The Pilot
Thursday. December 4. 2008
Page A3
— Opinions
Top 10 list a countdown to the post-GWU world
By Lauren Taylor had the office had been next to instantly ^Pnify™g ^^rience with Shakespeare. The research dorm, he came over personally
Pilot editor in chief
I hope Pilot readership does
not decline after the selfishness
of this editorial, but I insist on
using this venue for personal
purposes, just this once and for
a good cause.
In 10 days I’ll be a gradu
ate, which hasn’t got me even
the least bit nostalgic. But here
is the Top 10 list of great things
or people I’ve experienced at
Gardner-Webb, one for each
day I have before leaving it.
Number 10: the landscap
ing. That may sound shallow,
but when I first got here, there
was nary a flower dotting this
campus’s terrain.
Now thanks to the guys who
put in toupee grass, this place
looks like Daniel Stowe Botani
cal Gardens.
Number 9: the business of
fice. These people endure tor
ment from students, but they do
it with a smile. It would have
saved me 10 miles of walking
Financial Planning, but they
dealt with me happily even
when I was screaming at them.
Tom, especially, always told
me in a polite way that I owed
the school money.
Number 8: H.A.P.Y. dorm.
It really isn’t fair how much
nicer it is than all the others.
Living there was like having a
New York penthouse compared
to the slums of Decker and the
Honors House, and I enjoyed
every minute of it.
Number 7: Dr. Anthony
Eastman. He made me work the
hardest I ever have for a C. But
when I got that grade, it was
better than all my others put to
gether.
Since then I’ve encouraged
my peers to take a class with
him, and everyone in my fam
ily is impressed with my knowl
edge of the Great Depression.
Number 6: summer school.
It is school on crack, and I felt
like I needed some just to get
me through it. Even still, it is an
that makes fall and spring se
mesters seem like slow motion.
It’s way cheaper than a full se
mester and an effective cure for
procrastination
Number 5: Dean Bruce
Moore. I think there is only one
person left on earth who hasn’t
got an e-mail address, and it’s
him. He has always been will
ing to help and listen to me.
When I needed money to
stay here, he told me what to do.
I appreciate that.
Number 4: the Writing Cen
ter. I have spent more than 400
hours of my life there reading
papers. I developed a true love
for writing in helping others im
prove their own skills.
Number 3: the English de
partment. No greater incubator
for progressive thought exists
outside of its walls. The profes
sors and ^^ow stucj
lenged m^®think i
once appalled me.
My heart romped through
feminist literature and danced
udmts chal-
i^Bys that
paper became a friend.
Number 2: the Communica
tion Studies department. It’s not
just because I am a major that
this is in the list. It really is the
best place ever.
The hardwood floors and the
way the building smells in the
morning, Mac computers and
hardened, cynical people—it’s
the perfect place to become a
jaded individual prepared for a
newsroom.
The professors are eccen
tric and very, very persnickety
and never seem to mind show
ing you exactly what you did
wrong.
It was here that the most
opportunities were afforded to
me, including the chance to see
President-Elect Barack Obama’s
inauguration. My only regret is
that I’ll be missing that; gradu
ates can’t go.
Number 1: Dr. A. Frank
Bonner. He knows my name and
says hello to me when I see him.
When we found mold in the
with Residence Life and prom
ised us that it would be fixed.
And it was.
Sometimes, he even gets on
stage with his wife, all dressed
up, and lets people laugh at him
at the faculty variety show.
It’s great to have a president
who doesn’t take himself too se
riously to connect with students.
I’ve even had lunch with him in
the caf and heard about his days
as an English professor.
This is the most impressive
thing, I think, that GWU has of
fered me.
Of course, there are great
things that didn’t make it into
the Top 10.
I could fill up a whole edi
tion with memories and the
praises of individuals who have
changed my life here.
As critical as I have often
been of it, I credit the school
with teaching me that to criti
cize something is often the most
sincere way of showing your
love for it.
Democracy requires educated citizens; college cuts endanger it
The Lariat
Baylor University/UWIRE
The trickling-down ef
fect of the economic crisis
will be felt by thousands
of high school students
dreaming of a college de
gree.
