Editor:

I am writing this letter concerning the article written on April 24, "ROTC Fighting Relocation Plan." Several points are made in this article that I would like to address.

The Office of Student Affairs has given the ROTC a plan in which they would be allowed to use the classroom space, but would have to move the instructors' offices to Babcock. While that would allow the students to arrive to class on time, the officers and enlisted that instruct these classes would not be able to make it across campus in time. The cadets and midshipmen would be there, but the instructor would not. It's hard to learn with nobody there to teach.

The officers and enlisted that have offices in South Hall are also there to fulfill other duties concerning the cadets/midshipmen that fill the building daily. It would be very hard to conduct day-to-day operations while forced to travel between the two buildings. It is a military command, and as such, performs a role in the military structure of this country. It is the Honors Program that needs more room, not Residence Life. Why can't Residence Life move out to Babcock? I know that the plan is to "improve service delivery for undergraduate education," but how many students use the Residence Life offices on a daily basis? Everyone that I know who lives in a dorm has never been there more than twice a semester. Most, if not all, of the 531 cadets and midshipmen use South Hall everyday. More importantly, it is used as a classroom space, or as a place to wait until the next class of the day. Students that are going to use the Residence Life offices usually are there because of a problem or for an appointment.

What would a central building suit better: a program in which students come once, maybe twice a semester, or one that has 500 students coming and going all day? Babcock was vacated by programs that moved to the new Main Gate Center. The rooms that they vacated at Babcock are set up better to be used as offices. The vice president of Student Affairs has offered to the ROTC to add classrooms to the Babcock building. If the school is willing to use that much money, then can it not also make those offices suitable for Residence Life's needs as well? And, I have also heard a rumor that Babcock is going to be torn down in a few years. What happens to all that new construction then? Money wasted, that is what.

South Hall was given to the ROTC units as a permanent location. Moving the ROTC out of a building that it was supposed be housed in does not send a positive message to the cadets and midshipmen. The move is seen by the cadets and midshipmen as a personal attack on their program. It is giving them the idea that the university does not appreciate their presence on campus. This is probably the biggest problem with this move. The students that are in the ROTC programs are here to learn. Their one goal is to get a degree in order to be commissioned as Army, Navy or Air Force. The ROTC provides the school with very high quality individuals who are highly motivated, intelligent and dedicated students, who will be the future leaders in the civilian and military populations. Of all the possible schools that they could attend, they have all chosen the University of Arizona, because it is the best ROTC to attend. It would be a shame to ruin a good thing.

Peter Schmugge
management information systems sophomore