Since Hurricane Ike changed the way we live our daily lives, tension has been running higher than ever. Many Houstonians are still without power, Galveston remains virtually uninhabitable and numerous repairs are still needed. People are starting to raise their voices a little louder – as they should.
History department chairman Robert Buzzanco’s guest commentary "Decision to reopen irrational" (Sept. 15, Opinion) strongly criticized UH President Renu Khator’s decision to reopen the campus last week and most of the commentary’s readers, of which a majority were students, couldn’t have agreed more.
Nick Zugaro, UH Law Center juris doctoral candidate, submitted a letter to the Houston Chronicle Sept. 1 also condemning Khator’s choice, calling it "irresponsible" and "entirely unacceptable."
Now in the second week of classes since the storm, students and faculty will get further understanding when Khator gives the opening comments at the UH Faculty Senate meeting at 12:15 p.m. today at the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library’s Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion. The focus of the meeting will be the actions of the University before and after Ike and what improvements should and will be made.
The meeting’s agenda, posted on the senate’s Web site (www.uh.edu/fs/agenda.html) says there will be an "open discussion from the floor to address the key areas with an emphasis on ideas for further improvement of emergency procedures/protocols."
We encourage people to attend the meeting and take part in the discussion. Those looking for answers should voice their concerns at the meeting and ask any questions they have. Today is the day to go directly to the source.
This is not a time to attack the president or disrupt the meeting, but a moment to constructively address the issues we’ve all had on our minds.
Khator has surely heard disgruntled comments from students, faculty and staff, and now she owes those she oversees a straight answer as to why the University reopened while so many other schools in the area logically remained closed. Maybe she can also explain how the "educational mission" can be met while classes are less than half full and a number of classes were canceled. Today we must hear the real reasons why the campus was reopened.
Khator’s goal to make UH a top tier university is a positive goal that would be wonderful to achieve, but UH is a commuter school and will remain so for the near future. Students, faculty and staff attending can remind her of who we are today and what we expect to remain? a prosperous University.
