Dear Editor,
I always find it interesting to see exactly what the administration finds to be important when it comes time for budget cuts [“Administrators spike men’s volleyball,” Sept. 17]. It seemed as though the two deciding factors for the administration when cutting the men’s volleyball team were the lack of a SCIAC league for and the minimal amount of players it affected. What they failed to realize was the importance of the team to this campus. While I haven’t been to a football game since my freshman year three years ago, I have heard that I’m not missing much. Yet I can recall going out of my way while on break for a night class to peak into the gym and check out the score of the men’s volleyball game. While there may have only been 20 or so players on the team, those 20 players brought more attention to the University than several other sports ever will. I can remember having to stand barely inside the gym doors to glance at the score because the stands were packed standing room only. This is the story that the numbers don’t tell, the story that has now been severed at the head by the administrators.
But on another note, it still puzzles me why we have certain classes integrated into our required curriculum. I understand the idea for general education is to create a “more well rounded student”, but some classes simply don’t make sense. The two classes that come to mind are Core 320 and Core 340. Three weeks into school and I already struggle to find the motivation to attend my Core 320 class. But since there is no attendance policy, homework, or participation, I have the same amount of points as everyone else in the class. Of course, when I do attend, I notice that there is rarely more than 50 percent of the enrolled students there. Each of which is paying around $2,000 to be enrolled in a class which they rarely attend, apparently finding a higher opportunity cost in other classes. Last spring semester was my turn to endure the Core 340 requirement, of which I felt was a repeat of my 8th grade health class.
Thankfully, there are a few staff members who agree with my opinion on these two classes. However, when they have put up a fight for the students to eliminate or at least consolidate these two classes, the response has been very aggressive from the departments which teach these classes, claiming that they might lose their jobs. As a student at an institution which is largely funded by the tuition of myself and my classmates, I feel that my time in the classroom should be spent studying things that are important to myself and my career. Sadly, I don’t feel that learning about the Stone Age in my Core 320 class this semester and learning about the food pyramid and eating healthy in Core 340 class last semester really will help me in my business career.
So the question comes – at what point will the administration actually take up the input of the students, who are actually funding their jobs and the activities of the school, to find out what they really want? There may be 80 players on the football team, and only 20 on the volleyball team, but for some reason I think the student body is more supportive of the volleyball team. And although the science departments don’t want to lose their jobs at this school over the removal of two core classes, I really don’t want to waste my time or tuition on them either.
Jacob Leveton
Senior
Dear Editor,
Picture this: Coming home after a long night out with friends. You approach Stu-Han and all you want is to get in the building and climb into your warm, comfy bed. All of a sudden all sight of your bed is gone and you duck just in time to dodge the evil sprinkler. You and your friends burst out laughing. In reality though, this is no laughing matter. You huddle together and watch the sprinklers closely. Counting off you yell, “Go, go, go!”
As amusing as it may sound, the story described above happens every day. I can put my money on it that it has happened to many ladies who live in Stu-Han. I find it quite ridiculous that the sprinklers never get fixed and every day all they do is waste water. I am not sure if this is one of the reasons that tuition keeps going up, but if this is the case, I wouldn’t mind having cement all around Stu-Han. The sidewalk gets a nice watering every night as well as the grass. I know things can’t always be perfect, but if someone is paying to live on campus they should not have to dodge sprinklers every time they need to get into the building. I think it is time to stop changing the plants on campus and fix the sprinkler systems.
Nancy Reyes
Junior
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.