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Letters to the editor
Dr. Gifford’s decision to make Greek Row dry makes sense coming from an administrator’s position. U of L’s insurance rates will drop, and it’s great public relations. This action drew the attention of The Cardinal and local television networks. Gifford felt there were numerous alcohol violations and parties were uncontrollable. Gifford has overlooked another aspect of campus housing: dorms. The dormitories on campus have the same problems supposedly plaguing Greek Row: underage drinking, excessive drinking, and drug use. Yet Gifford has not made the entire campus dry, which has a greater population of residents than that of Greek Row. The reason: football. Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium is considered on campus. Loss of beer sales at the stadium means loss of money for the university.
In The Cardinal, Dr. Gifford stated, “The safety of students is the primary goal here, and I am pleased to act proactively and not in response to a tragic accident or death.” Fraternities can have some wild parties, but claiming that she is saving lives is a bit of a stretch. You’re more likely to suffer serious harm from the Physical Plant workers running over you in their golf carts.
It’s not surprising some students are in favor of the measure. Many non-Greek students dislike fraternities and sororities, based on stereotypes. In Eric Groves’ editorial he stated, “There’s something wrong with irresponsible drinking by newly pledged 19-year-old sophomores.” Does this mean underage drinking is acceptable if the person is not in a fraternity? This happens often on campus at tailgating for football games. If he wonders what Greek organizations do for U of L, ask the charities benefiting from Greek community service. Greeks will continue to have parties, they just won’t be on-campus.
Jacob Schardein
Senior Communications/
Elementary Education
I am writing in response to the recent article in The Cardinal: A&S undergoes major revisions. There were several concerns that were brought to A&S student council that I would like to address.
First, the headline of the article implied that the revisions taking place all fell under the College of Arts and Sciences, but this is not the case. Several of the programs that were mentioned are not in our school, such as “The School of Music Degrees in Performance, Theory and Composition,” “Teacher Education and Health Occupations (School of Ed.),” and “Nursing.” While A&S is the biggest college in the university, it should not be subject to the bad press it has been receiving due to the large headline, when some of those programs discussed are not within our school.
Second, the article says that there is a plan that “starting in 2003, [will] begin charging a per-credit hour tuition rate for full-time students above 16 hours (undergraduate) and 12 hours (graduate).” This has been a major concern from students the A&S Council has heard, but it has not passed through our Board of Trustees. In fact, this proposal is still being discussed with the different schools. While it may be projected to happen in 2003, it certainly hasn’t been approved yet, and the SGA is working very hard to change this plan. Furthermore, this per-credit hour plan would apply to the entire university, not just Arts and Sciences.
Finally, I felt like there was also an implication that the administration was acting alone on these issues, which is also not true. The SGA was aware that these changes were happening, and they were actually acted on by former student government officials as far back as two years ago. SGA did things such as send out mass mailings and held forums to notify and get opinions from the student body. These changes have been coming for a long time, and the SGA was and is working very hard to compromise a package that will be better for our student body.
In closing, I would just like to request that an article correcting some of these misunderstandings be printed in next week’s issue of The Cardinal. As Arts and Sciences Student Council President I am very concerned about students getting a wrong impression of our College and I would like to have these issues clarified. Arts & Sciences is a very large and well organized unit and does not deserve to be generalized to include all of the changing programs and policies that do not apply entirely to A&S, as stated in the article.
Katie Flerlage
Arts & Sciences Student Council President
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article appeared in the Sept. 4 issue of The Louisville Cardinal.
