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OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion ATLANTA November 6, 1998 The Merit of Buzz  Let's play a word association game. When we say "Buzz," what first comes to mind? The annoying sound of a vibrating pager? Do you think of the deformed insectile symbol of the now-infamous Salt Lake City minor league baseball team? Hopefully, an image of Georgia Tech's long-revered mascot pops into your imagination. Perhaps you should first think of money.
Through Buzz mascot licensing revenues, the BuzzFund has provided scores of Tech students with merit-based scholarships. This year, however, BuzzFund money will be channeled into the multi-million dollar licensing lawsuits to protect our Buzz from those nefarious imitators. Sorry, no BuzzFund scholarships this year.
Without doubt, funding for these lawsuits should be derived from other financial sources. A great need exists at Tech for these merit scholarships. Now, the Presidential Scholar program is the only publicized merit-based scholarship remaining. The PS program is not a bad program for what it is, which is an unabashed recruitment tool. The program represents a money-making opportunity for in-state students; It effectively says, "come to Tech with your HOPE grant and full PS scholarship, and you can make in excess of $1,500 per year!"
That's great for PS recipients, but bad for everyone else. Even with BuzzFund money, Tech's merit-based scholarship supply is seriously deficient. If the PS program were filling the need, the number of PS scholarship retainees would definitely be higher than it is. Of last year's incoming scholars, 16 percent have already lost the scholarship. That's a pitiful number.
Certainly, the excess PS money that is currently being used to pay students to attend Tech should be used for the creation of additional scholarships. Now what do you think of when we say "unfair"?
Our thoughts are with you Our thoughts are with the family, friends, Zeta Tau Alpha sorority sisters, and Cheerleading teammates of Leanna Piver. Leanna was driving southbound on I-85 monday morning when she was involved in a car accident.
Our thoughts are with the family, friends, Zeta Tau Alpha sorority sisters, and Cheerleading teammates of Leanna Piver. Leanna was driving southbound on I-85 monday morning when she was involved in a car accident.
Consensus editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors. |
Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board
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