By
The Wildcat Opinions Board
Last week, the curbs were painted.
Bright new banners were hung up.
The new parking garage opened.
We had to look good: Peter Likins was hitting up a group of VIPs for about billion dollars.
They never do nice things like that for us.
We, the students, no longer seem to be the top priority at our university. Students should be upset. They should be storming the Administration offices like a bunch of sweatshop activists. Students should not, however, be surprised.
Just yesterday, the names of those students privileged enough to be able to buy season tickets for the basketball team were released. If nothing else, this should be our reminder that we aren't, and have never been, the top priority here. The greyheads have the cash, and they get the good seats. That's the way it has always been. Think about it: if President Likins wanted to raise a billion dollars from the student body, we'd each have to give around $30,000. Those of us with an extra 30K lying around left for Princeton a long time ago. Do we give money to the university? Absolutely. But we're going to be paying no matter what. We can be taken for granted, and it would take an idiot to not realize this. Today, fundraising is our top priority and, like construction, we're going to have to live with it.
Previously, the university's first priority was research. This, too, should have been no surprise. We are a "Research I" University, and the only people who can claim ignorance of this are those who didn't read the promotional material. Even if that wasn't convincing, take a look at our ripped-up campus. Still, of the approximately two million square feet of space, 1.5 million go to research.
Now, the first priority is fundraising. Campaign Arizona and Family Weekend are wonderful opportunities for the university to raise a great deal of money. These are opportunities that the university cannot afford to pass up- especially if it wants to raise a billion dollars by supper.
It is vital that the university put on a good face for the visiting dignitaries, but it should also be important that the university puts a good face on everyday for the students. Construction serves its purposes. No matter what we think of it, we have reached the universal conclusion that we have to live with it; even if it will still be here when we graduate, it will be gone eventually. The universal downside to construction, however, is that it's ugly. It makes the campus ugly. It makes random freshmen dodge backhoes on their way to class at 9:00 in the morning. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for any of us to have pride in our campus, and pride in our university.
For us, it is too easy to separate ourselves, as the student body, from the university. This should not be the case: we are the university. If we are given the opportunity to take some pride in it, maybe that will sink in.
