The Justice

Something was not right about the way Brandeis handled the administration of the Wabash National Study, which investigates the impact of liberal arts education on first-year students. No, not just the questions it offers (though changing those would be nice, too) but rather the way Brandeis advertised it to us. Instead of just rudely pushing us to take the survey, those who managed it should have either made it mandatory or guaranteed students a real incentive to take it.

When I first came to Brandeis back in August, one of the first people who I ran into was a Wabash promoter. I admit that at the time, I was a na've, impressionable recent high school graduate who had not yet fully grasped the fact that he was in college. Also, I had the chance to get Bruce Springsteen tickets, Red Sox tickets and other items of that nature. So I said, "Why not?" and signed up to participate.

What awaited me was painful to the say the least. First was the fact that I had to wake up at the unprecedented time (at least for college) of 8:30 in the morning. But what was more annoying was the survey itself. It included two hours of headache-inducing, mind-numbing questions concerning abstract hypothetical situations and philosophical quandaries that left me thinking, "What did I just take?"

I did not gain anything from it, and at the time I wondered whether the school did either. But most importantly, I felt taken advantage of. Here was an innocent first-year who felt as if he'd been essentially used and tricked by manipulative test administrators. This was not fair.

So I became a tad irritated when I saw a Wabash promoter again when I was selecting my housing for next year. Again, it seemed as if I had to take it. I was directed to the desk of yet another Wabash promoter along with everyone else immediately after checking into room selection, no questions asked. I tried to get around signing up for it, but the representative was adamant, so I grudgingly acquiesced to her demands.

Continued...

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