Editor:

Adam Djurdjulov raised some interesting points in his editorial ("New campus questionable," April 4) and I would like to provide my own perspective on some of them. You see, I am an alumnus of Evergreen State College, and I hope to teach at AIC once I graduate.

I think the decision to use the industrial park as the site for the new campus was correct. Yes, the downtown area has restaurants and bus services, but it also has panhandlers, bums, gangs and no room to expand. As scared as the young women are of walking on the campus after dark, how will they feel downtown? Also, the buildings available are run-down, overpriced and would have to be rebuilt or replaced.

In contrast, the industrial park does have considerable room to expand, and the buildings are fairly new and in good condition. The housing east of Davis-Monthan is better quality and less expensive than that close to the UA and is within bicycling distance and easy driving distance, and, no doubt, a bus line will be arranged. (I live near the intersection of Kolb and Golf Links and sometimes ride a bicycle the nine miles to the UA, and I am 40 and fairly rotund. It's not as hard as it sounds.)

The Faculty Senate's opposition to the changes proposed by Dr. Fernandez (such as no tenure) appears to be a power play on the part of the American Association of University Professors from reading their newspaper The Advocate, which appears in my mailbox from time to time. It seems questionable whether people have the right to dictate employment policy at a place that they don't work.

I left my crystal ball at home and can't give any predictions of future enrollment at AIC, but I can enlighten you on some of the reasons why Evergreen's enrollment is lower than expected. First, their cultural image in the local community is very poor, and most parents in the Olympia area would rather send their children almost anywhere else. Second, while it is possible to get a very good education there, it is also possible to get a degree without learning much of anything. Evergreen doesn't give grades at all, and a great many classes don't give tests at all, and there is no such thing as a major as most colleges and universities have. The result is that most people have a hard time interpreting an Evergreen education, and this makes it difficult for employers and graduate schools to evaluate Evergreen alumni as potential employees and graduate students. This, in turn, scares away potential students out of concern for their future employability.

AIC has the potential to be something new and exciting here in Tucson. We can't expect it to spring fully formed from nothing; it takes time and patience, and it's always a lot more work to start something than to keep it going. Starting small is the correct course of action, and if they start with a good crew and work hard, AIC will make a reputation for itself, and enrollment and infrastructure will take care of themselves.

Jay A. Shumway
chemistry graduate student