Be Good. Be Orange.

When I am asked what it means to “be Orange”, I think “what does it mean to be from any other school”? We like to think of ourselves as this separate entity, that we’re all unique, but in reality we are just a number. We go through school to get a degree not because we want to better society or become “educated”, but because it is necessary for our survival in today’s society. If you look at the OSU strategic plan, I will list what they expect us to be:

• Accountability. We are committed stewards of the loyalty and good will of our alumni and friends and of the human, fiscal, and physical resources entrusted to us.
• Diversity. We recognize that diversity and excellence go hand-in-hand, enhancing our teaching, scholarship, and service as well as our ability to welcome, respect, and interact with other people.
• Integrity. We practice honesty, freedom, truth, and integrity in all that we do.
• Respect. We treat each other with civility, dignity, and respect.
• Social responsibility. We contribute to society’s intellectual, cultural, spiritual, and economic progress and well-being to the maximum possible extent.

But when you look at us, the student, are we? Was OSU accountable for the snowstorm that closed campus during finals yet left Dixon rec open while the library was closed? Or was it the city of Corvallis who was at fault for not being prepared for this “winter Armageddon”? If we are so diverse, how come I only see Caucasian students on campus and not African American students? And we are so open to embrace diversity, why is it we put all the international students in the INTO building towards the edge of campus instead of putting them in dorms where the can learn to assimilate with citizens of America? If we value integrity so much, then how come we are constantly looked down upon when we protest our discontent with aspects of how the school system operates? And do we really have freedom at school, are we not forced to take baccore classes instead of taking classes that would actually apply to our major? Do we really treat each other with respect here at OSU when student’s opinions are constantly undervalued in the face of the administration? Do we truly respect one another when you get students from U of O throwing snowballs at cars passing through campus; U of O could have been any school. Are we really contributing to the betterment of society when we’re paying so much to become “educated”? Do we care about society when only the select few get to go to college because there family can afford it? Do we care that our students have to go into debt just to get ahead in life? The answer is simply no, but as with everything in life, nothing is as simple as it first appears.

We like to hold each other accountable for actions, but when held under the gun, we simply turn a blind eye. OSU turned its back on its students when the weather got extremely bad this year. They closed campus during finals which could have been for numerous reasons, but the fact still remains. What perplexed me the most is they kept Dixon open instead of the library, which seemed awfully strange. Instead of getting a formal apology from the school, we got a “thank you for your patience”. OSU in some part does take responsibility for the students that drop out by wanting to achieve an 100% attention rate (it’s at 83.5% right now, which seems surprisingly high) but you can’t help but wonder if that is because they want more students “educated” or if they want the extra revenue?

Diversity at OSU is a complete joke in both education and welcoming international as well as ethnic students to our campus. Teachers at OSU are put in the situation where they can either choose their students or their research, but not both. They are not obligated to give a damn about the student and when they do they are forced to go out of their way to do so. There is no diversity in teaching, it’s all the same. We sit in large lecture halls where the teacher talks to the group, then we have a recitation once a week to see if we learned anything. It’s literally the same for every class and there’s no diversity in that. But perhaps the worst aspect of our diversity is our “welcoming” culture for international and ethnic students. The international students are brought into this new country and instead of assimilating with our culture and really taking in America, they are confined to the INTO dorm at the edge of campus, away from everyone else. Here they are encouraged to make friends with their own nationality and are encouraged to use the resources provided at the INTO building rather than the resources the other students have access to. Given they still have a choice on whether or not they choose to do so, but it is much easier than going about campus on their own trying to assimilate; it’s almost sickening that OSU has all these resources for the international students at the INTO building, but don’t bother to help them if they want to live in the dorms with the American students. And I’ll be the first to say it, where the Hell are the African American students? All I see is Caucasian students on campus and I could get into the issue of inequality throughout America, but that’s a whole other topic.

Integrity is great to have but something we do not. We as students are herded like cattle through college doing whatever we’re told because there is no other way. If we argue with the administration over an issue in policy, we will most certainly lose. If we have a complaint about a teacher they (administration) have us fill out a survey for all teachers where what we write is often disregarded. This in a sense, makes these surveys a marketing ploy. The students are happy because we think our voice actually matters but at the end of the day it’s all smoke and mirrors, meant for the college to look like it actually gives a Damn about its students.

