Tom Isern, NDSU

Well, the university is getting some bad press lately, and it's likely to go on for a while. I'm not talking about the Bison defense, either; that's another subject, one I don't want to talk about anymore. If someone raises the subject of football, then I quickly divert to volleyball.

Which gets me back to my original purpose in writing, which is to observe how we--meaning we, the faculty and staff of the university--respond to the public airing of university problems. I suggest there are two general approaches.

The first is the one I see in comments given to the press and voiced in other venues, such as Facebook (which some people seem to think is a private forum, but it is not; if you're university staff talking about university affairs, open records law most certainly applies). Not that I have football on my mind, gosh no, I've forgotten all about it, but I call this type of response "piling on." Some faculty and staff seem to think it's a good idea to pick at their leaders in public. The way I see it, though, for those who wish to chastise university administrators, there are ways and means to do that. Seek election to the university senate, and go at it. Send the president an email. Use the forms of department and college governance. Now, the people who prefer to gripe in other media will say, oh no, we can't do that, we will suffer retaliation. So, we're supposed to believe that if they were to speak up in the senate, they would be punished, but if they mouth off in the media, they will not be? The logic escapes me. No, the truth is, the mouthy ones are just small people who do not have the interests of the university, or even their own enlightened self-interests, at heart. They have been watching the game, waiting for someone else to make the tackle, so they can pile on. (OK, it's not football that is the strange attractor here, it is metaphor.)

Now for the other type of response. Among the people who matter at the university, conversations turn toward how to avert damage to the university mission and get out the word that, despite some bad publicity and perhaps some instances of bad judgment, the university is sound, and there are lots of good things going on. Teaching and learning goes on apace; students get better and better, challenging faculty to keep pace with not only their numbers but also their talent; the reputation of the university as a research institution gets better every day; physical facilities, although they cannot, at a public university, get ahead of needs, nevertheless exhibit spectacular improvements.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am no Pollyanna. We make mistakes, and the university has faults and deficiencies. Have I mentioned the library lately? Oh, I guess I have, but get used to it, because I will continue to do so. And that brings me to my central point. If you're going to grouse, grouse about something that matters. Let's build a library worthy of a modern land-grant university! Grouse about that! And let's build a university culture that behaves like an institution of stature, instead of the colonial institution we used to be.

A final word to the pilers-on. It is by such behavior that we, as individual scholars, are measured. Character counts. If we wish to be treated by peers as people who matter, then we have to act like people who matter. People who matter use their influence to build a greater university.

Members of the Gold Star Band greeted attendees at the Barry Hall dedication downtown this afternoon. The place was packed, people were enthusiastic. Lots of suits, of course, including Governor Hoeven, Senator Dorgan, Congressman Pomeroy, Mayor Walaker, the university brass, of course, lots of people from the business community, lots of people from the development foundation, major donors, the Barry clan. A full auditorium. Afterward people explored the great facilities, ate the munchies, gabbed, and did a lot of people-watching. This is a major step forward for the College of Business Administration, and therefore for the university.

OK, that was a feel-good event. Well done. Now can we talk about a library?