The negative exceptions discussed below stand in stark contrast.

STUDENTS

I’m sick and tired of students who don’t have the courage to graduate from college.

I’m not talking about students with full-blown adult responsibilities who have to fit school in between everything else in their lives.

I’m talking about students who still live with their parents or who only have themselves to support, yet postpone graduation for years or even decades.

You’ll recognize these students by the detailed and personal knowledge they have of IUS history, not to mention previous students, faculty and administrators.

They display this knowledge as if it’s a badge of honor, which it is not.

To these students I say this: Grow up. Stop hiding out in college. Graduate — get real jobs and get on with your lives.

I’m also bothered by the students who try to be the instructor.

When I ask a question in class, these students answer it. Sometimes several of these students answer at once, to the point that I cannot hear what the actual instructor is saying.

To these students I’ll say this: You are not the instructor and I do not care how well you grasp the information. I want the answer from the person who has a college degree in the subject. When that’s you, go for it. In the meantime, pipe down.

As a side note, I think the instructors share some responsibility in this.

If you are teaching a class and a student asks you a question, why do you allow other students to answer it? Take control of the class and teach your chosen subject.

This brings me to my next category.

FACULTY

In addition to the comment above, I have several concerns with a few instructors at IU Southeast.

Who told you that the first class of every semester is your opportunity to tell students all about your educational and professional background? Who told you that students want to hear this? Whoever it was pranked you.

Include that information in a bio section of the syllabus, if you must, but do not take our class time to share your life story.

Somewhat related to this is the index card that some instructors ask students to fill out as a “getting-to-know-you” activity. In my first few semesters, I thought this was a good idea and wrote a lot of information about myself.

However, I soon came to realize the instructors never looked at the cards. This must be the case since none of the information was ever referred to or used to gain a better relationship with students as individuals.

I shudder to think how much of my information is tucked away on index cards in faculty offices on campus. I hope they’ve made good bookmarks.

I’d also like to request you do not use our class time as your personal forum.

Students do not want to hear about your spouse, your children or which faculty or administrative personnel you are currently having difficulty with. We also do not want to know about your personal religious or political beliefs — even if you’re teaching a religion or politics course. Any student who appears to show interest in these matters is sucking up for a better grade.

Lastly, can someone please tell me why some instructors try to impose penalties for so-called unexcused absences?

If I am sick or if something comes up, I may not be in class. That’s not an excuse, that’s a reason.

As an adult, I can make that decision for myself and do not need to have a doctor’s note or get approval from the instructor.

If I miss a class it’s my problem. If my absence affects my understanding of the subject matter it will be apparent in my test scores.

To these instructors I say this: Grade my performance according to how I perform. Period.

ADMINISTRATORS AND FACULTY

As a staff writer and editor of The Horizon, I’ve learned a lot about journalism. The most powerful lessons are those I’ve learned while performing the tasks of a journalist — conducting interviews, writing and revising my stories, editing the stories of others and designing a newspaper page. My concern is that so many members of the IUS faculty and administration are reluctant or even refuse to be interviewed or provide information to The Horizon staff.

The Horizon is a student newspaper. It is our ongoing class project. It is our text book. It is the way journalism students learn how to be journalists.

If you refuse an interview, you are effectively closing the book for that student.

Yes, we sometimes make errors in judgment.

Yes, we sometimes make spelling and grammatical mistakes but, consider this: How many students are willing to have their class assignments published and distributed for all to see? Brave souls that we are, The Horizon students put it all out there and take it on the chin when the newspaper is ridiculed for its content or when we receive scathing letters to the editor.

We even publish those letters, albeit edited for space and to remove those often misused semicolons.

To faculty and administrators who deride The Horizon or refuse to be interviewed I say this: Shame on you.

Why are you working at a university if you are not interested in furthering the education of students? Either participate in the learning process or find another line of work.

To the motivated and enthusiastic students, faculty and administrators who mentor and encourage I say this: A huge and heartfelt thank you.

To the students, faculty and administrators noted in this column, I have nothing else to say to you.

By DARIENNE ARCURI
Editor
darcuri@ius.edu