Watching Conan O’Brien go down in flames was the high point of the month for me. Like many of his fans, I never watched the Tonight Show-I don’t own a TV-but he has always been my favorite late night host. So when Conan declared war on NBC for demoting him by switching his show’s time, I watched online and laughed with my fellow fair-weather fans as he introduced “insanely expensive” new characters like the “Bugatti Veyron Mouse,” while playing the original master recording of “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones.
But while Conan fans came out of the woodwork to salute the sinking ship, where were they when his ratings were being tallied? Millions of Team Conan soldiers wrote venomous Twitter updates and lobbied NBC for him to stay at the same slot, but if these same people actually watched his show-besides on Hulu-Conan would never have been forced to move times and ultimately terminate his contract with NBC. It’s only when what we love is threatened that we make a show of loving it.
The same thing happened with German studies at USM. When it was revealed late last semester that the university was planning to cut the program-which had graduated only one student in the past three years-two dozen students protested outside Provost Kate Forhan’s office.
I’m a big fan of protests; I think students should do it more. Seeing USM students stand up and get mad about something for once was heartening. But as I watched the protest, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the program would even be on the chopping block if the protesters had acted earlier. It’s certainly wrong-headed of the university to lay off such a well-regarded professor as Angela Gulielmetti-you would think they’d try to hold onto the good ones since so much emphasis has been placed on “student success”-but you can’t fault Forhan for following a Board of Trustees directive to save money by cutting low-enrolled majors.
What you can do is let administrators know about the programs and professors you love. This winter, the university is holding a series of forums, or “convocations,” the first being this Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sullivan Gym in Portland. They hope to hear what students actually like about USM. These meetings could be your last chance to weigh in on the future of the university.
Advocate for your major before it’s too late.
I’m with Coco,
Dan MacLeod