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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
University
falls far
short of
excellence
Our
illustrious
institution’s
ego
overshadows
its real
quality:
mediocrity
Opinion
Ashley
Bach
Kyle Boiler could have gone any
where, and in the end, it came down
to the University of California and the
University of Oregon. The high school
senior from Newhall, Calif., one of the
top five high school quarterbacks in
the country, had to make the monu
mental decision of where to play col
lege football.
Last week he chose California.
Why? The big reason was academics,
he told The San Francisco Examiner,
adding, “To get a degree from Berke
ley is pretty big.”
Smart kid.
While top high school athletes are
normally more concerned with the
caliber of a college’s weight room and
party scene than its teaching, Boiler is
on to something. His decision, and the
basis for it, is something the Universi
ty endures with thousands of students
a year.
Boiler and his counterparts know
something the administration and
various professors seem unable to
grasp, that public relations peons try
to cover up with a stream of press re
leases. That is, the University is not a
great school. In fact, it’s not even a
good school.
It's hard to accept, I know, for those
of you who were under the assump
tion that you were part of an institu
tion that had some unique qualities to
call its own, some secret weapons it
could throw into the mosh pit that is
national college recruitment. But it’s
just not true.
The truth is we’re attending a
school that can barely measure up
academically to its fellow state uni
versities, let alone the best colleges in
the country. The story is the same for
most students and many professors
across campus: This is not a school
peo
ple
want
to go to;
<
mis is a
school at which
people with
higher aspirations
end up.
The argument can be
made various ways.
First, let’s look at the
numbers. The Office of
Communications will be
quick to mention that in the last
year the University has been
dubbed with such dubiou
labels as a “Best
Buy,” “Most
Wired Cam
pus,” and in the
“Best 311 Col
leges.” That the
University was
ranked the 36th
best undergraduate
school by something called The
But
Uourman Report and among the top
63 graduate programs by the Prince
ton Review. And that the University’s
undergraduate and graduate pro
grams in such subjects as psychology,
architecture, education and math
were ranked in Gourman’s Top-25
and Top-50 lists.
These accolades are noteworthy but
hardly remarkable. Every major uni
versity in the country probably has a
list just as big, if not bigger. The real
question is this: In how many college
rankings, guides, lists and books is the
University and its programs hardly a
footnote or not mentioned at all? 1 ven
ture to say it’s quite a few.
that s not all. The
school’s most damning ranking posi
tion has always lain squarely within
U.S. News & World Report. The maga
zine’s annual college guide, the most
important and widely read in the
country, has consistently ranked the
University in the third tier of universi
ties, out of four. To put this in perspec
tive, the University is on equal ground
with such academic heavyweights as
Ohio’s Union Institute and the Univer
sity of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
To add insult to injury, each fall
when the rankings appear professors
and administrators can be heard grum
bling about how U.S. News skews its
numbers or uses unfair statis
tics. Talk about sour grapes,
h The University hardly
r shines on an anecdotal level
w either. No one I’ve talked to
Sk has ever been truly in
'V spired by a professor or
course, although I’m sure
some rare cases exist. In the
many classes I’ve had, no one
accintju pcii LiuLiiai iy nappy —
or proud — to be there. They
probably knew they weren’t at Berke
ley. The University’s dismal 56 per
cent graduation rate (within five years)
seems to support the notion that many
students aren’t ready, willing or able
to complete their education here.
On the other hand, maybe things re
ally aren’t that bad. At least the Uni
versity is trying to solve part of the
problem — the best in-state high
school students fleeing to out-of-state
schools—by bribery. While these stu
dents prove their intelligence by leav
ing the state, the University is desper
ately offering $1,000 scholarships to
students with grade point averages of
at least 3.6 and $2,000 to 4.0 students
and valedictorians.
And at least those ot us who choose
to stay will get college degrees to en
hance our marketability in a competi
tive world and give us better futures.
I’ve just come to accept that I won’t be
getting any jobs or opportunities
based on the prestige of my school.
There is none.
Honestly, though, the University is
n’t a bad school. But I almost wish it
was. At least then we’d be notable for
something.
Ashley Bach is a columnist for the Emer
ald. His inews do not necessarily repre
sent those of the newspaper.
Letters to the Editor
Enough is enough
Friday's editorial by Vince Medeiros, ODE Jan. 22, was an
example of how not to write an editorial. Not only did he
fail to get me to sympathize with his weak will-power, but
he spent a good deal of his time worsening the public's view
of college students.
Perhaps if he spent less time drinking and more time re
searching, or actually working to change some of the things
he complains about, he’d find out what "enough" can really
mean. Hey Vince, how about: Enough of the perpetuation
of the social myth that all college students do nothing but
drink cheap beer and whine? Enough romanticizing behav
ior that can lead to addiction, crime, bad grades, ill health
and even death? Enough wasting valuable editorial space
with stories of your drunken behavior. Save it for people
who care.
If you’re not here to study and learn, including writing
10-page term papers, maybe you ought to reexamine your
real purpose. $3,750 is a lot to pay for a cover charge.
Megan Koster
Senior, Anthropology
Campus radio
Campus radio, giving the students the chance to play the
music that only we like. 1 am sure that this is not the actual
slogan of the campus radio station, KWVA, but it probably
should be. At the end of fall term, a friend of mine and I
turned in an application for a radio show. We asked around
to try and see what students thought of the existing radio
station on campus, and what students would like to hear
played. The first response we received was: Oh, you mean
the station that you need ear plugs to listen to? After many
references to words that cannot be printed to describe the
station, we decided that we should tailor our program full of
music that a wide variety of students would listen to. Our
mock set list included lots of live recordings including
Phish, the Grateful Dead and various other blues artists;
good music for a well-cultured listening base.
Phase 2 of getting our radio show was going into the station
and talking to people who would rather not see you unless
you have tom clothing and at least three piercings. We were
blown off time and time again and told that it was not worth
leaving a message for the station’s general manager because,
He does not return his messages." Not exactly a common
practice of managers. So after many phone calls, we decided
to go into the station to see exactly what was going on in
there. After being told again that the general manager is never
there which begs the question, why is he the general man
ager? — we gave our pitch to the people in the station.
We would like to play a lot of live recordings including
Phish, the Grateful Dead' and some blues. We asked why the
station was not allowed to play those bands. The response
was, because "Sean hates them.”
Wow, so much for campus radio, the station of the students.
Frank Jezukewicz
Sophomore, Journalism