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Show PACE EDITOR 5 Tiffany De Masters, Thursday, January 13, 2005 586-548- 8 Climate calls for movement to perservere Students must be heard. Standing on the sidelines watching life go by is a terrible way to live. With the disappearance of student space, the professor of o the year being fired with explanation, and talk of more tuition hikes, too many questions have been raised which have not received adequate answers. In fact, the indirect answers given to us by the administration do not even begin to address the concerns of students. Many questionable issues have come up over the past few years. Let us focus on just this past semester. student space. The student center, the east end of First the Sharwan Smith Center, was dedicated in 1988 as a place entirely for student functions. In an interview with the Thunderbird, Darin Bird made it clear that students owned the student center and its sole purpose was to provide a place conducive and appropriate for the total relaxation of the student body. Look what has happened. The administration swiped the space over the summer. Now the space is used for student recruitment: very relaxing. 4 Second Stephen Roberds, winner of the Professor of the Year award was terminated. What happened? Well, no one really knows. The administration gives us vague reasons for his firing but no real substantial explanation. What is the truth? And third tuition continues to rise. In the spring of 2004 there was a increase in tuition, and now a year has gone by, and there is talk of another, larger, increase brewing. This talk will eventually lead to a big meeting in the Living Room where President Bennion will tell us they are raising tuition. He will give us a bunch of reasons why SUU has decided to raise it and present the breakdown. Then, a semester later students will find out the administration is moving things, refurnishing rooms and having construction done which wasnt in the tuition breakdown. Westley, a character from The Princess Bride, said it perfectly: We are men of action; lies do not become us. Action and accountability must be taken for the lies that have been told. We recognize that this is only a sample of the wrongs committed against students. The University Journal is committed to keeping the student body informed so that students may decide how to respond. With all that has happened, some students have decided to take a stand. They are making their views heard and taking advantage of the freedoms set down by our founding fathers. The Journal supports the right of students to taking advantage of the freedoms they are allowed. We encourage students to become passionate about their thoughts and views, whatever they are. College is the perfect place to decide and develop strong opinions. We applaud students for magnifying their right to freedom of speech. We want your voice to be heard. Do not be afraid to voice it, however that may be to you. There have been protests going on this week. There will probably more in the future. Where will you be? Will you decide to be involved, or will you be a wallflower watching opportunities pass you by? Where will you stand? little-to-n- 2003-200- The opinions expressed above are the collective perspective of the University Journal editorial board. The editorial board meets every Monday and Thursday at 3 p.m. in room 176C of the Sharwan Smith Center. Roberds5 termination misleading The termination of Steve Roberds is the buzz of SUU, and rightly so! Students are understandably angry about the sacking of a It will be an interesting semester at SUU! However, it is also a semester that marks a further deprivation of the academic and intellectual vitality of the institution. It is these latter issues I wish to address, for they are a tragedy to all. Not everyone agrees that Roberds was an outstanding professor, g popular, dedicated, and professor they need answers. Uncomfortable coincidences need explanation: why did his termination so closely coincide with his tenure application? Why did the administration opt to terminate Roberds during the last days of finals week when students and faculty were leaving campus or already gone? Why did the LRT committee fail to act on Roberds tenure application and how is this related to his termination? Some people at SUU need to account fortheir own embarrassments: How is it that administration can have it both ways? Lamar Jordan can collect evidence on Roberds by use of false pretenses and then, once terminated, he and administration hide behind privacy policies? Why did David Rees, faculty senate president, immediately go to the press publicizing his support for the administrative decision to terminate a colleague? What compelled Rees to spread misinformation and air dirty laundry about alleged occurrences? Why was Rees so eager to discredit his colleague in a public forum? Rees is entitled to his First Amendment of your op-e- d article reads Faculty rights, but when the by-liSenate president at Southern Utah University you speak from the perspective of your appointed position. Rees needs to atone for what he has done, which, I think, is an embarrassment for the faculty of SUU. All these questions aside, the irony of the situation is attention grabbing enough: SUU terminated the current Professor of the Year who, just weeks before, delivered the Distinguished Faculty Honor Lecture as part of the last