I am set to register for classes tomorrow morning. I made a rough schedule about a month ago to see if my ideal classes would fit into a schedule, and they did. I knew not to get my hopes up. I knew that most of those classes would be filled. When I checked Testudo a few days ago, I was right.

As I see it – and maybe you will call me an overly optimistic idealist – a university should be able to provide two basic services: housing and education. As for finding a place to live, whether you want to blame Resident Life or the Board of Regents or the Residence Halls Association, it is clear that there was massive incompetence. Many people made many mistakes, and so now we have to suffer by moving to some rapist-ridden residence of the campus.

Fine, so let’s put housing aside for a minute. A university is a place to learn. I do not want my diploma to be an expensive piece of paper; I want it to reflect an experience. I want it to represent the hours that I struggled to absorb more knowledge and the time I spent challenging myself to learn new ideas.

Oh, wait. Those classes are full. Fine, I take that back. Forget the interesting classes. I guess life isn’t Dead Poet’s Society. I guess the token five interesting classes go to seniors. I could not care less what I take next semester. I just want to be able to fill my credit hours.

Let me backtrack to give some more background on my personal situation. I am a government and politics major. I am a second-year student, but I have 14 AP credits and I am taking 18 this semester, so really I should be registering ahead of most second-years. Of the 18 credits I am taking this semester, however, zero are GVPT. When I registered, all of the classes were full. I figured, “Well, I’ll just finish up my CORE this semester, and then I will be able to focus on GVPT classes in spring ’08.” I was so na’ve as a freshman.

All of this information is current as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14: In order to graduate, one needs three gateway government and politics classes (100, 170, 241), three lower-level classes and six upper-levels. That means that I have nine classes to take in five semesters, though I am actually aiming to graduate in three more semesters, meaning that I have to triple up every coming semester. I do not think that should be a problem.

If we must take three lower-level classes, why does the GVPT department offer only four the entire semester, two of which are full? Oh, and one of those filled classes, GVPT221 (only 45 seats), is a prerequisite for two upper-level classes. Of the classes that still have room, there is GVPT200, which meets at 8 a.m., but is a prerequisite for no fewer than 14 other GVPT courses. It looks like I am going to have early mornings next semester.

Let’s look at the upper-levels. Of the 34 classes offered, 22 are already full. Most of the remaining 12 require GVPT200, which, of course, was full for this semester by the time I registered. Many of them meet at awkward hours, like 6:30-9:15 p.m. (GVPT424). And, again, keep in mind that this is before half of the student body has even registered!

Government and politics is a limited enrollment program, so, in theory, there should be enough room for students. However, as every government student knows, things are a lot different between theory and practice. Give us more seats and more options, or actually limit enrollment.

I am not just directing my rage at the government and politics department. Why does it seem like every class meets on Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.? Do you notice that? I can imagine that it is very difficult to plan all the classes for 35,000 students, but, seriously, we are entitled to a decent, open selection. At least we pay enough to be.

From talking to my friends in the government and politics major, I know that we are all upset. I wouldn’t be surprised if an angry mob shows up at the door of Tydings, pitchforks and torches in hand. Wait, strike that; we’re government majors. More likely, we will form a few task forces, convene some exploratory sub-committees, make a few focus groups and, after about 10 years and $50,000,000 in budget overtures, conclude that there are no classes left for us to take.

This is ridiculous. I am here to learn. Why am I not able to?

David Lerner is a sophomore government and politics major. He can be reached at dsl87@umd.edu.