By Rider Farris | Reporter
Baylor offers a wide array of majors and concentrations for students to choose from. Options are endless, and students are encouraged to branch out and explore things that interest them. However, it seems that some majors offer certain perks that verge on being unfair. While some of these unbalanced perks can be explained away with a little bit of research and logic, a great majority of them reveal a core issue that exists on Baylor’s campus today.
Having a double major of economics and journalism enables me to see some of the differences between Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation and Castellaw Communication Center, as well as some of the other buildings across campus. While both of my majors and their assigned buildings have some of their own unique and interesting assets, the business school seems to have a few that differ from the rest.
For starters, business students are given a higher PawPrints printing allowance per semester. This is partially due to the fact that each department has its own printing budget. Although this may initially be seen as a perk for students enrolled in business classes, this is an unfair toll placed upon business students. All students enrolled in business classes are required to pay a $25 HSB Electronic Resources fee each semester, of which $21 goes to excess PawPrints printing dollars. In my four years at Baylor, I have never once even come close to needing this extra $21 in PawPrints. It is a complete waste of money.
Additionally, the required HSB resource fee is essentially a payment to be able to use the computer lab on the second floor of Foster, which can be used by any student in any major during the day. I’m pretty sure a journalism major could walk into Foster at 2 p.m. on a Thursday, sit down in the computer lab and work until the building closed with absolutely no repercussions. The HSB resource fee is an unnecessary toll.
Business students, however, are lucky to be able to use the popular team study rooms located throughout Foster whenever they choose. This is an awesome tool that many business majors take advantage of on a regular basis. However, it is unfair to other majors that do not have similar accommodations.
Now, I understand that the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation was constructed due to a generous gift from Foster himself, and that the study rooms are located within the business school for business students alone, but Baylor should be actively working to provide similar accommodations to all of its majors. Everyone else has to fight for the shabby study rooms in Moody Memorial Library that are always taken. Political science students should have access to similar resources in Draper Academic Building, and science majors should have similar perks in the Baylor Sciences Building. All majors should be given an equal playing field regarding academic resources.
The various majors are treated unfairly yet again when it comes to the building hours of the buildings designating for certain areas of academic study. For example, Monday through Friday, Foster is open until 11:30 p.m. for business students. But the Baylor Sciences Building is only open until 10 p.m. This inconsistent access to your academic home base means that some students may not be allowed extra time in their buildings.
Studying in a familiar environment can also help the effectiveness of your studying. Many people also feel extremely comfortable in their designated building and would simply enjoy the ability to have extended access to it.
Although differences between majors exist, Baylor should take strides to minimize unfair disparities. All students should be given the same number of PawPrints. All students should be given equal access to team study rooms. Departments should also survey their students to find out how late thier buildings should stay open.
Rider Farris is a journalism and economics double major from San Marcos.
