Seeing as The Spectrum chose to get rid of the annual personals issue - an issue that I have long regarded as a conglomeration of high school yearbook signatures - and opted instead to print vignettes of stories, I'm following suit in my last column of the year.
Below you will find bite-sized pieces of things at UB that, in my mind, remain unresolved today, the last day of classes for the 2002-03 year.
In a month, UB will have no president.
I don't know if anyone has forgotten this, but President William R. Greiner resigned at the beginning of the semester. And though his last day is scheduled for June 30, the presidential search committee hasn't even announced the five candidates in contention.
Greiner has said he will stay until his successor has been appointed, but it seems somewhat unnerving that there has been no real progress made. What has been going on for the last semester?
I'm beginning to think that really there is no search committee, no applicants, no long and drawn-out process. It's kind of like The Matrix, and we only believe it because we've been conditioned to believe it. Free your minds, UB students.
So, here's my thought. If, by June 30, there is no new president, I will graciously take over. Seriously, I can hold Spectrum meetings in his posh office; I bet it even has working telephone lines that we could use for interviewing and computers that work standing right side up.
My thoughts on Sub-Board
I have said it before, and I will say it again - my only concerns about Sub-Board are the best interests of the students. It seems like that's the only thing that everyone involved is looking for. It's all about better control of undergraduate money; they all want what's best for the students. But who gets to decide that?
It's the people who we -the undergraduates - have elected. It is their choice because we put our faith in them to decide what is best for us. And nearly 1,800 of you came out to vote in the SA general election - sadly, a ridiculously small percentage of the school, but that's the way the chips fall sometimes.
I recall, between my naps in PoliSci 101, something called representative democracy. I feel like that has something to do with this, although I can't be sure. Our officials have said that they want what's best for the students, and it's awesome that we, the undergraduates, get to benefit from that.
What's not awesome is that people who we have elected could hurt the students of the other six student governments. Everyone involved in the Sub-Board situation says this is a great day for both SA and the students; they have yet to make me understand how.
So I'm an undergraduate student, it's the last day of classes, and there's no known plan for what happens to Sub-Board and all of the organizations it helps to fund. $855,700 is a lot of money to have no plan for. I have no problem with this move if it is the best option possible; this feels like greed, masked in philanthropy.
Tuition Hikes, Spending, Budgeting, Oh My!
In a household, when times are tight and the money isn't coming in as it used to, you stop spending. That's the way things work. The household does not, however, begin finalizing plans for a multi-million dollar expansion to connect Lee Road to the Ellicott Complex. The household does not raise rent for its children's room and board. It does not continue spending lavishly and support a $1,200 tuition hike for its students. If you lose your job, the next logical step is not to build a larger house.
The university is trying to maintain the growth it has achieved in the last several years. This is understandable. What is not understandable is the lack of compassion for its students. They have done little to help the students who would no doubt be affected by this hike. Earlier in the year, when the university tried to kick undergraduate students out of the Creekside Village Apartments, they showed little empathy for its students. While the university is not required to hold the hands of 17,000 kids, a little consideration for the kids who pay to attend this university is not too much to ask.
But that's just my two cents. There will be another year for us to get to the bottom of these matters, to write editorials about them and to get angry letters from our readers. I look forward to it.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