California State Uni
versity, the nation’s largest
university system, with 23
campuses across the state,
will scale back on its en
rollment in an effort to de
crease its student body by
at least 10,000.
The current student
body is at approximately
450,000.
To accomplish this
task, the university will
increase its admission
standards and will stop
accepting applicants at a
much earlier date than it
has in the past.
CSU is just another
casualty in America’s
current financial predica
ment. The system, which
receives 77 percent of its
operating budget from the
state, is facing the burdens
of shrinking tax revenues
in addition to a $66 million
cut announced by Califor
nia Gov. Arnold Schwar
zenegger last month.
These are tough times,
and it’s understandable
that states would curtail
spending in order to save
money, but reducing funds
for education is a step in
the wrong direction. State
budget cuts to public col
leges and universities may
lead other institutions of
higher learning to also cap
their enrollment, which
would be detrimental to
our society.
Americans may live
in a society governed by
democratic institutions,
but it’s the values and
practices under which our
country was established
that enables us to continue
to thrive under democ
racy.
Certain values that
have transcended into
rights include opportu
nities for education. We
have recognized the perti
nence of an educated citi-
zemy in maintaining the
livelihood of a democratic
society.
University and col
lege budget cuts and en
rollment caps are a di
rect contradiction of our
national values, and the
long-term ripple effects of
such actions could jeop
ardize the stability of our
democracy.
State governments
need to recognize the im
portance of education and
look beyond the present
situation toward the impli
cations that these cuts can
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have on the future. Instead
of curtailing money that
would go to support edu
cation, state government
need to find other ways to
make ends meet.
The enrollment cap
that will take shape with
in CSU comes amid the
school’s increasing num
ber of first-year applica
tions, as represented in the
20 percent increase of this
fall, according to a Time
magazine article fi'om last
week.
Some have argued that
by capping enrollment
universities and col^k
will be able to ensur^We
quality of education for
current students and fu
ture students.
While it’s true that an
enrollment cap can pre
vent classrooms from
filling up beyond accom
modation and increase the
likelihood that students
will be able to register for
classes they need or want,
a problem still remains.
Just because the state is
able to save money imme
diately by reducing uni
versity education funds
doesn’t mean that they
won’t pay for it later.
The increasing num
ber of college applicants
facing the decreasing bud
gets of universities and
colleges will span across
the nation as the popu
lation of 18-year-olds
peaks in 2009. According
to a January article in the
New York Times, 3.2 mil
lion high school seniors
are expected to graduate
in 2009, making this the
lar^^graduating class in
the^mon’s history.
For these students
turned away from CSU
and potentially other uni
versities around the na
tion, what are they to do?
Community college
seems like the next best
step, but according to a
survey conducted by the
American Association of
Community Colleges in
July, students may run
into the same problems, as
community-college direc
tors in 16 states are report
ing that they can’t meet
the current demand.
What other options are
left if neither four-year
state schools nor two-year
community colleges has
the resources to accom
modate the demand?
Students could apply
for entrance into private
universities, but even pri
vate schools are feeling
the heat of a crippling
economy.
Harvard University
and Boston University are
calling for a hiring freeze,
as their endowments dwin
dle. These schools may
see a decline in enroll
ment if a big enough dent
is taken from endowments
that go toward merit and
need-based scholarship.
The difficulties of
funding an education
when scholarships are de
creased because of a con
tracting endowment and
the approval ratings for
student loans are declin
ing will prevent students
from registering.
Students would have
to delay their college edu
cation. Some may even
not go at all. What would
essentially be created, de
pending on how fast the
economy bounces back,
could be a substantially
large number of unedu
cated Americans.
They obviously won’t
be able to find jobs in to
day’s market, especially
when they’re competing
with recent graduates with
university degrees.
Students who have
spent over a decade of
their lives pursuing a high
school diploma in order to
go on to college deserve
an opportunity to further
their education.
In fact, we would be
doing our nation a disser
vice if we allowed quali
fied students to be turned
away. To allow this is to
declare that education is
not a top priority in our
society.
Faulty ecc^m^uts pressure on graduating seniors
By Jillian Henderson
The Lariat. Baylor U. / UWIRE
The economy. What’s the big
deal about it anyways? We’re just
students, it doesn’t really matter to
us anyways, right?
