Another year has come and gone, we’ve grown, we’ve changed — all that jazz.
Four days a week, the Daily Wildcat has published columns, editorials and letters from students and staff who needed a forum in which to air their grievances, often with us.
No one writes to or for the Wildcat because it’s glamorous, or because it pays fabulously or even because it’s totally satisfying. We write because we believe it matters. We write because along with all the ups of the school year come some downs, and we believe our words can tip the balance back in our favor.
Here, we’re believers in forward momentum, even if we have to bear down to achieve it.
And so, in the interest of progress, we’d be remiss not to ask some follow-up questions about the issues we’ve raised over the course of the year. There are a couple good ideas that we think still hold water, and some slights we don’t want to forget. Mostly, there are actions that still need to be taken to ensure that our university is performing at its best. Sometimes dead horses are too important not to beat until they’re up and kicking again.
Child care on campus (“UA lacks adequate child care resources” by David W. Mariotte, Dec. 3, 2013):
As Mariotte points out, the Wildcat has been asking about campus child care for as many as 16 years, and yet we’re still the only Pac-12 school without on-campus daycare. The general atmosphere on campus, too, is rather anti-child.
The College of Education and other campus organizations are striving to change this, but they need the attention and the assistance of the student body, and the serious consideration of the administration, to do so.
Professor Staff (“Apropos of Nothing: Elusive prof must be stopped” by Logan Rogers, Jan. 22):
Though Rogers’ columns always had a joking tone, he’s prone to planting seeds of truth as punch lines. The frustration of registering for a class on UAccess, only to be forced to choose between one Professor Staff or another, is something most of us have experienced. And for students who like to visit another popular “professor” site to check up on their prospects of an A, it’s especially painful.
Earlier schedule decisions and postings of prof’s names would put us all a little more at ease (especially poor, overworked Staff).
Elite Eight “riots” (“Editorial: Clash still raising questions” by Editorial Board, April 2):
The questions raised remain raised. There are few answers to Wildcat queries about why the police presence was so strong that evening on University Boulevard and what part the UA administration played in organizing it. A few brief statements from the dean of students and none from our president weren’t enough. Neither was the announced investigation into police conduct — last mentioned in the media near the beginning of April. Incidents like this will continue to occur as long as we’re content to overlook them just a few weeks later.
2.5 percent Nelnet fee (“New fee bursaring bubbles” by Katelyn Kennon, March 6):
For our convenience, the Bursar’s Office no longer accepts credit cards, instead outsourcing them to third-party processor Nelnet for a 2.5 percent fee. There are ways around the extra costs (and they are extra, despite rhetoric to the contrary), but the real issue here is, again, what little attempts at communication with students the UA made.
We’re not here to be milked. This is just another case where giving too little attention to an issue will allow for more exploitative, non-democratic decisions in the future.
Adjunct abuse (“Universities exploit adjuncts, hinder learning” by Max Weintraub, Oct. 16, 2013):
Almost half of college faculty nationwide are part-time adjuncts professors, which means, in part, that they get paid very little, have little job security and receive no benefits. Weintraub points out that the stress of uncertain salaries and having to reapply for positions every year can undermine the quality of our education.
All those tuition increases and bothersome fees we hate? Instead of going to faculty, the money is being directed toward our huge administration. It’s time to take stock of what’s really essential at the UA; almost certainly we’ll decide it’s knowledge.
Free iPads (“iPads should be replaced with more practical items” by Elizabeth Eaton, Sept. 18, 2013):
Our university still hands out free iPads with many of its most popular merit-based scholarships, despite the fact that they may not be the best tools for completing academic assignments. The distracting device can’t even run most of the necessary programs for classes. MacBooks or UofA Bookstore vouchers would serve students better, Eaton wrote.
The large amount of money being spent to provide students with toys they don’t necessarily want could also easily be diverted to one of the other issues mentioned above.