semesters Convocation series. award-winnin- colleague or employee. I know that and understand. Its no secret, so lets put it on the table: Roberds is outspoken, often blunt, he rarely lets anything (or anyone) off the hook easy, he is renown for his talent for flowery, (sometimes poetic) litanies of criticism, and if Roberds disagrees with a point of view he is not afraid to take you to task (no matter who you are)., These qualities have led some to conclude that Roberds lacks collegiality. Id like to suggest otherwise. For the record, the opinion I express is my own. As a colleague, I appreciated Roberds collegiality for many reasons: Roberds was reliable he was always on campus, always available, never failed to attend meetings, and always participated wholeheartedly. He was a watchdog who never slept thats difficult from an administrative point of view, because he never let anything slide, and valuable from a faculty point of view because, well, he never let anything slide. Roberds always told you exactly what he thought, made his opinion crystal-clea- r, and meant what he said lie was truthful and honest, even if that meant championing an unpopular view. His impassioned perspective assured that decisions were, in fact, defendable See WASKUL, Page 4 Presidents Advisory Council gives response to students demonstration EDITORS NOTE: The following official statement was received from President Steven D. Bennion at press time Wednesday evening. January 12, 2005 RESPONSE TO STUDENT OUTLINED President Steve Bennion best respond to them. Present in the meeting were leaders of the Faculty Senate, the Student Executive Council and the Staff Association Board, along with executive officers of SUU. The consensus reached by all those present in the meeting was to invite the Faculty Senate, the Student Senate and the Staff Association Board to review the written concerns of this group of students and to share their recommendations with the Presidents Council by Feb. 4th. We are inviting those respective groups of leaders who represent the students and employees of SUU to share their recommendations concerning these issues or at least on the issues they feel are gei mane to their iespective roles. RESPONDS CONCERNS During the noon hour on Wednesday a group of students shared a list of concerns on issues of UNIVERSITY importance to the SUU. Later in the afternoon, the Presidents Advisory Council met to discuss these concerns and how to OURNAL UaSEi DacEx DIRECTING STAFF AND DESK PHONE NUMBERS: Editor CarliWarr 586-775- 0 Associate Editor Tiffany De Masters Associate Editor Vale White Accent Editor Melissa Nielsen, Sports Editor Darren Vaughan, Photo Editor Cambric White, 2 Web Editor Alex Eagar, 586-- 1 586-9 1 992 992 STEVEN D. BENNION What issues are you willing to fight for? 9 8 Asst Copy Elizabeth Bowler, Asst Copy Dana Bartholomew, Graphics Editor Jana Taylor, Ad Designer David Stevenson, ' 2 t 8 Copy Chlet Michael Nielson, Heather Darata, Marc Dotson, Rachel Glidden, 586-775- 8 or 559-867- 4 1 Operations Manager John S Gholdston, Senior Staff Writers: X 1 7 Advertising Manager Brian Gwin, The University Journal is published every Monday and Thursday of the academic year by and for the student body of Southern Utah University It is advised by professional faculty and staff in the universitys Communication Department. The views and opinions expressed in the Journal are those of individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institution, faculty, staff or student body in general The unsigned editorial directly above is the opinion of the University Journal editorial board tetters to the editor must be letters must include the same information as typed and include the author's name and phone number those otherwise submitted Only the name will be printed Names will not be withheld under any circumstances The editor reserves the right to edit letters for length and taste Letters should be firm ted to 250 300 words and must be submitted by noon Thursday for inclusion in Monday editions or by 4 p m. Tuesday for inclusion in Thursday editions Submission of a letter does not guarantee publication Grievances Any individual with a grievance against the Journal should direct such problem first to the editor If unresohed, that grievance should then be directed to the operations manager Any grievance not resolved at that level is referred to the Journal Advisory Council The Journal is distributed free of charge 25 cents each to individuals for the first copy Additional copies may be purchased for Untversm Journal SUU Sharwan Smith Center, Room 176C Mail address University Journal, address joumalsuu edu St. Cedar City. Utah 84720 FAX (435)586 5487 Q) PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER PLEASE RECYCLE THIS COPY 2005 SUU University Journal 351 W Center Michelle Nielson Junior English Monticello I would fight for our educational that is system, bilingual education. Students should be fully emerged into the system, rather than isolated. Cesar Garcia Senior Nursing Lindsay Jorgensen Junior Advertising Gunnison Provo billing t r my freedom my beliefs. I willing against would to Panguitch be fight abortion because I think its murder and needs to be stopped. Shauna Sawyer Sophomore Elementary Ed. think it would great if the school provided for a funding I be volleyball team. Sophomore Chemistry Heber City My country, my religion and my woman. ..if I had one. |