Is anyone else completely fed up to the gills about the lack of funding going to the arts? I know it sounds cliche and tired that another person is railing against the arts, but the fact is that we are a society where money gets poured into science and math while even the slow, lethargic trickle that finds its way to such departments as theater is under constant threat of being shut off completely. When I read in the paper on Thursday that we are projecting extra money from our budget to go into math and science I just laughed, because I just came back from a theater meeting where our teachers informed us that we are just struggling to pay for our quarterly show. While there are brand-new engineering buildings and landscaping being done, the music and theater building are combined into one building while the only new building, the PAC., is off-limits for our use. We as a school are known for our excellence in architecture and engineering programs. We are a polytechnic school. But most students don’t even know that there is a theater program. Shouldn’t we strive to be a more Renaissance, well-rounded school? Why don’t we take a smidgen of the money from the extensive engineering/science/math budget and bring some life back into the arts. It is an important aspect for growth and universities have a duty to prepare us in all areas of life not just the hard sciences. We know the Greeks to be one of the best, most intelligent, advanced civilizations ever known and while science/math were important disciplines of their life, theater was just as important and was, in fact, a civic duty. Shouldn’t we take a hint from men like Aristotle and Socrates and put our money where our theater is?
Emily Marsh
Theater junior