Editorial: Quality of education lost by unit demand

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in
Chief  Timothy Kudo

Managing Editor
 Michael Falcone

Viewpoint Editor
 Cuauhtemoc Ortega

Staff Representatives
 Maegan Carberry
 Edward Chiao
 Kelly Rayburn

Editorial Board Assistants
 Maegan Carberry
 Edward Chiao

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The Campus Retention Center is looking to throw a wrench into
the UCLA degree mill: it has called for a moratorium on the hotly
debated minimum progress requirement, which speeds students out of
the university at the expense of their education.

Calling for a moratorium is a great first step, but students
need to ensure the minimum progress requirement gets canned
completely by demanding a reevaluation of its effects. Forcing
students to take 13 units or more per quarter leaves little time
for extracurricular activities. And while loading students’
academic schedules might do wonders for getting them out faster, it
ends up hurting their college experience by taking time away from
their life ““ and thus, the quality of it.

Moreover, the recent re-uniting of many classes from four to
five units undermines the intent of the minimum progress
requirement. The idea is to have students take four classes per
quarter, presumably to learn more. However, the growing number
five-unit classes means students can still take three classes to
meet the requirement.

Education should never be restricted to the classroom,
especially in a diverse community such as UCLA that has so much to
teach. Enough students are forced out of this community by high
rents and a lack of organizational interest in individual
involvement; there is no need to fracture the student body entirely
with an unnecessarily demanding course load.