Facts, Figures Should Support Pierce Programs

My July 31 letter to the editor questioned the equity of the use of hundreds of acres on Pierce College campus devoted to nine disparate programs attracting few students and inappropriately called a farm.

In response to my missive, the college president, Mary Lee, wrote a letter published Aug. 7, telling us anecdotes about the farm walk and the “wonderment of 3-year-old toddlers” looking at sheep and the function of the acreage as a nature preserve. The last sentence, purely ad hominem , implied I was a naysayer.

I’m not a naysayer. I’m a truth-telling, reality-based taxpayer. As such, I’d like to know how many veterinarians resulted from the pre-veterinary medicine program at Pierce in the last 20 years. I suspect fewer than five, if any. And how many skilled jobs were obtained by graduates of the other eight so called agricultural programs? Besides the hundreds of acres devoted to them, how much does it cost us to keep these obsolete programs on the books?

It is time to share a little truth and reality with the public.

M. STEPHEN SHELDON

Studio City

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I cannot believe the attitude of Mary Lee, President of Pierce College, on the college’s journalism budget crisis. It appears she’d rather see Pierce College’s most successful program go down the drain than provide the necessary support it needs.

As a graduate of the Pierce College journalism program, I am shocked and dismayed that one of the best journalism programs in the country is being put at risk. As a citizen I am worried that this disregard for education is going to continue to degrade every program to benefit the sports program.

The journalism program prepares students for a career and provides skills and abilities. The graduates who continue their education are guaranteed a place in society and the workplace. The athletics department doesn’t provide that security. How many student athletes go on to the professionals? Very few.

Mary Lee better put her priorities in a proper place if she wants Pierce College to survive into the next millennium.

PAUL EISER

Canoga Park