6 Editorial & Letter Editorial
The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Editorial comic
b y a l e x y u ly
Leaving the paper trail behind The University’s decision to phase out the paper Course Announcement Bulletin inspired a sophomore to print his own hard-copy course listing and sell it for $10. But don’t bother seeking out this black-market version of the course catalog, because we are not talking about a reaction to last week’s announcement about changes to the distribution of the printed CAB. The then-sophomore in question was a member of the class of 2009, and his homemade bulletin was emblematic of general resistance to Brown’s transition to an online course registration system four years ago. In fact, in response to a flurry of complaints from students and advisers, the Office of the Registrar began printing the paper bulletin again for the 2008-09 school year. At that time, students voiced concerns over the difficulty of using Banner, especially for underclassmen. As a sort of compromise, when the registrar’s office reinstated the course catalog, they whittled it down to 180 pages, eliminating details about labs and sections that could be found in the online system. Now that the CAB has once again been given the boot, supporters of both sides of the issue still put forth the same arguments. Paper’s proponents say that in an online system, it is less likely students will stumble upon courses they were not already looking for. Advocates of the digital system point out that most students prefer to look up courses online, making a printed course catalog a waste of paper and University dollars. But overall, the University’s announcement last week failed to meet the same level of resistance from the undergraduate community that a similar decision provoked in 2007. We appreciate the University’s dedication to minimizing waste and its mindfulness in continuing to distribute the CAB to advisers and department officials instead of eliminating it completely. But we encourage the University to reconsider its decision to no longer distribute a printed bulletin to incoming students. Despite recent improvements, Banner can still be considered an especially confusing system to navigate for students looking up courses at Brown for the first time. The only thing a first-year might find more frustrating is scrolling through a PDF version of the course catalog on the registrar’s website. We also urge the University, as it invests resources and staff in developing electronic tools to replace their paper analogues, to streamline its existing online systems and make them more comprehensive and easy to use. Students now declare their concentrations online through the Advising Sidekick, but information about concentrations, their requirements and alumni careers is housed in several separate places — the Dean of the College’s Focal Point page, the Office of the Registrar’s website and individual department websites. Furthermore, while the shopping cart feature on Banner was inspired by the independently run Mocha course site, Banner has yet to supply textbook pricing information as Mocha does. The course catalog, in its printed form, contained concentration information in addition to course descriptions, a useful feature that was left out of its online incarnation. Today’s students are perhaps more receptive to the University’s forays into the digital sphere. Still, we are waiting to see the University’s efforts online move beyond poor facsimiles of the paper tools that once were all we knew. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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letter to the editor Criticism of conference based on false dichotomy To the Editor: As the organizer of the upcoming conference “Israelis and Palestinians: Working Together for a Better Future,” I am compelled to correct some errors in a column (“Shalom-Salaam: dialogue as distraction or dialogue as action?” March 7). The conference I have organized and Brown-RISD Hillel’s Israeli-Palestinian Peace Week are separate projects that were developed independently of each other. While I have expressed my support for the Hillel project, the student organizers of that project should be the ones to respond to the criticism of it by the author. In addition, the Watson Institute for International Studies is only one of several co-sponsors of the conference. A complete list of the co-sponsors may be found at the web link for the conference. In general, the author argues that those, like myself, who seek to expose the Brown campus to cooperative ventures between Palestinians and Israelis — which is
what the conference is all about — are trying to cover up the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Nothing could be further from the truth. I invite the author and members of the Brown community to attend the conference and hear what these Israeli and Palestinian partners actually do together. I can guarantee you that every one of the speakers at the conference is as outraged about the issues the author raises as is the author. Indeed, it is because of their opposition to the suffering experienced on both sides of the conflict that the speakers at the conference bravely challenge the status quo by finding ways to work together for the mutual benefit of both peoples. The author’s argument is based on a false dichotomy between protest against injustice and the search for peace. Both paths are necessary if there is ever to be a final resolution of this conflict. David Jacobson Professor of Judaic Studies
quote of the day
“I want to go back to the way it was
before this incident happened.
”
— Anthony Santurri, owner of Colosseum See nightclub on page 1.
Correction A photograph in yesterday’s Herald accompanying an article about women’s basketball (“Bruno sweeps final weekend, finishes fourth in Ivy League,” March 7) should have been attributed to Sam Rubinroit. The Herald regrets the error. C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C ommentary P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. L etters to the E ditor P olicy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.