OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Two weeks ago women's tennis became the first Tech sports team to win a recognized NCAA Championship. After winning the indoor championship in the fall, a title not recognized by the NCAA, they continued on to end the season with a 21-match winning streak. The team, coached by Bryan Shelton, has risen from being mired in mediocrity to the first spot in just four short seasons, a stunning improvement. This ascent reflects the phenomenal work put into the women's tennis program, Tech's most successful this year.

An athletic program as outstanding as women's tennis deserves our support. While Tech tennis fans turned out to support the team at the championship this year, as a school we need to be aware of teams throughout their seasons, not only to encourage the players, but also to show that the Tech community appreciates all of our athletic teams, not just the "major" ones like football or basketball. Appreciation for the athletic program as a whole will lead to stronger recruitment and better teams.

The women of the tennis team should be congratulated for their hard work, and the best form of thanks we can give them is our continued support for their program.

Overdrawn

In an embarrassing oversight, state auditors informed Tech that 25,000 dollars in fraudulent charges were made on a Tech purchasing card, and were missed by Tech's internal audits.

Tech employees or organizations can use a Tech credit card, called a procurement card. The cards provide a necessary and valuable service, allowing for increased convenience and purchasing flexibility that could not exist with a simple reimbursement system. However, Tech failed to meet its responsibilities in the handling of the procurement cards when a series of non-business purchases slipped by the Institute's oversight procedures.

The personal expenses were not noticed until an annual statewide audit called attention to the fraud. While it is applaudable that Tech administrators responded so quickly after they were informed of the expenses, immediately firing the person responsible, the fact that Tech's own expense reviews did not catch the discrepancies highlights a huge flaw in the procurement card system.

Whatever loophole was used to slip these expenses by Tech's auditing department, it is one that Tech needs to immediately close. Not only does it reflect poorly upon our school that this incident occurred, but it is an embarrassment that we were unable to correct the problem on our own.