I am a transfer student who has attended three other universities: UNLV, UBC and Georgetown; yet never have I seen an academic institution set its standards and goals as low as BU. When I first became an undergraduate student, BU was ranked within the top thirty-five universities in the United States; this year we were placed at 60th alongside Ohio State, Rutgers, Purdue, Texas A’M and the University of Iowa. Tulane was ranked 43rd and Boston College found itself at 40th. I’ve never placed much importance on rankings, but I do understand why ours is declining: this place is disorganized, bureaucratic as hell and disturbingly mismanaged. Can someone tell me why I cannot find a comfortable seat in the library? Who came up with the brilliant idea to cancel 1,800 online student accounts last week (our IT Department is highly incompetent!)? Why is there only one printer in the library, and why must it take thirty minutes to complete each task? Why does the library close so early-Harvard’s is open 24 hours, and guess where they ranked? I enjoy Boston, and I have no complaints about our faculty; I just can’t understand why we squander so much money on entertainment-not that I didn’t enjoy the R-rated hypnotist!-when the foundations of our university are inadequately funded. It only pays to advertise our school as fun and “good looking” if we maintain our status as a respected academic institution. Prospective students will not pay $40,000 a year to attend a party school when cheaper alternatives are available in warmer parts of the country-Florida, California, Hawaii. We must therefore make a sincere effort to provide our emerging scholars with the resources to achieve their legitimate and academic goals. Grade deflation is not the problem with our university, as students like to suggest. I am concerned with the deflation of our academic integrity and the effects this depreciation will have on tuition, my research, and all of our future wages. Jon Piron [email protected] (702) 287-8604 CAS, class of 2007