A central China university has caused controversy¹ by making its students pick their majors through a lottery² system.

中国中部的一所大学让学生通过抓阄来分专业，这引起了人们的争议。

The auditorium³ at the University of South China in Hunan Province was especially crowded the evening of September 8, when hundreds of students queued to pick their majors through luck of the draw.

9月8日晚上，湖南省南华大学的大礼堂里十分拥挤，成千上百的学生在这里排队抓阄选专业。

Second-year students from the department of civil engineering under the urban planning school are required to focus on one of the department's seven majors.

城建学院土木工程系的大二学生要在七大专业方向里选择专业。

Lu Qinghua, an official with the school, said, "We were forced to take these measures. If choosing a major is solely⁴ based on students' wants, some majors will be overcrowded and others will have difficulty enrolling⁵ enough students. There are some other colleges that use this method."

学校里一位领导卢清华说：“我们也是被迫采取这些措施的。如果仅按照学生意愿来选择专业，一些专业会人满为患，而另一些专业则会招不满。别的学校也有这样做的。”

Lu added that not all of the department's 585 students must rely on luck. The top 190 students in the department may choose their majors freely. Students who draw through the lottery still have a chance to switch with another student before their majors are finally set.

卢清华老师补充说，并非系里的585名学生都必须靠运气，系里排名前190名的学生可以自主选择专业。在专业最终确定下来之前，抓阄的学生还有机会和其他同学换专业。

Critics say the university's methods are a sign of lazy governance.

评论者说此种方式是学校在管理上偷懒的表现。

"The college lacks a sense of responsibility. Students should enjoy the right to choose the majors they prefer, and the college should not sacrifice students' chances of personal development for the sake of maintaining a balance among majors," said Internet user "Jingshuishenliu" on news portal Sohu.com.

“学校缺乏责任感。学生享有选择心仪专业的权利，学校不能为了维持各专业之间的平衡就剥夺学生的个人发展机会，”网友“静水深流”在搜狐新闻网上这样说。

Si Hanhan, a writer for news portal gmw.cn, said that instead of deciding majors in such an "irresponsible" way, universities should readjust the majors offered and eliminate those that don't meet the needs of the job market, as well as offer more guidance to students when choosing their majors.

光明网作者斯涵涵认为，学校应重新调整专业，淘汰不能满足就业市场需求的专业，同时在选择专业时给予学生更多指导，而不是用这种“不负责任的”方式来决定学生的专业。

Si also said that the school's policy of allowing the top 190 students to choose their own majors is an act of "discrimination."

斯涵涵还说，学校允许前190名学生自主选择专业的政策是一种“歧视”行为。

An official surnamed Su with the publicity⁶ department of the university said the policy has been in place for years and the school had also sought advice from instructors⁷ and students twice in the past.

学校宣传部的一位苏姓领导说，这项政策也有几年了，况且学校曾两次征求过老师和学生们的意见。

"After one year of study, students whose performance is in the top 10 percent can apply to change majors," she said.

“经过一年的学习后，表现在前10%的学生可以申请转专业，”她说。

A student who had just drawn⁸ a major told newspaper Beijing Times, "I think it is quite fair. Students are encouraged to study hard to gain the chance to freely choose majors. Even if we get a dissatisfying major after the lottery, we can exchange it with others."

一名刚刚抓过阄选专业的同学告诉《北京时报》，“我觉得这样还是很公平的。这样做能够鼓励学生努力学习，争取自主选择专业的机会。尽管我抓阄选到的专业并不尽如人意，但我能和其他人交换。”