Forum to address '60 Minutes' issue

By Joseph Altman Jr.

Arizona Daily Wildcat

An open forum to discuss the issues raised by the "60 Minutes" coverage of UA undergraduate education and tenure will be held tonight.

The forum, sponsored by the Student Environmental Action Coalition and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan, will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. in Social Sciences 100.

Classics Professor Jon Solomon, who was featured in the "60 Minutes" episode, will be one of the panelists, in addition to Susan Steele, vice provost for undergraduate research and Carol Bernstein, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, who has been "watching undergraduate education on campus," said Shane Jimerfield of SEAC.

Additional panelists will include a speaker from SEAC, a speaker from MEChA and another graduate student, Jimerfield said. Those three speakers have not yet been chosen.

The "60 Minutes" clip which aired Feb. 26 will be shown at the forum, and each panel member will have 15 minutes to share their view of the situation.

Fliers for the forum say the panel will answer the questions, "Are we being educated or ripped off?", "Is the UA an institute for research or education?" and "Publish or perish?"

There will also be an opportunity for questions and answers after the panel's presentations.

Jimerfield said the forum will give people an opportunity to "really ask questions."

"Most of the debate has taken place as memos or letters in the Wildcat and Lo Que Pasa," he said. "This will allow a little more participation."

Read Next Article