Late October Updates

Students of Concord,

I hope your semester is going well. I apologize that I have not written to you for a while from the President's Desk, but know that I am continuing to work hard for you. Life certainly has gotten busy for me over the past month or so with LSAT's, GRE's, academic conferences, and other classroom obligations, but amongst all this, I have not forgotten my obligation as your President, and I am working hard for you on various issues.

Perhaps the issue I have worked hardest on over the past month or so has been the idea of the Religious Studies Commission. If anyone wants detailed information on that, then don't hesitate to see me personally. With the construction of the University Point, I feel that this University should put its obligations toward getting a credible Religious Studies program so that students can get some tangible benefit out of this multimillion dollar complex. Several "tenured" faculty have raised objections to this idea. Here are their basic arguments:

1). With our limited resources, we should fix the programs we have now instead of worrying about future problems. We should, for instance, hire a third Political Scientist, more social workers, more psychologists, more Geography professors, and more.

2). An academic program centered around existing Religion classes as a minor would work, and

3). The SGA has no business getting involved in this matter, which several faculty buried years ago.

My counterarguments to this point are:

1). Considering the limited resources we have available, and considering how much credibility a Religious Studies program could bring to University Point, I am sure the Advancement Office could find enough money from alumni to fund the program. So, the program would not be stepping on anyone's toes. I agree that more faculty is needed in other areas, but this should not stop us from seeking a program and seeking funding that is out there for that program.

2). A program in this way would not work. All anyone has to do to see this is look at our awful Appalachian Studies minor, run by the Geography department. A conglomeration of existing classes does not suffice. If a program is going to be run, it needs to be academically credible run on the U Chicago/Yale model. Of course, I am only a "student", so I know nothing of academic credibility.

3). This argument is nonsense and an ad hominem attack on our student body. I think that people should be outraged by this; these particular faculty are questioning our intelligence. We have every right to hold discussions on this issue, even though it might not be our business to "chair" discussions. Even though we might not be PHD's, we have every right to hold a discussion in a free, democratic society.

In short, I'm afraid that the existing Religious Studies Commission will not work for various reasons. But, keep in mind that I am continuing to make this my top priority, and I am going to seek to start discussions in a different, more appropriate, less controversial way than the one I originally proposed.

Other issues and acknowledgments:

1). I am working on getting a Commuter Lounge. I think that the alumni lounge in the Student Center should be used for this once the alumni move to their multimillion dollar complex. More details on this. The University currently considers the Game Room as the "Commuter Lounge". This is incredibly unfair to our commuter students. No one could "lounge" or study in the Gameroom, which is supposed to be the point of a "lounge".

2). Work on cleaning up your government is underway. After having serious ethical problems from our SGA President and others last year, I pledged to clean up this government, and so far so good. The Ethics committee, which I am chairing, is putting out amendments solving potential ethical hazards for various officers. Bylaw corrections are also underway. People might think that bylaw amendments are a waste of time, but they are not; most of the time, they only serve to make our government stronger.

3). Curtis Kearns and his Tuition and Fees Committee, which I serve on, is doing a fantastic job researching for the upcoming spring, when the BOG votes on Tuition raises. With any luck, we will avoid a major raise this year. I will attempt to ask Pres. Aloia what his projections for a potential gain might be. Our President does care about tuition raises and how it affects students, so I look forward to crunching numbers with him over the next few months as well.

4). As a member of the Emergency Response team, I know more about what is going on with swine flu than any other student on campus. Before you start to worry over potential outbreaks, see me and I should know what to tell you about the news of it.

5). I am the student on our University Budgetary Committee. With any luck, I should be able to figure myself what potential tuition raises will be. I look forward to serving on this with Dr. Charles Becker, who is moving our University forward in his role as Interim VP of Business and Finance.

6). Kudos to VP Akeya Carter Bozman, who pulled off a wonderful Homecoming. She has definitely earned her paychecks this semester.

7). Kudos also to Justice Katlyn Amos, who is chairing our Dining Committee. When this year first began, I stated that I wanted a chair who would not bow down to Randy Keaton, like the Dining Committee has done for the past 3 years or so. She has made many strides for the Dining Hall. I plan on attending her committee soon and perhaps get behind some more improvements as well. She recently brought up a resolution to the Senate to get rid of trays in the cafeteria. I think her idea is great; however, if the University would save money on energy by not having to wash those dishes, I would want to see increased services in food we get. If the service of the trays is going to be stopped, then another service should be provided to take its place. This is what I hope to work with Dining Committee on resolving.

8). Kudos also to Senator Russell Christian, who is working closely with Dr. Aloia and Mark Stella to make our campus more safe.

9). I plan on working closely with Senator Cassidi Hall and her Technology Committee concerning the "one stop" card as well as better technology in our classrooms. As the McNair room indicates, our CAT center does not earn their paychecks. A bulb has been on its last leg in there for a while, and the CAT center refuses to fix the problem. Perhaps it is time that we fix the problem that is the CAT center.

There are more issues than this surrounding our campus, but this should be enough for one blog. Please, leave me your comments/thoughts/criticisms. I do not know what to work on, nor does the rest of our SGA, if you do not inform us. I write this blog not only for news but also to be transparent and open with fellow students of Concord, whom I represent.

See everyone around campus,

President Yeager