As for respect, college has bred an atmosphere of “be the best or die” where it’s a common occurrence for students to think that they weren’t cut out for college. College is too competitive now where if you don’t get the top grades, you won’t get the best scholarships or the best chance of getting into the major you want. Pro-school is dependent on GPA and that’s a lot of pressure for one person. And grades are mostly dependent on tests, which are more of “how much can you memorize” rather than “what do you actually know”? The tests don’t really test our knowledge on a subject but are rather the quickest way to evaluate a student. That’s why I’ve enjoyed this class so much for the fact that out of respect for the student, we don’t take tests. Instead we are evaluated on our ability to comprehend our readings through writing, which is how we should be evaluated on our work. We learn through group work and discussion, instead of sitting in a lecture hall taking notes. The office hours for this class have been some of the best in any class I’ve had, even if I haven’t gone to any. Most teachers you have to schedule an appointment with just to get the help you need, as the college feels it is necessary to stuff as many students as possible into one room and thus give a teacher to deal with for office hours; it’s especially bad for math, where I once waited on hour to get help because his room was completely filled. Like I said before, we are herded around like cattle and that one on one time with the teacher is virtually gone in College. And moving the bookstore next to Reser stadium, is that respectful to the students? The academics section hasn’t improved all that much and now instead of being in the center of campus, where all students can access it, it’s at the edge of campus. The only improvement to the bookstore is the merchandise section, where we can buy all the overpriced beaver gear that we can’t even get a discount on just for being a student.

As of right now, OSU is not fulfilling its objective of social responsibility. Are the students that come out of college today really better than those that came out 20 years ago? Do we know Latin, have we read the odyssey, and do we have the leadership skills necessary to take action for the betterment of society. Maybe, but more likely than not, if a student becomes what OSU wants it (the person) to become, they have to go out of their way to do so. Our education is worthless compared to our parent’s education and the worst part is, it costs a lot more. Sure we might have nicer buildings than we did, but they got the help they needed when they went. Sure they didn’t of the CAPS center or Waldo, but they didn’t really need that back then. College was less stressful as they had time decide what they wanted to do and they had time to take care of their well-being.   They went to college because they wanted to, not because they felt they had to. Sure I could drop out of college and work minimum-wage, nobody’s forcing me to go to college, but I know if that were to happen I would be completely miserable. Minimum-wage is not living wage and at most I might be making 30k a year and if I got extremely lucky, 80k a year. For my first 5 or so years, I would most likely be making 9 bucks an hour, which would net me around 15-17k a year. On this wage I would not be able to have a family and never be able to afford to tend a university. A university costs 20k a year while at its cheapest costs about 10k without financial aid. My math class cost 800 bucks and my poetry class cost 300! Really? As it stands now, the university is ridiculously expensive.

All this said, I believe we do have good people going to OSU. I blame the institution itself and not the people who serve and attend the university. Most of the teachers I have met have genuinely care about my education and have shown the same frustration with the people who run OSU as I have. Most of the students are friendly and I’ve made some good friends since I arrived here. I feel the biggest problem that has happened with College in general is that it is no longer an institution for education but rather now treated as a business. The school has a quota of students to fill and as a consequence we are treated as numbers; we can easily be replaced if we can’t afford college, which isn’t how it should be. And now there is a division among the colleges themselves. You have community college, the cheapest, public universities, very pricy, then private colleges, very expensive but apparently the “best” education. Each college is competing for the best students and as such any new building we see is most likely the result of trying to be “better” than another school. Like the new College of Business building, is that because we have more business majors at OSU or because we want to attract more business majors to OSU that would’ve gone to U of O (which has a better business program) otherwise? Who knows? All I was hoping to accomplish with this post was to offer a unique perspective on the institution people refuse to believe has been corrupted. Given I have not looked through the entirety of the OSU budget plan so take my words with a grain of salt, but I truly believe college should be much cheaper than it is. I wish I could say being Orange was a source of pride for me, but as an ethicist I am bound to say the truth (or at least what I believe to be the truth) no matter how far from popular opinion it may be.