Editor,
Richard Berthold’s recent bitter diatribe presents a biased and unfair portrayal slamming new students as unmotivated slobs and slighting the University’s efforts to retain and graduate students.
Many undergraduate students work part time or full time and help to support their families while carrying 15 hours at UNM.
Yes, many students come here underprepared, but my department and the almost 80 lecturers, part-time instructors and teaching assistants who teach English 101 and 102 receive upwards of 100 hours of teaching preparation to present a rigorous and thorough course of instruction in college writing.
Many of us have taught for years. We know and care for our students. The Freshman Learning Communities program that links special Arts and Sciences courses with English 101 instruction introduce new students to meaningful academic discourse and UNM’s rich intellectual life.
Also, the College Enrichment Program has played a meaningful and vital role in retaining and promoting an education for students who might not otherwise be here.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
I’m glad I teach at UNM, a school that has an open enrollment policy. I celebrate the many different students I’ve had the honor of instructing here and their fight to get a higher education.
So, go ahead Berthold, with your cynical rant against the University and your usual target, the “liberals.”
To the new students who come here I say, “Welcome, you are the reason we’re here!”
James Burbank,
Teaching assistant and proud of it
English Department
