STREET BEAT Intramural sports connect community

Would you rather take a withdraw or a fail?

Would you rather take a withdraw or a fail?

Playing team sports has a unique way of bringing people together. The Pierce College community would benefit greatly from establishing an intramural sports program.

Intramural sports are sports played between groups of students from the same college for recreation.

According to a 2006 study by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, students who participated in intramural sports felt happier and less stressed, improved their self-esteem, helped them make friendships on campus and overall improved their satisfaction with their college experience.

Intramural sports could also benefit students who haven’t played a sport but are looking to stay in shape or just exert stress built up from their studies and exams. The system could also provide an outlet for the more recreational athletes to play on campus.

All of these mental and physical health benefits should be enough to convince the college leadership to look into such a sports league on campus. Another incentive could be the improvement of the Pierce community.

Pierce has a commuter culture. Students are largely disengaged from the community, demonstrated by the regular shortages of Associated Students Organization senators and relatively low attendance at official college sports games.

Intramural sports could give students a reason to be active on campus and bolster community activity.

Good omens for this system can be taken from the recruitment success of

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Volume 121 Issue 7

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the Pierce College rugby club.

More than 100 students enrolled in the newly-formed club. While this club intends on being more competitive, offering more lower-intensity sports to students could be even more successfully increase community involvement. The system could also supplement the official sports on campus, providing opportunities for players of sports not offered by the Athletic department, such as men’s soccer.

With all the benefits of this system in mind, the ASO should gauge interest in intramural sports at Pierce and talk to the administration about pushing forward in the creation of intramural sports clubs.

Students who are interested should reach out to the ASO about forming their own recreational clubs and leagues for the upcoming semester.

Intramural sports would provide the element that would bring Pierce students closer together and more active.

Are withdraws or fails worse for studentsʼ transcripts?

leave a good impression on your records, especially if you want to transfer to a university. An F is the worst thing that could ever appear on your transcript.

GPA calculations and removed from their transcripts.

When a student receives a W it appears as though they gave up more than halfway through the semester.

Some students may be nervous when deciding to withdraw from a class or to fail, but students with identical grades, and similar classes that choose withdraw over fail actually held a higher GPA. We have all been there when the semester is flying by fast, and you realize that you aren’t excelling as well as you would like to in a particular class. You are then faced with the decision to withdraw or fail the class.

Some students look at withdrawing in a negative way, but it doesn’t have to be. There are few things that could have a positive affect if you choose to withdraw rather than fail. Withdrawing rather than failing is definitely the best choice for you and your GPA. A W will appear on your transcripts but has no effect on your GPA at all.

Withdrawing can actually help you keep a good GPA. Not making the decision quickly to withdraw can result in you receiving an F on your transcripts, which does not

You may be eligible for a refund depending on when you withdraw, but it’s highly likely you can get your money back. It is your responsibility to withdraw quickly to ensure getting your money back. A withdrawal is considered an attempt at a class, unlike fail which appears that you sat through the entire semester and still failed.

Who in their right mind would risk their GPA, academic status and the possibility of not getting into the university of your choice? It’s a no-brainer that you should withdraw rather than fail. Pierce College is all about student success and successful students should choose withdraw not fail.

The Center for Academic Success is available to all students who may need a tutor for numerous subjects. The CAS also offers one on one, or small group tutoring to help Pierce College students achieve academic success.

If you feel uncertain about withdrawing speak to your professor first who may give you an option for extra credit to assist you in passing the course, and then follow up with advice from your counselor.

Jäel Allen

Some students believe that taking a withdrawal is better than receiving a fail but that is not always the case when trying to perfect your transcripts for transfer.

Although there is a strong difference between an earned fail and an unearned F, receiving an F may be easier to remove than a withdrawal.

An earned F means that you have failed to meet requirements to pass the course although in various cases students receive an unearned F by failing to drop the course by the specified date.

In this case students have a few options to choose from in order to clear their record and have a properly weighted GPA.

In the event that a student receives an unearned F they have the option to retake the class and replace it with a higher grade.

This is a great option because it not only gives the student a second chance but gives them the option to petition their old grade, have it unaccounted for in their

The Admissions and Records office gives all students the opportunity to petition almost anything especially their grades.

Students can fill out a request for review petition. This is a chance for students who have received a fail to repeat the course within LACCD and replace it with the higher grade received on their next attempt and the fail unaccounted for in your GPA.

Students can also file for academic renewal, which gives them the option to remove the fail completely out of your GPA once two years have passed and the rules for academic renewal are changing with the hopes that it will soon only require one year to pass instead of two.

If a student receives an F they can have it removed with either petition and uncalculated in your GPA which seems like a better fit than to have a W on transcripts which can only be removed after you have re-taken the course.

This is a better option for a student to receive an unearned F and use a petition to have it removed from their transcripts and GPA rather than taking a W.

Flydoskope by Tobennh Dacanay tlanimator@gmail.com

-COMIC STRIP-

Family, friends protest fatal shooting of Pierce student [Nov. 15]

Family and friends of 22-yearold Pierce College student Josue Fuentes gathered in Van Nuys on Saturday, Nov. 15, to protest his fatal shooting, according to KTLA.

Fuentes was shot and killed near Victory Boulevard and Haskell Avenue on Nov. 10, around 3:15 p.m., after police responded to a call about a man with a knife who was cutting himself, according to the LA Daily News.

People at the gathering held signs that read “your job is to protect not to kill,” and “you think you have the authority to kill a minority,” according to KTLA pictures.

By Seth Perlstein

Entrepreneurship training

[Nov. 21]

The college will host a free workshop to teach students about business and entrepreneurship on Friday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. in BUS 3208.

Topics include how to develop a business plan, operate and manage a business and freelancing.

– By Seth Perlstein

Class drop date

[Nov. 23]

The last day to drop a class for a W instead of an F is Sunday, Nov. 23. Classes dropped after Nov. 23 earn an F.

Read the W and F opinions on Page 2 for more.

Seth Perlstein