Avoid the public ‘s’ word

Avoid the public ‘s’ word

EDITOR:

After over 30 years in higher education at seven campuses (campi?), I have seen a lot of faculty and administrations.

Years ago, when I was employed by the University of Nevada, Reno, used airplanes were reasonably priced and our relatives lived in New York, West Virginia, Minnesota, Texas and Arizona, so it made sense to have one. However, at tax time, the assessor valued the airplane at maximum value. The price of a plane decreased with each hour flown, to defray the cost of the required major engine overhaul. He wouldn’t listen to me, but insisted that was the way it was. I accused him of having a bad attitude for a public servant, whereupon he said: “I am not a public servant, I am a public official.”

Faculty generally don’t consider themselves public anything, let alone public servants. And they don’t earn a salary but are entitled to a generous honorarium. The purpose of the university is to support over-educated people very few of whom could survive employment in private enterprise.

I always wanted my faculty to get enough so that they could spend their energies on the three functions of a university — learning more, sharing it with the public and the students. Some did.

GEORGE E. SUTTON, Ph.D.

Poland

The writer is dean emeritus of the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology at Youngstown State University.