STUDENTS LOSE MILLIONS BY DROPPING CLASSES

ARNOLD, Md. -- Students at AACC forfeited $4,048,149 last school year by withdrawing from classes after the drop deadline according to AACC Planning, Research & Institutional Assessment.

Close to 15,000 students withdrew from their classes during the fiscal year of 2007 to 2008.

“I’ve dropped classes like they were hot,” said Amber Spence, a 19-year-old student at AACC

Students most often drop classes due to academic concerns according to the Education Resources Information Center, a government ran digital library of education literature, provided by the Department of Education. The most common academic reasons for dropping courses include “course content was too difficult,” “subject matter not what I expected,” and “boring presentation by the instructor.”

Course withdrawals were also motivated by personal reasons, such as ill health, financial problems, employment scheduling as well as transferring to another school.

The courses that are most often withdrawn from include classes that are within the chemistry, mathematics and biology disciplines.

With 47,072 credit hours being thrown away by students last year at $86 per credit hour (for in-county tuition) where does the money go?

“Majority of it goes into teaching,” said Vincent Maruggi, interim executive director of planning of the research and institutional assessment at AACC. “about 52 percent goes to instruction.”

When a student withdrawals from a class after the drop date,a “W” will appear on their transcript. A “W” has no affect on the student’s GPA, but will remain on the transcript even if a student has retaken a class and received a high grade.

The school policy allows students to have up to 10 withdrawals until their record is placed on hold.
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student parkign at AACC

STUDENTS AT AACC ARE HAVING A HARD TIME FINDING PARKING.
A STUDENT SAYS "ITS RIDICULOUS, I CAN NEVER FIND A SPOT IN THE MORNING AND I HAVE TO DRIVE AROUND FOR HOURS.I HAVE TO GO TO THE CALT BUILDING,THAT IS THE WORST PLACE TO PARK, THERE IS LIKE THREE SPOTS FOR 500 PEOPLE.”
MANY OF THEM EITHER DRIVE AROUND FOR MINUETS LOOKING FOR AN AVAILABLE PARKING SPACE OR THEY PARK FAR AWAY FROM THEIR CLASS. SOME OF THEM EVEN COMPLAIN ABOUT BEING LATE TO CLASS.
ANOTHER STUDENTS SAYS "I GET HERE AT TEN O'CLOCK, MONDAY,WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY, I CAN NEVER FIND A SPOT, IT REALLY SUCKS, I HAVE TO DRIVE AROUND, THEN I'M LATE FOR MY CLASS.

students parking aacc broadcast video

Students at AACC have hard time finding parking

State death penalty not fairly ran

ARNOLD, MD – The new bill on capital punishment does not address racial disparities that exist within the death penalty system said Jane Henderson, executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions.
“If you give the state the power to kill it’s ultimately going to be abused,” said Henderson at a press conference with a journalism class last Friday at AACC.
Bill 279 restricts the use of the death penalty to cases that involved confessions or the actual crime on videotape; as well as DNA or biological evidence that linked the defendant to the crime according to the Campus Current. The bill has passed through the Maryland General Assembly and is on its way to Gov. O’Malley.
The abuse of the death penalty seems to lie in the selection of the convicted placed on death row. None of the five prisoners that are currently on death row had African-American victims. Since the death penalty has been reinstated in 1978, none of the five death row inmates that were executed had African-American victims either. Yet, in Maryland, African-Americans comprise 75 to 80 percent of homicide cases said Henderson.
“It is shown clearly there is a pattern of racial bias,” said Henderson “a white victim case was at least twice as likely to result in the death penalty -- than a case with a black victim.”

Henderson also spoke on the jurisdictional disparities with the death penalty. Most of the prisoners that are on, or were on death row hailed from Baltimore County; mostly due to State Attorney Sandra O’Connor.
The recent bill on capital punishment (bill 279) only limits the use of possible execution; it does not ensure that the defendant gets a fair trial, or that the race of the victim will not determine the life span of the convicted.
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Thirty two white balloons were released last Thursday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. While more than four thousand people participated in a three point two mile race to honor the thirty two victims, some of the victim’s families still remain skeptical of the school official’s actions the day of the shooting.

Thirty two white balloons were released last Thursday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting. While more than four thousand people participated in a 3.2 mile race to honor the 32 victims, some of the victim’s families still remain skeptical of the school official’s actions the day of the shooting.