2008 Woodie Awards
For students' sake, compromise is essential
Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: Opinion
On the heels of a strike authorization vote that saw 96 percent of the more than 80 percent who voted checking the "yes" box, it seems that, at best, the Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education are headed for an 11th-hour deal that will keep faculty and coaches from walking out on July 1, as they have vowed.
At worst, as finals approach and the semester winds to a close, the possibility of an extended strike could affect the fall semester schedule.
And at this point, it's also clear that no Rodney King "Can't we all just get along?" solution is forthcoming.
Even as the current collective bargaining agreement's expiration date creeps closer, July may still feel like a long way off.
If either side was happy with what had been offered up to this point, there clearly wouldn't have been any need for talks of a strike, buttons, posters, marches or blogs.
But regardless of who ends up "giving in" more in this stalemate, in which the state has failed to give an inch (or any kind of raise in the proposed four-year collective bargaining agreement, despite looking down the barrel of an impending strike), it's clear the core of any university or college-students-needs to be taken into account.
These considerations need to be made not only for the sake of SRU students, and for those in any of the 14 state-system schools, but for the students of the future.
A black mark in the form of a strike-no matter who's responsible for it-serves only to risk tainting the name and reputation that both the faculty and state-system administrators work so hard to maintain.
This escalating will-they or won't-they business of recent weeks has put students (at least those paying any attention) into a state of uncertainty and doubt that internships, classes, and perhaps even graduation are about to be put in jeopardy.
A student body that is powerless in a set of negotiations that could drastically affect its future also may not take too kindly to what's to come, not unlike the oft-forgotten but fully aware children of a divorce, unsure of the future and worried that Mommy and Daddy will never be able to get past a few percentage points and the cost of some Harrisburg mansion.
In the end, perhaps both sides will only get stuck in a situation with consequences neither has bargained for: an angry and locked-out student body, the victims of a long and drawn-out mess.
Let's just hope Mommy and Daddy can stand to be in a room with each another long enough to hammer out a deal on who gets what percent for how long.
Students are counting on it.
At worst, as finals approach and the semester winds to a close, the possibility of an extended strike could affect the fall semester schedule.
And at this point, it's also clear that no Rodney King "Can't we all just get along?" solution is forthcoming.
Even as the current collective bargaining agreement's expiration date creeps closer, July may still feel like a long way off.
If either side was happy with what had been offered up to this point, there clearly wouldn't have been any need for talks of a strike, buttons, posters, marches or blogs.
But regardless of who ends up "giving in" more in this stalemate, in which the state has failed to give an inch (or any kind of raise in the proposed four-year collective bargaining agreement, despite looking down the barrel of an impending strike), it's clear the core of any university or college-students-needs to be taken into account.
These considerations need to be made not only for the sake of SRU students, and for those in any of the 14 state-system schools, but for the students of the future.
A black mark in the form of a strike-no matter who's responsible for it-serves only to risk tainting the name and reputation that both the faculty and state-system administrators work so hard to maintain.
This escalating will-they or won't-they business of recent weeks has put students (at least those paying any attention) into a state of uncertainty and doubt that internships, classes, and perhaps even graduation are about to be put in jeopardy.
A student body that is powerless in a set of negotiations that could drastically affect its future also may not take too kindly to what's to come, not unlike the oft-forgotten but fully aware children of a divorce, unsure of the future and worried that Mommy and Daddy will never be able to get past a few percentage points and the cost of some Harrisburg mansion.
In the end, perhaps both sides will only get stuck in a situation with consequences neither has bargained for: an angry and locked-out student body, the victims of a long and drawn-out mess.
Let's just hope Mommy and Daddy can stand to be in a room with each another long enough to hammer out a deal on who gets what percent for how long.
Students are counting on it.
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