Open Letter to University President Papadakis
By: Editorial Board
Issue date: 10/8/04 Section: Ed-Op
Originally published: 10/8/04 at 2:12 AM EST
Last update: 10/11/04 at 4:16 PM EST
Originally published: 10/8/04 at 2:12 AM EST
Last update: 10/11/04 at 4:16 PM EST
After the Civil War, veterans were required to travel to Washington, D.C. to pick up their disability checks and war pay. Even those living in the far western territories needed to travel to our Nation's Capital to get paid. At the office, everyone's name and pay information was held in large ledger books bound with red tape. Since then, the binding material has become infamous and synonymous with bureaucracy, both through government and private institutions.
Red tape exists here. It exists in the Student Resource Center with their ridiculous medical holds, financial holds and slow-downs of approval times for loans that happen many times for no apparent reason. Red tape exists in the convocation ceremony by packing the auditorium with a large amount of faculty and fewer students. Red tape exists in the crime report by not disclosing the information in full and keeping the students in the dark about what happens in the dark. It is a problem here, and many people are becoming tired of it.We understand your efforts, and we are grateful you have put forth so much effort towards making the campus more beautiful around this awful urban setting. We are still ranked highest in the Princeton Review's "Tiny, Unsightly or Both" category though. We are still ranked fourth in the "Red Tape" category. The large projects are appreciated by all who attend, but there are many little problems that need desperate attention: crime, ceremonies and most importantly, financial aid.
We are the student newspaper. We are not only the voice of the students, but the a welcome medium for the administration to communicate with the students. What looks good on paper and number charts may not be applicable in the real world. We know that effort is put forth, but more effort is desperately needed in other areas before building that engineering addition, before the parks, before the crime report release. More attention needs to be focused on the average student and what they want, not what the books bound with red tape dictate.
In light of this, we the Editorial Board of The Triangle would like to request a meeting with you at a time and date of your choosing, knowing that you do keep a schedule that is more hectic than ours. If we can establish a dialogue and understand each other, we can both accomplish our goal of making the University a better place. We ask that you take this letter as constructive criticism and we would also welcome a response and a reply.
Yours truly,
The Triangle Editorial Board
Red tape exists here. It exists in the Student Resource Center with their ridiculous medical holds, financial holds and slow-downs of approval times for loans that happen many times for no apparent reason. Red tape exists in the convocation ceremony by packing the auditorium with a large amount of faculty and fewer students. Red tape exists in the crime report by not disclosing the information in full and keeping the students in the dark about what happens in the dark. It is a problem here, and many people are becoming tired of it.We understand your efforts, and we are grateful you have put forth so much effort towards making the campus more beautiful around this awful urban setting. We are still ranked highest in the Princeton Review's "Tiny, Unsightly or Both" category though. We are still ranked fourth in the "Red Tape" category. The large projects are appreciated by all who attend, but there are many little problems that need desperate attention: crime, ceremonies and most importantly, financial aid.
We are the student newspaper. We are not only the voice of the students, but the a welcome medium for the administration to communicate with the students. What looks good on paper and number charts may not be applicable in the real world. We know that effort is put forth, but more effort is desperately needed in other areas before building that engineering addition, before the parks, before the crime report release. More attention needs to be focused on the average student and what they want, not what the books bound with red tape dictate.
In light of this, we the Editorial Board of The Triangle would like to request a meeting with you at a time and date of your choosing, knowing that you do keep a schedule that is more hectic than ours. If we can establish a dialogue and understand each other, we can both accomplish our goal of making the University a better place. We ask that you take this letter as constructive criticism and we would also welcome a response and a reply.
Yours truly,
The Triangle Editorial Board
is a member of the 
