This is in response to Kelly Hagenah’s “Live life forever young”

column in the Collegian on Wednesday.

The truth of the matter is that we are young. We are the youth

of America and are just coming into our prime. Who claims that we

need to be sophisticated young adults? We’re college kids trying to

enjoy our lives.

We are young and we shouldn’t wish to live our lives in any

other way. If you want to change your life you should, instead of

this tired talk that never actually changes anything. As a college

kid no one should be unhappy; we can do as we please without

comment from anyone. Why can’t our days be carefree and enjoyable,

or without stress? Our problems are no less than the kid with

glasses on the playground who never has his lunch money past gym

class.

Maybe we don’t look at the butterflies or ladybugs for

entertainment, but we can watch the aspens change, or go on a

weekend ski trip. Life now is as simple and beautiful as it was

back then. The only difference is we have more options and avenues

to have fun and enjoy life to its fullest. So we should live life

forever young, but more importantly we should live life now since

we are young.

Paul Ronto

Senior journalism and technical communications

This is in response to Ken Zetye’s Friday column “Struggling

economy: Fact or rhetoric?” in which he claims “the state of the

American economy is good” and asks readers to “think about the

facts … when making your decisions at the polls Tuesday.”

Where to begin? Indicting the Democrats for economic trouble

here rings just a bit hypocritical when he later states, “The party

with which the president is affiliated has little to do with the

economic situation,” to excuse the Bush administration. Nice try.

The economic boom of the 1980s brought with it catastrophic

national debt. We were beginning to pay it down during the 1990s,

which saw the largest growth this country has ever experienced; the

stock-market rose from 3,000 to 10,000. But this was, according to

Zeyte, a reversal of good economic times.

Zeyte suggests that the president’s “most effective way of

stimulating the economy is by looking confident and instilling good

feeling in the public.” This is absurd. Pretending everything is

great will make it so? Swagger and denial do not a thriving economy

make.

Yes, people should look at the facts before they vote; the

current administration is driving us into debt faster than ever

before, borrowing heavily from the countries with whom we are

competing economically. China and Japan are funding Bush’s tax cuts

for the rich and paying for our wars. Despite the Bush

administration’s refusal to acknowledge it, we’ll have to pay that

money back, and it will hurt to do so. Looking at a mildly positive

(at best) jobs report while our nations plunges headlong into the

red and saying everything’s OK, is (to beat a tired clich�

into the ground) like complimenting the deck chairs while the

Titanic goes down.

Thomas Wanebo

Senior, history and English

On Oct. 21, a resident of the neighboring Woodbridge Senior

apartments was walking her dog to meet some other residents. The

dog ran away, pulling the lady to the ground and breaking her hip.

Two residents from Ram’s Village jumped the ditch and went to her

aid. Using cell phones, they called 911 and stayed with her until

medical help arrived.

We don’t know whom the good Samaritans are, but considering all

the bad press lately concerning college campuses, I thought this

ray of sunshine would be welcome.

Jeff Miller

Ram’s Village apartment manager

Recently attention has been drawn to the plight of the adjunct

faculty in the College of Liberal Arts. Perhaps people do not

realize that as long as the faculty members are being treated in

such an unprofessional manner, the quality of education for those

of us in that school will suffer. Personally, I find it

increasingly difficult to register for classes when there are so

few seats available and the anticipation of further cuts next

semester only aggravates the process. I recall that in the

beginning of this semester the classes were past capacity because

of the presence of students hoping that someone would drop the

class so that they could register. Next semester the number of

faculty members is being cut further and available classes will

drop further. All of this is difficult enough without even

considering the shameful treatment of the current adjuncts as their

positions hang by a thread. As a student at CSU, I am trying to

achieve the level of education that these people already possess

and I can only hope that my future position values me more than the

little these adjuncts are currently valued.

Pete Tolsma

Junior, Marketing and Spanish

I am proud to be a teacher at an institution that so obviously

values higher education. Or does it? I have to wonder if the

university truly values its teachers’ educations. The adjunct

faculty members have degrees from institutions of higher learning

ranging from master’s degree to doctorates. In addition to

teaching, adjunct faculty are actively engaged in research,

professional development and publishing. The university values the

credentials of higher education and teaching experience by offering

its adjunct faculty no job security, few benefits and a wage that

is far below the 1990 national average for someone with a high

school degree. What other business or institution demands that its

employees reapply each year? Adjuncts teach four classes a

semester, a heavy load that the university unofficially considers

“full time.” Yet, the university officially classifies adjuncts as

“temporary, part-time.” This designation prevents these teachers

from receiving many benefits and even timely cost-of-living

increases. To date, adjuncts have not had a salary or

cost-of-living increase since 1998. It seems that the university

does not value its own product – advanced education. What message

does this send to students who have been told that higher education

will enhance their quality of life and income potential?

Adjunct faculty members are committed to higher education, their

students and their profession. The disparity between the

educational level and commensurate pay is an issue that needs to be

addressed. I find it difficult to explain that the university, an

institution of higher learning, does not value and respect the

educational achievements and commitments of its own teachers. It is

my hope that the university will seek an understanding of the

problem and take steps to resolve this inequity.

Deborah Dimon Sattler

Instructor of English