, from the University of Pennsylvania, ranked the U.S. 27th in social progress. Reporters Without Borders ranks the U.S. 31st in regards to press freedom, a tie with Greece. In a study of rich countries and how they help poor countries based on aid, trade, investment and other factors, Foreign Policy magazine ranks the U.S 20th. According to King’s College in London, England, the U.S. also has the highest prison population in both absolute and proportional terms.

We are in the top 10 in regards to high school diplomas. According to the latest census, at least 85 percent of the population over 25 has one. We are second, behind Norway, in regards to college graduates (27 percent). What is interesting is the fact that the American education system from K-12 is less than adequate but once a student reaches college, the investment level on behalf of the government is increased. There is more funding for each student for those few years than most of the pre-college years combined. All of a sudden, education is a priority. In this year’s world university rankings in The Times (U.K.) Higher Education Supplement, the top four schools, out of 200, are from the U.S. Overall there are 65 U.S schools in the top 200.

Before we can boast about this we need to understand that most of the students that are admitted to these schools were provided with the best life has to offer and exist in a world foreign to most of the rest of the nation. In a nation that spends more on military technology and defense, has the highest GDP, and the highest number of billionaires, we still lag in many other categories. The U.S has a long way to go to achieve number one status overall in the world. Do not, for one second, allow your national pride to interfere with the work that needs to be done to make this a better place. The onus is on us as future leaders to play an active role in changing this nation into one that is truly the best.

Vontilla Steven can be contacted at v.steven@umiami.edu.

“Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of history…are doomed to repeat them.” It’s an old saying but never without relevance, no matter the period of time. I remember first hearing this quote uttered by my fifth grade teacher some 25 years ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since. Part of what sparked my interest in the study of history can be traced back to the underlying sentiment in that very simple statement. In conversations concerning historical matters, I always try to convey that sense of appreciation of history that has led me to make it one of the focuses of my undergraduate work and hopefully very soon, my graduate work.

Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor Society, has taken on the task this year of encouraging an interest in history with its “History Night At the Movies” program.

“The purpose of this program is to help generate an appreciation of history through the medium of film,” said Phi Alpha Theta President Octavio Ramos, himself a Graduate student in the History Department.

The first in a regular bimonthly series of films will be Blackhawk Down, the story of the October 1993 battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, between U.S. Army forces and militia units loyal to the late Somali warlord Muhammad Farah Adid. The battle is perhaps best known as the event that precipitated the Clinton administration’s withdrawal of all U.S. forces from that country.

Following the presentation of the film, Phi Alpha Theta advisor Dr. Edmund Abaka, a specialist in African history and Interim Director of the African-American Studies Program, will be conducting a short lecture on the factual aspects of the film.

Almost since the advent of motion pictures, visual images of historical themes or events have made their way to prominence among motion picture productions. Today there is an entire commercial television network devoted to history, The History Channel. But why is an interest and appreciation of history important? For Ramos it’s because it gives one a sense of one’s context in the world.

“History is the sense of where we came from as well as where we are now,” he said. “It’s the best indicator of where we are going.”

Blackhawk Down will be shown this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in LC 110. Anyone interested in attending or in membership in Phi Alpha Theta can contact Mr. Ramos at o.ramos@umiami.edu. Free pizza and refreshments will be served.

Scott Wacholtz can be contacted at s.wacholtz@umiami.edu.