The Ranger Online

Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Opinion

District: Your mission is to serve students

The district administration is playing faculty, staff and students, alike, for fools, and Playland Park has quickly become the most controversial subject around.

For all Chancellor Bruce Leslie's aspirations, the $116 million price tag for the proposed district headquarters and auxiliary site is outrageous.

As the lead body to an institution of higher learning, administrators should be focused on the needs of students.

During a Buildings, Grounds and Sites Selection Committee meeting Sept. 25, district officials proposed advancing the original concept for the Playland Park property as headquarters into a multipurpose facility, including space for instruction in dental assisting, massage therapy and culinary arts.

Faculty on this campus and at St. Philip's College argue that this plan will take away from the colleges where these degree programs reside now.

And just how does it serve students to take some of their classes at one location while having to travel to another for the rest of their classes?

In the Oct. 1 Faculty Senate meeting, senators found these plans laughable, contending that the district exists to serve the colleges' interests first, not those of administrators.

Moving programs to the Playland site - an office, not a college - enables the administration to take advantage of them as perks.

And it is undeniable that this will not occur as it came straight out of the chancellor's mouth: Training and centers could bring walk-ins from within the facility, as reported in The Ranger online Oct. 2.

Thankfully, some trustees had reservations about becoming landlords.

Local businesses, the city of San Antonio and various area municipalities have partnered with the district on projects, but the district has spread its interests so thin that administrators may forget its central mission.

The top-down direction of the proposal rankles as well.

The faculty of the three programs highlighted by the chancellor - how many more are there? - knew nothing of the proposal.

The tradition of the academy is that faculty drive an institution, plan its direction and expansion; administrators are ceremonial heads and budget officers.

Somewhere along the way, the lines have blurred, and it's the students who lose.

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Chalk it up to freedom of speech, press

Chalk on a sidewalk may not seem substantial as political statements go, but as we see it here at The Ranger, it is a fun way to celebrate a serious right.

Chalk Day, which The Ranger observes today and each year during National Newspaper Week, is a celebration of free speech as guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

We advocate free speech every day at the newspaper and in the journalism program.

Chalk Day serves many different purposes for many people for many reasons.

For some it is good, (relatively) clean fun; for others, it is an opportunity to protest; some use it to express love.

While we at The Ranger abhor hate speech, we recognize its equal right.

Chalk is only a vehicle for expressing thoughts, passions, motivations.

What gives chalk talk value is the right it represents.

So we ask that you join us to express yourself in chalk on the pavement of the mall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.

As this is an institution of higher learning, we count on you to make use of your extensive vocabulary; obscenities are for those of limited thought and word.

In America, we are privileged to enjoy the right to free speech.

At The Ranger, we are privileged to work in a medium that celebrates this right every day.

For one day at least, let's all have our say.

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Faculty Senate must lead protest, dialogue

Living up to responsibility is an important part of integrity; responsibility has an even greater importance for those who hold positions of power.

In its last meeting, Faculty Senate spent much of its time discussing plans for a new district headquarters.

While senate members were not happy about some of the more extravagant plans being bandied about, they failed to take a stand, even after emerging from a rare executive session.

As an advisory body, Faculty Senate cannot afford to stay silent.

Otherwise, senators will be giving up the only power they have - the power to assert an opinion and influence an outcome.

At a time when the colleges are making drastic budget cuts that affect students, staff and faculty alike, the chancellor is trying to build an office complex estimated to cost $116 million.

With construction costs and inflation rising, one estimate puts the total at more than $162 million.

Even with the "modest" estimate of $116 million, the cost of development will eclipse every capital improvement project approved in the 2005 bond except for one.

Northeast Lakeview College was allotted $125 million for the construction of an entire new college campus to serve Northeast San Antonio and other municipalities.

This extravagance should not be allowed to pass without question.

Who will be served by this expensive headquarters?

It makes sense for the district to have a consolidated headquarters; however, having a student masseuse, dental assistant or chef ready and waiting outside the chancellor's door is completely off the charts.

It has also been suggested that for an additional 10 percent - $11.6 million for the math challenged who can't find enough open lab hours thanks to cuts - the site could be certified "green" and serve as a possible training center and museum for students interested in alternative energy.

Failing to receive green certification for such a center would be ironic. Besides, not building green today is irresponsible use in the long-term of taxpayer dollars and energy resources.

Unless there is determined opposition to the chancellor's plans for Playland, expect the opening of the ACCD Day Spa. (Will child care be available, too?)

Many senators called out the district on their plans and raised their concerns.

However, even with a strong opposition, Faculty Senate opted to continue discussing the issue at a Wednesday meeting with Dr. Thomas Cleary, vice chancellor for planning and information systems.

The meeting will be in Room 120 of the visual arts center.

At this meeting, senators must express doubts about the district's plans.

Those plans are clearly not in the best interest of any of the district colleges, taxpayers or students.

Stand up for the future of this district and protect the education of county residents. In this election year, model civic engagement for your students.

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