n Thank you for your report (“COM faculty members debate journalism split,” Feb. 15, p. 1). Allow me to add these points: The journalism department’s exploration of a new structure within which to build and strengthen its programs is predicated on the possibilities that might accrue from a new set of academic relationships, a higher profile among journalism programs nationally and the energy and support that a school of journalism might generate. The need for an independent, informed and well-trained press has never been greater, and journalism schools are an important part of assuring the quality of a future generation of journalists and media leaders.

As Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Foundation, has written in this context: “We have a long tradition of looking to our universities to produce the generations of thinkers who have helped to guide our nation through social and cultural upheavals, political crises and even the dark days of war and terrorism. It is my hope that our journalism schools will rediscover the professional, intellectual and educational resources of the universities they are part of and that the universities, in turn, will act on their obligation to reach out to their journalism schools and help to deepen and enrich the education they offer.”

Journalism educators today are looking toward the kind of productive connections that occur through collaboration with disciplines such as economics, political science, history, medicine, international relations and even literature.

With criticism toward none, the journalism department’s aspiration can best be understood as a reach toward excellence and an attempt to assemble the structure within which that is most likely to be achieved.

Lou Ureneck

Journalism Department Chairman