Lab credits, respect for hard work are deserved

Much has been said lately both in support of and in opposition to awarding credit for natural science labs. I could add to the number of articles that spew numbers and facts, tell you what percent of Vassar students are in support of awarding credit, compare the number of hours a natural science major spends in class to a humanities major taking the same number of units or describe how awarding additional credit would cause many science majors to exceed the maximum allowance for in-department units. Instead, I will voice my opinion, and the opinion of many of my fellow science majors, with regards to lab credits and the value of science in a concise and nearly numberless manner.

Majoring in a natural science is a huge commitment of both time and effort. Although I frequently complain about my extensive workload and class hours for which lab is directly responsible, I love (almost) every minute of it. Many people claim that we don't deserve additional units of credit for our required three or four hours of lab a week that accompany 150 minutes of lecture because we enjoy it and know what we are getting ourselves into when we declare a major in a natural science.

What I fail to see is what possible association this has with the number of deserved units for academic work. Students in choir, in orchestra, and soon those who play varsity sports, are able to receive credit for their extracurricular endeavors. They have a great passion for their respective activities and surely are aware of the commitment to them when registering. Why is it that they receive credit for their extracurricular endeavors when we do not receive proper credit for our academic endeavors?

We've dealt with a lack of lab credits up until now and can continue to do so. However, what started as a sense of being underappreciated by the administration has morphed into a feeling of abandonment by our peers. Often forgotten at Vassar Student Association (VSA) meetings is the fact that Council members have been elected to express the views of their respective groups on campus in a manner that satisfies the requirements and responsibilities of the College with what the student body needs.

The VSA Academic Committee has acknowledged that the majority of Vassar students are in favor of awarding lab credits and even began to act upon this sentiment. Perhaps a better, and admittedly more cynical, description of the Committee's actions would be they attempted to satisfy the growing voices on campus by drafting a letter to various science professors and abandoning the project once they received some negative feedback. Any scientist can tell you that abandoning an experiment because the preliminary results do not support your hypothesis is no way to get anything accomplished. You have to persevere and see the project to completion. Even if you don't get perfect data, there is value to the process and the pursuit.

What it comes down to is that I, and all natural science majors, feel slighted by the College. We deserve credit for our work, which we have yet to receive. We will continue studying science if we are awarded that credit or not. What we are fighting for is not just an additional half or quarter unit per lab; it is the acknowledgment that the natural sciences require an enormous amount of commitment and dedication and are just as valuable as any other department or activity on campus.