For $30,000, we sure should be getting a better education.
Lawrence University recently fell out of U.S. News and World Report’s “First Tier” of liberal arts schools, and we, the student body, believe that something has to change.
First of all, the food is not very good. It is not very tasty and not very nutritious and it should be a lot better. Perhaps if more money went to Dining Services the food would be better prepared.
Second of all, the academics are not very good. Teachers are not hard enough on us and the class rank of every incoming class is too low. Students don’t write well and others aren’t good at math. This should change. The academics should definitely be a lot better. Academics at Lawrence – especially in the anthropology, art & art history, biology, chemistry, classics, east Asian languages, economics, education, English, French, geology, German, government, history, mathematics, philosophy, physics, psychology, religious studies, Russian, Spanish, and Theatre Arts departments plus the Conservatory of Music – are woefully under-funded.
Third of all, sports need to improve. For every top-seeded basketball team, there is a team that is not as good. This needs to change, and athletics need more funding at Lawrence, as does the library. Then we can move back into the top tier.
Fourthly, students are too politically apathetic. They ought to be more involved in issues even if those issues do not directly affect them. That will make us better students. Liberal students are continually undercut by the apathetic beliefs of slightly more moderately liberal students.
Fifthly, there are not enough clubs at Lawrence. We ought to increase the amount of money distributed to clubs so that everyone can find a place at Lawrence for their interest or political beliefs.
Sixthly, the library is not good enough. It needs to be much stronger, and we need more books for the times when we need to read more. That will make us smarter, and the library needs more funding. We also need funding for parking spots.
Seventhly, our social life and school spirit also need to be stronger. We need to have more, better parties, parties with more alcohol and more fun and more attractive people of the opposite sex or of the same sex. But it takes money to throw a good party, and Lawrence is too stingy with money.
Finally, tuition is much too high. Lower it. There are plenty of places to cut cost around this university, and somebody’s got to find it. It’s time for a change at Lawrence.
Staff Editorial: It’s time for a change