For those graduating in 2009,
this is something we need to start
worrying about now.
I talked to several professors in
different departments to get an idea
of what they thought the job market
looked like for upcoming Baylor
graduates.
Professor Rosland Kennerson-
Baty, lecturer in the communication
studies department, who also teach
es an interviewing class, expressed a
concern for the state of the economy
and its effects on graduates.
“It depends on the profession,
but right now the job market looks a
little stalemated,” Kejmerson-B^
She also said th^main reas^
college graduates can’t get jobs in
today’s economy is because it’s a
personal and a social issue.
“Graduates are very brilliant but
they don’t have the knowledge to
get their foot in the door,” she said.
“They need to give themselves the
opportunity to grow in their profes
sion.”
Professor of economics Kent
Gilbreath shared Kennerson-Baty’s
concerns.
“The job market looks miserable
for graduating seniors,” Gilbreath
said. “But it will vary for different
majors. Teachers and other highly
skilled occupations such as high-
tech professionals are OK, but the
rest of the market is seeing a gen
eral falling in demand for employ
ment.”
According to a survey conduct
ed by the National Association of
Colleges and Employers featured in
an October article of the Wall Street
Journal online, employers plan to
hire just 1.3 percent more graduates
in 2009 than they hired in 2008.
This is not a big increase, be
cause the same source said that just
two months ago the survey indicated
a 6.1 percent increase in hiring.
So what exactly does that mean
about college graduates right now? I
want to go into the television news
casting sector of the job market, but
“m not sure whether a job will be
there after I walk across the stage
next December.
I may not know whether I have a
job or not after graduation, but what
I do know is that I just spent over
four years of my life busting my rear
end trying to make the grades so I
can get the job after graduation.
This is the goal I’ve been work
ing toward for as long as I can re
member. This is why I chose to go
to a prestigious school such as Bay
lor University.
I was hoping that I would have
a better chance of obtaining a job
after graduating from a top-notch
university.
What this means for you and I
is that we’re going to have to work
twice as hard to get a job as those
who have graduated before us.
This is not the news I was hop
ing for when I started this research
into job placement for college grad
uates.
So now I need to answer the
question I posed in the beginning:
i^y should we care about the econ
omy, as students?
If you care about your future at
all, you should care.
I’m hoping for a quick rebound
of the economy because I don’t want
my money, hard work and education
to go to waste, and I doubt anyone
else at Baylor does either.
Procrastinator offers tips to reduce stress during crunch time
By Alyssa Conner
Daily Kent Stater/UWIRE
The last week of ev
ery semester is always the
most stressful - students
are finishing projects,
writing papers and study
ing for finals.
Procrastination is my
middle name. I love how I
always save everything to
the very last minute.
Sometimes I work
better when I am under
a lot of stress, wM^at
other times I just \^Pto
scream and run away to
Never Neverland where I
can be a kid forever.
I’m sure everyone
is just as stressed out as
I am, so I decided this
week’s column would
help relieve some steam
by venting and providing
some tips on how I deal
with the stress of finals.
The best advice a pro
fessor once gave me is to
remember worrying gets
nothing accomplished.
Relax and make a list
of everything you need to
g^l^ne, and then orga-
n^^ssignments out day
by day so that it doesn’t
seem like you have a lot
to get done in one day.
I also suggest going to
the student recreation and
wellneSs center to work
off some stress. It always
helps to take breaks to
give your brain a rest and
clear your thoughts.
Even if it you just
walk on the treadmill for
20 minutes or swim a few
laps. I’m sure you will feel
refreshed and energized.
After working out, I high
ly recommend relaxing
in the hot tub or treating
yourself to a massage.
Don’t freak out.
You know you will get
everything done. Just be
realistic, spread your work
out and don’t try to do too
much in one day because
that is when the gray hairs
start growing.
Because I am prob
ably the best procrastina
tor, I have realized there
is so much more to life
than worrying and stress
ing over a paper. Worry
ing gets nothing accom
plished.
It is what you don’t do
that you should be more
concerned about.
Just breathe and think:
It is almost over.