OUR OPINION

CURATOR SEARCH MAY RAISE QUESTIONS

We hope that the rest of the campus shares our intense interest in the selection process that has just begun on this campus for the next student representative to the Board of Curators.

While it's far too early to tell who might emerge as leading candidates, Student Government Association President Jim Avery will likely become a strong contender in the race.

No, Avery hasn't officially submitted his application or announced his candidacy. And we haven't divined any secret information from the stars or the Psychic Friends Network.

But we have noticed that Avery, who would normally lead the selection process, has removed himself from it, which suggests to us that he will probably make himself a candidate in the near future.

If this is not the case, Avery should certainly give students some justification for declining to fulfill what would otherwise be his obligation as president.

His potential candidacy raises some provocative questions that will surely surface should Avery enter the race.

First, to what extent might Avery's responsibility to the student body of UM-St. Louis come into conflict with the official duties of the student curator?

Second, would his obvious, vested interest in his constituency here cause the Board of Curators to doubt the veracity of his input as student representative?

And finally, would UM-St. Louis be best served if the same person filled the two highest posts available to students?

No evidence suggests Avery would make a poor representative. He has experience articulating his ideas in a public forum and has already shown in his short tenure as student body president that he is serious about his commitment to students. Further, he has been involved with the Intercampus Student Council, a body of elected student officials from all four UM campuses, which was re-established in July after languishing in inactivity for several years.

As the selection process moves forward, we hope students and more important, the selection committee, will press each candidate, Avery included, if and when he decides to run, so that students not only at UM-St. Louis but at all UM campuses, may have the best representation possible for the next two years.

EDUCATION LEADER'S ROLES CAN BE VERY CONFUSING

With the addition of the newest education centers run by Outreach Development, UM-St. Louis will continue in the tradition of its founders, bringing educational opportunities more within the grasp of people who might find them difficult to reach.

Roughly 30 years ago, UM-St. Louis was founded to meet the needs of urban dwellers in the gateway area who would have otherwise been forced to travel as far as Rolla or Columbia to attend college.

Through the education centers in Jefferson and St. Charles Counties which serve non-traditional students, the University continues to make knowledge evermore accessible, to fulfill its purpose and promise.

This purpose, among the most noble and egalitarian imaginable, stands as an affirmation of the dignity and potential of all minds. Its promise seems embodied in each expansion, becoming ever more insistent. "Your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions."