WOULD YOU LIKE CHEESE WITH THAT WHINE, ERIN?
To the Editor:
I’m not even sure where to begin with your letter concerning your grade in chem., but the bottom line is, you didn’t make the cut. Anyone who has taken real chemistry finds the chemistry nursing majors take to be Pablum. If you understood chemistry, you’d ace that simple course. You didn’t; therefore, you don’t. It’s not new either. Back in 1990 when I tutored nursing students in
biology and chemistry, there was the same lack of preparation and understanding for an important core subject that you demonstrate now. It seems to me, if you really had any true concern for your future avocation, you would be very worried about your grade, not because you missed a pre-req., but because an intimate knowledge and understanding of chemistry is necessary to practice any form of medical care, including nursing.
The answer doesn’t lie with making the requirements easier or getting a sympathy grade from a professor, but with your taking responsibility for your own
education and subject comprehension. All the professors that I know in the
chemistry department are completely competent professionals in their respective
fields and gifted instructors as well. I’m not saying this as a partisan of the
department. Most of them can’t stand me, but that doesn’t prevent me from
recognizing excellence when I see it. And finally, yes, education is a consumer
good and you are welcome to take your trade elsewhere to another institution,
just please let me know where you end up working so I don’t go there in an
emergency. I’d hate to have someone hang a bag of potassium on me rather than sodium, because they didn’t know the difference.
William C Diaz
Graduate Student
P.S. Way back in the old days, nursing students had to take a year of chemistry.
If the Nursing dept. has returned to that after a hiatus, kudos to them!
FREE PRESS DISAPPOINTS
To the Editor:
I was appalled when I opened the Nov. third issue of the Free Press to find a picture of a lonely pumpkin with the letters PEB carved into it. The sight also evoked similar emotions in many people I talked to who had put in countless hours towards making the Pumpkin Festival a huge success. That is right, I said success, though the Free Press mentions the inability to break the world record, the Festival was a success. While the attempt was fun, it was not the sole purpose of the festivities.
The Life is Good Pumpkin Festival was to benefit Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Casco for children who have life threatening illnesses and their families. The entire family gets to have a week away, at no cost to them, which means that the camp needs to raise a lot of funds. The purpose of the festival was to: 1. raise awareness of the program, what it has to offer, and to encourage people to get involved; 2. raise funds so that families can continue to go to Camp Sunshine cost free, and also to someday expand the program and make it year round. Both of these goals were accomplished with the help of many dedicated volunteers. The camp raised over $30,000 to continue to provide their services to families from all over the world. Tens of thousands of people roamed the trails of Deering Oaks Park that Saturday, each one of them taking a bit of the Camp Sunshine magic home with them. News stations, radio stations, and newspapers from miles away lined up to do stories on the festival and the camp itself.
But where was the Free Press? Taking a picture of a single pumpkin and mentioning the “heroes” of PEB. Everyone who walked through the park gates was a hero, whether they left a pumpkin, took a brochure, made a contribution or just enjoyed the family entertainment. While I place no blame on the Portland Events Board, I do find it odd that there was no article or mere mention of the role that the entire University of Southern Maine community played in this festival. I know I personally collected over 65 volunteer applications for the event from Circle K, GEB, Residential Life, Greek Life and random interested students. Circle K and GEB also hosted a pumpkin carving night on Thirsty Thursday and were responsible for the first 178 pumpkins placed on the scaffolding. The Student Nurses Organization set up a carving station in the Brooks Student Center, where they mastered over 1,250 pumpkins with close to one hundred people carving. There were many more pumpkin-related activities that took place during the week.
My point here is not to single out any student group to see who did more work than who, but to make people realize that USM students were very much a part of this festival, and all the good that came of it. USM students were there to pick the pumpkins, to carve the pumpkins, and even to dress up like a giant pumpkin, all for an extraordinary cause. Anyone who participated in this event knows it was in no way a failure and was in fact worth every cut finger, frozen nose, and every hour dedicated all for Camp Sunshine. I would like to end with some inspiring words printed in the festival program: “We believe in the power of positive thinking. We believe that every dog has his day. We believe in peanut butter and jelly. We believe in good old fashioned hard work. We believe in Camp Sunshine and everything they do. And today, we believe that carving pumpkins can change the world…. Life is Good!!” Life is good, and USM students helped to change the world, one toothy jack-o-lantern, and sick child at a time.
Erica Tobey
Junior Nursing Student