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Show THE THUNDERBIRD How about the year of the student? As faithful as the swallows returning to Capistrano, those who thirst for knowledge return now to the halls of learning that hold up the ivy on the grounds of SUSC. It seems, however, that those stewards g of the long term of our campus have determined that the academic quality of a campus is defined by the number of major events on campus and the athletic conference to which the school belongs. At the risk of flying in the face of the SUSC flock, propose that all at SUSC dedicate this year as "The Year of the Student." Being the Jonathan Livingston Seagull sort that am, challenge the concept that the way to increase the worth of SUSC diplomas is through glitzy public relations campaigns, athletic recognition, and large buildings and events. suggest the radical proposition that our supreme priority is to educate the students we currently have and to enrich those students' intellectual experience. Last year was certainly a time of contradiction at SUSC. The faithful saw the completion of the opulent Centrum and the groundbreaking of an equally opulent new Student Center. Our campus welcomed the teams of many nations and the bountiful publicity that followed. Certainly, an unprecedented year in the public relations here. Unfortunately, last year also saw the further elimination of academic programs. Once again, our campus's budgetary whipping boy, the department of behavioral and social sciences, made the trip to the all too familiar fiscal whipping post. While on the other hand, in our role as the host of a dance troupe, our campus maintains a disproportionately large dance faculty which escaped the eye of the budgetary hatchetman. However, behavioral and social sciences housed no such attraction. Now certainly, if more people in our world danced there would be a need for fewer people studying social problems, but such is not now the case. In the past couple of years the students of our campus were denied the core of all intellectual discourse which is the discipline of philosophy. It is a sad statement on the state of higher learning that we can no longer present an academic emphasis in philosophy. Last year our college planners also discovered the secret that our Library is completely inadequate for our college's academic needs let alone the research needs of our faculty. It is a sad situation that our Library must drift to such an appallingly neglected state before it becomes a matter of interest of future goals. Weep for a world that does not provide dance troupes to libraries in order that libraries may justify their existence to public relations hungry administrators. Perhaps a partial solution to fiscal problems is to redirect scarce campus funds away from expensive advertising campaigns that are intended to attract new students to our campus when we are barely able to afford the students that we have. A thought. In dedicating "The Year the Student" let us commit our college's resources to the academic enrichment of the students who are presently enrolled. Let our college commit to no new building plans until our Library crisis is resolved. Our campus should welcome its students as cordially as it does the gymnast of the Soviet Union. We must walk down every avenue in search of a way to increase the pay of our current faculty which has sadly fallen behind the standard of the profession. Many departments have not been expanded in terms of faculty since the U.S. Marines walked the streets of Saigon. Certainly an appropriate goal would be to expand the scope of class offerings by our campus. In short, this year should represent the rejuvenation of academic excellence on our campus. In the end, our college exists for the students which attend it. As sure as the return of the swallows defining the meaning of Capistrano, the students who return to SUSC each year give our college its justification for existence. The goal of any institution of higher learning is in fact learning. The purpose of the administration should be to create an academic environment that students can be proud of and grow in. After all, as the motto of college states "Learning Lives Forever," and the roar of the Centrum crowds at college sponsored events fades away in an instant. TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 1987 PACE 5 from Any Tface 7o Any TCace. well-bein- I I I I ic PLEIADES TRAVEL mTERUATIOHAL GUARANTEED LOWEST AVAILABLE FARE ON CHOSEN ITINERARY FREE TICKET DELIVERY CEDAR CITY IN NOW IS THE TIME TO PLAN YOUR HOLIDAY VACATION JUAN GUERRO GAYE THURSTON 432 NORTH MAIN, CEDAR CITY MON-FR- I 8:30 A.M. TO 6 RM.; SAT, 9-- 3 THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING PLEIADES TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL pt DR. fl.F. RICH. OPTOMETRIST 60 NOFTTH MAIN 586-888- 1 25DISCOUNT ON ALL SERVICES AND MATERIALS TO STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF, YEAR ROUND. Specialty Risk Free Contacts, Money-Bac- Guarantee APARTMENTS |