Since the beginning of the sem-ester, the Daily Egyptian, student government leaders and others have been criticizing student trustee Mark Kochan for what they call quitting on students. I disagree with both the Daily Egyptian and student gov-ernment leaders for a number of rea-sons. Mark Kochan is not a quitter. On the contrary, Mark Kochan is a hard worker and a faithful servant for the students
June 11, 1995
First, Mark Kochan has made many difficult decisions during his two-year term as student trustee. These decisions, including decisions on tuition increases, PQP and others, were not decided for the benefit of Mark Kochan, but for the benefit of the over 20,000 students who attend SIUC. Mark Kochan gets nothing out of his decisions, so why would he make decisions not benefitting the general population of SIUC?
Second, Mark Kochan had to take an internship in order to fulfill a requirement in his master’s degree program. While some may argue that Kochan knew he would be gone during the spring semester, they cannot prove what Kochan’s plans were. Kochan is doing what is required of him to obtain a mas-ter’s degree in public administration from SIUC. While the Daily Egy-ptian and student leaders criticize Kochan for not having his priorities straight, I believe he does have his priorities in correct order. Some of our esteemed student leaders may believe that education comes second to extra-curricular activities. If stu-dent leaders truly believe that, then they should not be student leaders. Students are students in order to earn an education. Mark Kochan, like us, is a student and is earning an educa-tion by taking this internship.
Third, more than any other stu-dent leader by far, I believe Mark Kochan can both serve his intern-ship and keep contact with his fellow students at SIUC. While serving as student trustee, Kochan has contin-ued to pursue his education, contin-ued to pursue his interest, continued to pursue his hobbies, continued to pursue his career goals and continued to maintain contact with his friends. While some other student leaders may only be able to do one thing at a time, Kochan can do many.
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In conclusion, Mark Kochan will continue to faithfully serve as stu-dent trustee for his fellow students at SIUC. Unlike some other student leaders, Kochan is a proven leader. While in Chicago, Mark Kochan will continue, as he has for two years, to listen to the viewpoints of SIUC students. Kochan has nothing to lose. If for one second he thought he could not continue to serve as student trustee, he would resign. Mark Kochan is a hard worker. Kochan’s hard work will show as he continues to serve at SIUC as well as he has in the past.
Senior, history and political science
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