Dear Editor:

I write to correct Professor Thomas Alexander’s patently false assertion in these pages Wednesday that the Faculty Association has “not expressed one moment of concern about students” in recent weeks.

On Oct. 5, the coalition of four unions hosted an informational meeting for students in one of the large Lawson Hall lecture spaces.

Attendance was standing room only, and the meeting lasted 90 minutes. Fifteen of those minutes were short presentations by union members on the issues that concern them, and the rest was a question-and-answer session. The students in attendance asked an impressive array of questions, demonstrating their concern for themselves, their future degrees and the quality of education on this campus.

Similarly, that same week, and last week, the four union coalition staffed a table in the Student Center, where hundreds of students stopped to ask questions and express support.

I agree with Professor Alexander’s assertion that our students should be upset. They —you — should use your influence as tuition payers to pressure all sides for an equitable solution, which would allow instructors to focus on instruction, and civil service workers to carry out their many crucial duties that make SIUC run, without one eye behind them, fearful of furlough days and with layoffs imposed without transparency and accountability.

Holly S. Hurlburt

associate professor of history