Letters to the Editor

Thank you, Delta Chi

I want to take this opportunity to thank my son’s brothers of the Delta Chi fraternity and all the other fraternities and sororities at CSU Sacramento for their support and the comfort that they provided Mike’s mother and me after his untimely death on March 21.

Too many times the Greek fraternities and sororities receive bad press because of some isolated incidents somewhere in our country. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the tremendous contributions that fraternities and sororities make to the development of sound, caring citizens. Mike’s mother and I witnessed the contributions that Delta Chi made in the transformation of a fine young man into a responsible adult with new and expanded leadership skills.

Because of our experience with the Greek fraternities and sororities, we will always be a supporter and advocate in hopes of encouraging parents to encourage their sons and daughters to gain the extra positive experiences that come from being a fraternity brother or sorority sister.

On behalf of Mike’s mother and myself, thank you for your kindness and support.

Myron G. Nadolski

Now it’s time to get involved

But, for us to be successful we need you to be involved in ASI. I want to fight to diversify ASI and bring all members of our student community to the table of power. As your next VP of University Affairs I am responsible for finding students to participate in university committees and therefore I need your help to ensure a strong student voice in the University. You can contact me anytime at south@csus.edu. Thank you.

Sean C. South
Vice President of University Affairs-elect and Current Post Baccalaureate Director to the Associated Students Inc.

Toilet paper worries

When the restrooms on the second and third floors of Eureka Hall were remodeled last summer, the number of fixtures (sinks, urinals, toilets) were cut precisely in half. In the men’s room one must practically stand in a sink to use one of the urinals – I blush at this hideous image, but it is the truth. I shudder to think of the lines which may form, stretching down the halls, after this improvement is made.

Mark Riley

Open letter to Gerth and Alumni Assoc.

Much of my success has been guided and defined by the mentors I was lucky enough to find within the faculty here at CSUS, dedicated people like Stephanie Tucker, Olivia Castellano, Dennis Schmitz and David Madden.

It is these professors, and others like them, who put teaching above politics and their students above themselves, who have made the difference between getting an education and just getting a degree. I have seen, time and time again, these teachers give selflessly of their own invaluable time, talents, and experience, and often even their own material resources, to help students fulfill their individual potentials within the framework of academia. I have also seen these same professionals be devalued and disregarded by administrative priorities and budgetary concerns.

Having acquainted myself with the State University’s Cornerstone Policy and the changes which this campus’ interpretation of that policy projects, I am fearful that future generations of students will not be able to profit, as I have, from the personal guidance of such talented teachers.

Being distanced from their students by internet classrooms and e-mail conferences, limited by the reduced-seat time of abbreviate degree requirements and life-experience exemptions, overwhelmed by mega-sized classes, and demoralized by the disrespect made obvious by their lower pay scales, professors at the State University level will be forced to participate in the assembly-line mass production of a task-oriented working class. In effect, this State’s decision to stretch existing resources to cover rising attendance will eventually devalue our state educational system as a whole, and my own degree will depreciate accordingly.

More than ever, only those who can afford to pay the higher tuition at University of California campuses will get an actual education with its well-rounded exposure to human culture, its elemental grounding in analytical thought, and its inherent potential for personal growth. CSUS will be reduced to the status of a technical school whose only goal is to turn out trained workers who can effectively support the ideology of the dominant culture.

Therefore, I regretfully decline to attend the Honors Convocation – to protest in some small way the devaluation of my professors and my degree, and to express my sadness and fear regarding the education of future generations.

Kathy M. Sheehan