Thumbs up/ thumbs down

Tuesday, May 12, 1998

Thumbs up/ thumbs down

Dorms go dry at university

Thumbs up to the University of Kentucky (UK), which is instating
a new policy that will require all residences to be alcohol-free by
the fall semester. All university housing, including the fraternity
and sorority houses, must go without alcohol. UK will also increase
funds to support initiatives that fund alcohol abuse centers. After
the recent alcohol-related deaths at other universities, a national
debate was sparked and the consensus was that, because students
live within university housing, the university has the right to set
their own policies to insure safety.

Save freedom to take notes

Thumbs down to UCLA for placing a monopoly on class lecture
notes. Recently, the Research and Report Corporation (R&R) has
sparked controversy over supposed trespassing policies and the
professors’ rights to their intellectual property. The university
needs to act as a public institution and provide students with the
choice to buy lecture notes from any company which offers that
service. R&R covers classes that ASUCLA’s lecture notes do not.
Furthermore, R&R uses student representatives, so there are no
trespassing issues being violated. The actions of the university
and ASUCLA show businesslike undertones that overlook the needs of
the students.

Students now not deducted

Thumbs up to the UC system for eliminating the mandatory social
security deductions from student employee paychecks.

Before the policy, all student employees, except those taking 12
or more credits and working at least 20 hours per week, saw 8.25
percent of their paycheck put away in a UC system-wide Defined
Contribution Plan – a combination of retirement savings and
Medicare payments. These funds were automatically transferred to
each employee’s personal retirement fund. Now students will not see
the deductions in their check, but may still request the former
plan if they so wish. Just give students choices and they’ll be
quite thankful.