Editor:
After more than 30 years teaching undergraduates at this university, I am deeply concerned. Evident in student letters and editorial comments are suggestions that we have left rational discourse and adopted the worst kind of personal assault Ä argument ad hominem it's called.
If fellow students or faculty are fostering this, they are doing untold damage to our academic integrity as an institution. If emotion fed by innuendo and rumor takes precedence over honest debate, it will make no difference what general education requirements might be or become, what programs continue or are phased out.
It is my considered opinion, based both on theory and on 30 years of experience, that our administration is the most student-friendly, problem-solving administration we have ever had. These are times and circumstances which call for new ideas. Differ with proposed ideas, with methods of presentation, and/or propose you own, but for the sake of our future as an outstanding university, don't disintegrate into thoughtless character assassination.
Sincerely,
Donna Swaim, PhD