I knew this day would come: my last issue of the Setonian. My last chance to make a statement in the campus newspaper; my last chance to inspire change or challenge folks to think; my last chance to make someone angry. It seems like just last week when I was slipping my first comic under the doors of the third floor Maura Hall Publications Office. But now it’s time for me to put on that cap and gown and schlep my way down the aisle.
Before I do, I feel as if I should apologize, specifically to the fine people on the first floor of the Administration Building. The employees of the student accounts, financial aid, registrar, and admissions offices have been under a barrage of editorial attacks for the three years that I�ve been writing this column – even longer if you count my cartoons. Sure I�ve chided other areas of campus life, like Griffin’s Cove, residence life, and the athletic department, but none have taken a beating like the folks on first Admin.
By Mike Rubino,
Cartoonist/Illustrator
I knew this day would come: my last issue of the Setonian. My last chance to make a statement in the campus newspaper; my last chance to inspire change or challenge folks to think; my last chance to make someone angry. It seems like just last week when I was slipping my first comic under the doors of the third floor Maura Hall Publications Office. But now it’s time for me to put on that cap and gown and schlep my way down the aisle.
Before I do, I feel as if I should apologize, specifically to the fine people on the first floor of the Administration Building. The employees of the student accounts, financial aid, registrar, and admissions offices have been under a barrage of editorial attacks for the three years that I�ve been writing this column – even longer if you count my cartoons. Sure I�ve chided other areas of campus life, like Griffin’s Cove, residence life, and the athletic department, but none have taken a beating like the folks on first Admin.
I�m not apologizing to these hard-working and friendly staffers because they control my final transcripts – although it would be great if they would let me graduate. I�m apologizing to them because they are merely messengers getting ripped apart because of the policies put in place at this school that clearly make no sense. The folks that work in these offices are just trying to help us out as best they can. It’s not their fault that financial aid and student accounts have totally separate records. It wasn’ttheir decision to screw up work-study hours because of the minimum wage increase. Yet these folks get the brunt of the complaints. These lucky people get to hear parents screaming at them on the phone from nine to five every day.
I have consistently written about one major issue going on within this university (and no, I�m not talking about the dining hall coffee, although it hasn’tgotten any better in the past three years). Seton Hill University suffers from a stifling level of bureaucracy that, at times, seems to slow this place down to a grinding halt. I remember when they used to shut students� meal plans off the second their account information didn’tline up. There were would long, Soviet-style breadlines down the hall of first floor Admin.
Then there’s the lack of communication between offices right across from each other. Financial aid gives me one quote for tuition, student accounts gives me another. And the sheer amount of signatures one needs to register for an independent study is simply preposterous.
Things clearly need to change. There needs to be communication between offices, shared financial records, a tuition czar, and reduced red tape for adds, drops, and independent studies. Some better coffee wouldn’thurt either.
After graduation, I will be looking back at Seton Hill with only the fondest of memories. I never would have dreamed that this institution would have provided me with such an outstanding education and a chance to grow personally (although I�m still 5�6). It reassured me that the Catholic education system is one of the best in the nation. I am so thankful that I chose Seton Hill, and even more grateful that it welcomed me with open arms.
I may have been hard on Seton while I was here, but I think she needed to hear it.
Whether or not this school changes is up to the underclassmen, who will have to cope with many of the issues I�ve just mentioned. The phrase �Hazard Yet Forward� may seem overused at this school, but it has never been more apt.
Thank you for reading.
View this writer’s profile.