PAC Requirements Unfair to Pre-Meds
By Alex Jakle
Staff Writer

PAC requirements: is there a more hotly contested academic issue on campus? The resentment toward this particular system is palpable, so prepare to hate me: I like it. I think it’s great that we have to take such a wide breadth of courses in so many different areas. I think branching out and trying new things is what college is all about; the PACs help us to do that, and keep us from becoming too goal oriented.

Now, I can hear a lot of you thinking: “Of course you like it, you lazy, hippie-liberal, slack-jawed humanities student.” And it’s true: I fully admit that the PACs favor humanities students over science students. But the bottom line is this, and follow me closely here: it is easier to major in the humanities. There, I said it, it’s out there now.

Before I get angry English students rioting outside my door with pitchforks and torches made from copies of Ulysses, let me lay out my reasoning here. There is, in fact, a method behind this bold statement.

It starts with the simple fact that science majors have larger course loads. Neuroscience majors must take at least 16 courses, Biology and Physics both require 15 and Chemistry a monstrous 17 (which, for those of you who are not math majors, is over half the number of courses students typically take). Comparison? Economics requires 13, English 10, History 10, and Philosophy and Politics both require a piddling 9 courses. Right off the bat, science folk are spending far more time in the classroom for their major than people such as myself, and I haven’t even mentioned the fact that these science classes all have lab components that run several hours a week.

Humanities majors are left with that much more time to fulfill their PACs, in what appears to be one of the great academic injustices at this school. But it’s not even the science majors who get the most screwed; it’s the pre-med students.

Now, I understand that the medical profession is demanding, time-consuming and grueling beyond my comprehension (not to mention gross). But that does not strike me as a good reason to systematically punish those who wish to pursue pre-med, until they are reduced to whimpering pools of humanity on the floor of some Seaver laboratory. I mean, have you talked to an O-Chem student lately? Think about it: in addition to fulfilling their major requirements (probably in one of the sciences) they have to take the time to fulfill pre-med requirements as well. But even with all this effort, they probably will only meet two of the PAC requirements, PAC 2 and PAC 4. Wahoo.

The other major factor is ease of crossover. To fulfill my PAC 2 or 4, I can take courses like Physics of Music, Animals in Extreme Environments or other less than labor-intensive classes. Where is English 3: Study of the Dr. Seuss easy reader? Or History 2: Ancient Rome as learned through Gladiator? There are no obviously easy humanities classes for crossover science students. They take their own absurdly difficult classes and then ante-up and take some of mine. Now that’s just embarrassing.

Chemistry students are therefore locked into 17 courses for their major (several more if they are also pre-med) and another 8 for their PACs. That has the potential to be near 28-30 courses. How exactly is one supposed to go abroad, particularly when many programs require courses about the specific area? I know people who do it, and I am convinced that they have not slept since the third grade.

While we’re talking about sleep, let’s talk about how damn early those science courses are. Is there a science major at this school who has gone a semester without at least one class before ten? No wonder they hate the fact that I, because of my humanities-laden schedule, can sleep ‘til noon five days a week.

I am in awe of science majors for a lot of reasons, and I respect and love pre-meds (subtext: give me free medical care). I see now why my father, a pre-med science major himself, jokingly suggested that humanities majors shouldn’t get diplomas (I think he was joking). So the next time that P-chem student’s lip starts to quiver, or the next time you notice a Mo-bio student staring blankly at the wall as tears run from their eyes, reddened from lack of sleep, hug them. Give them a cookie or something. They deserve it. They work harder than anyone here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go take a nap until my friends get back from lab.