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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Chris Elliott                        Zach Lee                  Christian Palmer
                Geronimo Rodriguez       Blake Whitaker       Kristen Young

Springtime report card: baseball and … software malfucntions

UC/UC Satellite: D

Some had enough cash on hand to pay for food at the University Center and the UC Satellite when the computers malfunctioned Wednesday and Thursday, but some did not. For many, that meant either shelling out extra cash at ATMs on campus or waiting until after all their classes and going off-campus to eat.

That is simply inexcusable.

And though University officials point to Blackboard software as the cause for the malfunction, the problem was here on campus and campus officials should be doing everything they can to ensure the problem will not reappear today.

Students and faculty have had their lunch options cut short for two consecutive days, perhaps spending as much money on withdrawal surcharges as they did on lunch. To be fair, no one gets credit when the system runs smoothly, but this is more than a couple minutes of inconvenience.

Perhaps the University should show that it cares about the students' plight by refunding their on-campus ATM surcharges for the period during which credit card machines were not working. Then again, that may be a little silly.

MLB: C+

This one had points off for coming in so late. 

Barry Bonds may be the devil, but he's certainly not the only one who's gotten a better shot at some monster records by using performance-enhancing drugs, and Major League Baseball is finally looking into accusations of steroid use.

Of course, to fans outside of San Francisco, Bonds has more juice in him than all of Florida, but MLB taking what looks to be serious steps into its own shadowy past should be commended. On the other hand, Commissioner Bud Selig has ignored the same accusations time and time again.

And the investigation is not as simple as it sounds. Baseball began drug testing in 2003, long after the accusations of abuse began, and finding and punishing players who used performance-enhancing drugs before that will be difficult.

The investigation may not come up with anything either, and that would be disappointing. After Rafael Palmeiro lied to Congress about his use of steroids, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire look guilty as sin. 

And everyone knows Bonds is.