I am a lecturer teaching at UC Merced who will complete the doctorate of philosophy in literature this fall.
My graduate work was completed at UC San Diego where I studied for eight years, where I am still affiliated, where I earned my master's and candidate in philosophy degrees, and where I taught summer session last year.
I remain involved with the literature department at UCSD, which probably accounts for my visceral response to professor Andrew Scull's letter that was the subject of the story on the front page of the Sun-Star on Thursday.
I chose to accept the offer to teach at UC Merced as the Central Valley is where I grew up and was the best of possible options for me. As first lady Michelle Obama pointed out in her landmark graduation speech, the best use of a UC education is to stay local and utilize the myriad benefits to the community afforded by a UC education.
The claims and contentions put forth by professor Scull, et al, must not go unanswered, notwithstanding the fact that his proposals will most certainly not be enacted. The hubris in Scull's tone, to say nothing of his conclusions, are outrageous.
Scull laments that recent cuts "deprive the excellent along with the less so."
Scull uses the term "excellence" throughout. It is well- known that much of UCSD's "excellence" by Scull's definition is derived from the multimillion-dollar contracts it has historically won from government and corporate entities.
He evidences his argument by likening the current university crisis to the solutions arrived at by General Motors and Chrysler.
UC Merced is nothing if not an exciting, dynamic, albeit embryonic, example of the consequences of organizational action. Scull has done a great disservice to the students of UC Merced by designating their campus as "less equal." Apparently, he has not done his homework.
For instance, in the past year UC Merced students of the National Society of Black Engineers took first place at the Conference of Black Engineers held in Redmond, Wash. -- besting teams from Stanford, USC and Cal Poly.
Also, a team of UC Merced engineering students recently won Austria's International Robotics Rescue Simulation competition, which develops technology for disaster rescue and included teams from Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Iran, China and Austria.
How dare Scull and his signatories deem this campus "less than equal?" Having taught at both campuses, I beg to differ.
Not one of my students has told me they are attending the university "because my parents want me to" as I heard repeatedly at UCSD, but many have voiced their desire to contribute in the fields of science, engineering, politics, and yes, the humanities.
Some specifically chose UC Merced with the foresight to see that they would receive a more individual educational experience and have the opportunity to emerge as leaders in such a new school.
They include brilliant students who might otherwise have not had the opportunity to attend a UC, not because they didn't "measure up" but because many of their parents could not afford to finance living expenses in such locales as La Jolla, and who work incredibly hard in their studies and outside jobs to foot the bill.
Many UC Merced students hail from the Central Valley, are first generation scholars and they will and have, despite Scull's cursory dismissal of their "equality," excel.
While UC Merced contracts may not approach the income generation afforded a school that is 45 years old and strategically placed in a part of the state that thrives on the military and industry, UC Merced graduates will contribute greatly to society, not in the least to the underserved Central Valley, a society that professor Scull so easily dismisses using corporate standards.
Linda R. Torres is a lecturer at UC Merced and will receive her Ph.D. from UC San Diego in the fall.
E-Mail
Print
