Jason Poreda

Regardless of what we each get involved in, we all share a common thread: we are all here to further our education in some way. Whether it was a science, language or art, everyone came here to pursue an interest they hold dear. We all chose the UA for a variety of reasons ranging from the weather to the beautiful campus to the basketball team and everything in between. However, we came to the UA expecting competitive classes and solid academics ÷ that's why we spent so many hours taking the SAT, filling out applications and organizing all that paperwork back in high school when we all decided to go to college. Over the past year or so, with the mammoth budget cuts the university has had to take, some of this competitiveness has been sacrificed.

Today a friend and I were discussing our classes for the new semester and she couldn't hold back the frustration she had with one of her classes. Not only was she forced to sit on the floor because the classroom was overflowing with students trying to add the class, but she found out that this 400 level class in her major was going to be taught by a graduate student.

Despite the fact that she is desperately trying to find classes to add, she is considering dropping the class to save the frustration. How commendable of her to open a space for another student who I am sure is ready to add the class ÷ or any other class ÷ to fill a sparsely-filled schedule.

It's a story that is not uncommon here at UA this semester ÷ finding a seat in an upper division class is a lot like trying to find snow in Tucson. I myself had to brave long lines sitting on the cold floor for hours with dozens of my fellow students to see an academic advisor in a futile attempt to get into classes so I can graduate this May. While we awaited our turn, we thought up better ways for getting into a class ÷ the favorites being boxing matches or cage fights outside the disputed classrooms to determine who gets the few precious available seats.

At what point do we draw the line, though? At what point do we say simply getting into a class isn't good enough, that we want a class with a quality professor who will challenge us?

The UA has been so concerned with fixing the class availability problem that has plagued the campus for the last year that the root of the problem has been over looked. Millions of the precious dollars remaining have been allocated to fix this problem.

Professors are becoming harder and harder to find as many of them are retiring or leaving UA to pursue their careers at other universities where they are able to get enough grant money to complete their research. As reported in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, Mark Zupan, dean of the Eller College of Business, announced he would leave to become the dean of the University of Rochester's school of business administration on Jan. 1.

Top-notch chemistry professors Seth Marder, Joseph Perry and Jean-Luc Bred‡s and optical sciences associate professor Bernard Kippelen also resigned due to the delay of a $45 million dollar addition to the Chemistry building. The four professors will be going to the Georgia Institute of Technology, where they already have raised $5 million dollars of grant money to begin their research.

In addition to these huge losses the UA suffered several other setbacks. Soroosh Sorooshian, the director of SAHRA, a regents professor and an internationally-recognized researcher for his work in hydrology has left the UA for UC Irvine. He took several researchers with him, including professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin, who left for UC Merced. This is an enormous blow to the Focused Excellence plan, which cited Hydrology and Water Recourses as a focal point.

The UA also recently lost Diana Liverman, professor of geography and director of the Latin American Area Center, who accepted an endowed chair at Oxford. How many more professors have to leave before the UA will wake up and realize the quality of our education is slowly diminishing with every professor that decides to leave?

We need to change what is happening here. Sooner then we are willing to admit, outgoing students will have spent so little time with actual professors that passing them at the Cactus Grill will become an event worthy of calling home.

Can we really consider ourselves an elite school when we have crowded classes taught by graduate students just to fulfill prerequisites and major requirements? Is that really what a school that is considered the cream of the crop in Arizona should be like?

This is a problem that can't be fixed overnight, but is one that can get exponentially worse in an extremely short amount of time. As professors jump ship for better opportunities elsewhere, we are left sitting on the floor and listening to graduate students, fantasizing about a quality education.

Jason Poreda is a political science and communication senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.