Several days ago, a letter to the editor was written concerning the new sports arena that will be built at BGSU. He expressed concern for fund raising for such a thing, and I honestly couldn’t agree more. In fact, I will go even farther to say that, in my mind, this is a clear example of just what is wrong with the educational system in this country.
A giant falcon? Really? If anyone can tell me what useful purpose such a thing serves, I would be stunned. While sports are both exciting to play and watch, why do they deserve precedence at an educational institution over quality education? That is, BGSU is an educational institution, right?
While many other nations are consistently outperforming America when it comes to a good solid education, we are building sports arenas with giant falcons. This isn’t just a problem at BG, this is a problem everywhere. Even my high school wasted money on a new sports field, and an overly extravagant after prom, while we were reading out of outdated, faded textbooks. Sadly, I have run into many students entering college that can’t even write a cohesive paper with proper grammar and spelling. In a world of globalization, a world where citizens of our country need to compete with others for jobs, perhaps we are spending too much time and attention on other things.
The Wolfe Center for the Arts will be, I’m sure, useful to the art students, but I have to ask what’s being done for the sciences, as well as other disciplines. I am taking a microbiology class this semester, where we work with potentially pathogenic materials, including raw sewage. One might want to use protective gloves for such things, and when I asked for a pair, I was told that they didn’t have enough money in the budget to purchase gloves for students. We don’t even have enough money to buy simple protective gear for students? Wow, no wonder great teachers are being let go.
Most of us came to college to learn something, to get an education in our chosen fields. We expected to be amply prepared for the future, and to learn in a clean, safe environment. One of the reasons I chose BGSU was the scholarship I received, which I am extremely grateful for. I hope that we can continue to fund those things. Unfortunately, several of the teachers at my high school, upon discovering where I was going for college, told me I should consider going somewhere else, somewhere more prized for it’s high educational standards.
I love this school, and I consider it to be my home, but when high school teachers feel the need to discourage students from going to this school on the bounds of the quality of the education ” maybe the administration needs to take a step back and look at the environment they are trying to foster here. Our enrollment has been consistently falling, and perhaps this is part of the reason why. While it’s okay to have high athletic standards, this college needs to work on making a name for it self in academics.
It’s gotten to the point where I feel that a better treatment of the academic standards at this school will not happen until we, the students, rise up, work for it ourselves, and demand change. If the sports programs can show enough passion that people will donate money for its benefit, then imagine what students on fire for their education would do. It angers me when people talk badly of my school for any purpose, and insults about our academics are particularly stinging. Don’t be afraid to speak up, and demand that something is done to improve both our education, and the education of the countless that will come after us. In this way, we can guarantee that BGSU will be a respected institution for years to come. Who’s with me?
