OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Plowing ahead

The Honors Program is going to happen, and it's going to happen for the incoming freshman class this fall. For many members of the Tech community, this news may come as a surprise.

From an external point of view, an Honors Program will boost the image of the school as a whole and help bring in more private donations to the school. Also, events like lecture series designed for the Honors Program can help enrich the entire campus. Since the program is already underway, we should make the best of it and build on to it to produce the high-caliber program that this school deserves.

As a school that takes its academic programs very seriously, Tech normally takes time to carefully consider proposals for academic changes to absolutely ensure that they will meet Tech's high standards. For such an important change as the implementation of an Honors Program, the Institute seems to be moving forward at an alarming rate.

Despite concerns, the ball is rolling. It is important that the administration learns from this first class of students and views the first year not as a fixed deal, but as an evolving "beta version" with room for improvement. There are inevitable bumps in the road ahead, and the program and its administrators will need to maintain an open mind and a degree of flexibility in order to smooth out those bumps for future classes of students.

There are some unavoidable flaws in the program's first year. It seems odd that the first batch of students chosen will be selected without ever having applied for the program or possibly even knowing about it. However, this will yield a tangible program that can be evaluated a year earlier than otherwise possible.

It is imperative that this first class of students be well informed about the details of the program. They must understand the magnitude of the program's potential effects on this campus so that they can set a good precedent for future classes.

Braine replacement

David Braine's retirement due to health concerns brings to an end an almost 10-year career that saw many achievements for athletics at Tech. While his tenure at Tech elicited mixed feelings from some members of the community, Braine had made many contributions to Tech athletics and will be missed.

We hope that Tech carefully considers who it hires for his replacement. The replacement should be someone who sees the position as their "dream job" instead of as a stepping stone. It should be someone who really cares for Tech as Braine did, and who will want to stay around for the long run.