I write in response to Seth Ragosta’s letter to the editor (“Show a little respect,” Oct. 2). Ragosta, in embarking on a self-indulgent smear of Amelia Meyer’s column (“Academic self-governance,” Oct. 1), has neglected to take responsibility for the failings of our student governance organizations. More importantly, he has belittled a student initiative in a much more direct and aggressive way than his victim allegedly did.
A quick search of Meyer’s article will reveal the complete absence of the letters “UJC.” More telling than a direct attack, Meyer’s (probably unintentional) omission of one our most essential self-governing bodies indicates the unnecessary anonymity in which UJC operates. Ragosta rants about the endless hours spent on misunderstood work, but refuses to acknowledge the role that each organization must play in spreading its message to the student body. Having been fortunate to avoid the dreaded VSOC, I have not heard from UJC since my first-year orientation. Rather than trying to play the martyr, Ragosta should have seen the article as an indictment of UJC’s inability to effectively reach the students.
In characterizing the Student-Initiated Courses program as “some hackneyed and untested chance for a few people to make up their own three-credit study-hall,” Ragosta ignores his own call to “Show a little respect.” Attacking the statement’s validity gives the comment more attention than it deserves, but suffice it to say that in addition to requiring countless hours on the student end, Student-Initiated Courses are also subjected to the same rigorous approval process as other courses that appear on the COD. An apology would be too much to hope for, but Ragosta should realize that in attempting to espouse the virtues of UJC, he has offended members of Student Council, the student instructors of the newly created INST 150 course, the INST 150 faculty advisor Robert Swap, and the dedicated members of INST 150 who thought highly enough of the course material to spend two hours a week on a course that will not fulfill any of their major requirements.
Matthew Fifer
SEAS IV
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