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Letters to the editor

Business college policy necessary

To the editor,

The editorial in Tuesday's Wildcat concerning the application process to the Karl Eller College of Business and Public Administration is laughable at best. Having recently applied and been accepted to the Eller college I can safely say that the process was not a difficult one. All one has to do to be accepted is have a minimum of a 2.75 GPA, meet the undergrad class requirements, and attend a 15 minute interview. Truth be told, if a person is unable to meet these rather lax requirements, I would prefer not to be in class with them at all. The application process to the college is exactly what the article says it is: a way to decrease enrollement. A way to weed out the less responsible people who do not deserve to be admitted along with the people who have worked hard the last two years to ensure a good future for themselves. The article ends with a comment stating that those students whose applications were rejected will now be unable to graduate on time.

However, I can assure you that for someone who is unable to earn a 2.75 cumulative GPA or is unwilling to get up early on a Saturday morning to attend a quick interview, graduating on time was NEVER a realistic goal.

Christopher Satchell

Accounting and Finance Sophomore

Tuiton hike no surprise

To the editor,

It's happening, again.

President Likins' latest proposal for a tuition hike aims to jack up the cost of your education by $101 dollars should you be a resident of the Grand Canyon State and nearly $400 dollars if you call home somewhere outside the state. Not that it comes as much of a surprise or anything. President Likins has made his mission statement quite clear in recent years. He has stated time and time again his intention to "grow the tuition over a five to 10 year period to meet the market until it was one-third or one-fourth from the bottom (of the national ranking)." Alright, you say, that doesn't sound so bad. But then you must also remember that President Likins declared the UA as "a bargain at $5,000 or $6,000 or even $8,000 a year." And no, he wasn't talking about out-of-state residents.

There is a way to reverse this dreadful trend. However, it requires President Likins and the UA administration to put the needs of the students first. By initiating a revolutionary tuition plan, the UA has a chance to set the standard for universities across the nation and set itself on an optimistic and rewarding course.

President Likins has said that money must be raised for the UA to improve retention rates and the university's academic status. By introducing a tuition freeze, he could achieve both. The University of Arizona does not need to punish existing students by raising their tuition or build $20.3 million dollar kindergartens such as the Integrated Learning Center. Instead it needs to give students an incentive to work hard and achieve academic success while also showing its appreciation to UA students so that they will continue to advance the status of this university. If students are able to achieve and maintain a certain academic level, such as a 3.5 G.P.A., they should be compensated with a tuition freeze. They should be able to pay the same tuition costs for as long as they uphold an academic standard. Just as students are not impacted by changes in academic catalogs after admission, they should not necessarily have to suffer for increases in tuition. Students should at least have an opportunity to control the cost of attending college if they ardently demonstrate the determination to better themselves. This plan would motivate students to apply themselves, validate students as more than numbers in the eyes of the administration, and ultimately elevate the UA's academic status nationally, thus increasing its attractiveness for potential students everywhere. Tuition costs would still gradually increase to cover new costs, but current students would reap the benefits of seniority and dedication. In the end, all would profit.

As a graduating senior this May, the personal advantages of such a plan are unfortunately too late. But, should you, the members of the UA student body, shed a history of apathetic stupidity at this institution and pressure President Likins and the UA administration to advocate policies that directly advance the interests of this university's most important resource, its students, then you would reverse a trend of regression and begin a legacy of sensible prosperity and growth lasting for generations to come.

Scott Andrew Schulz

Communication senior