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Nancy Cao
Professor Masulit
Ethnic Studies 21
25 October 2016
In the articles "Why I don't let Students Cut my Class" by William Brown and "Student
Expectation Seen as Causing Grade Disputes" by Max Roosevelt, these professors have learned
that undergraduates are lazy and entitled. In Brown's article, he states that college freshman cut
class because they are allowed to. However, if you force them to come to class as a class policy,
then many more students will come to class consistently. He mentions that creating this no-cut
policy has improved his students' grades and attendance; it has also weeded out the people that
cannot handle coming to class every session. I do agree that attendance and proper time
management is a skill college students need to practice in order to be successful in the future.
Brown's claim is valid because when I was in high school, I would often cut classes or stay home
because I had good grades and there was nothing important happening at school. If I had the
opportunity to cut class, I would take it in a heartbeat. Therefore, I believe that students will cut
class if they are allowed or given the opportunity to.
In Roosevelt's article, he states that college students are entitled when it comes to their
grades. He states that if a student does the bare minimum, then they deserve a C. But many
students disagree with him; the students say that they should get at least a B for showing up to
lectures and completing the required readings. He mentions that there is a sense of entitlement
with these students because they believe that doing the standard deserves an A. I agree with some
aspects of Roosevelt's point; although, I found his article very condescending. I agree that doing
the bare minimum does not deserve an A, and showing up to lectures and doing the required

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readings does not mean a student should automatically pass the class. I believe that in order to be
successful in a class, a student must exceed over the standard. However, I do not agree with his
reason why students are "entitled." I do not think students are entitled, instead it stems from how
they were graded K-12. All my life in the traditional school system, every piece of work I was
assigned was graded and those points were added to my grade. In college, professors will give
their students readings and assignments and not grade them at all. This was a shock to me and
sometimes I felt the need to never read or do the assignments because I was not given credit for
it. It is not entitlement, instead it is a misunderstanding caused by the K-12 grading system.
Overall, these professors have observed that undergraduates are entitled and irresponsible.