The reorganization of several of MSU's colleges is seen by many to be merely an administrative matter, affecting office personnel primarily, and as we are all quite well aware of, a number of teaching assistantships available to graduate students. However, while undergraduates might think that such changes portend little for their own affairs, there is a deeper meaning behind this planned reorganization.

By tying the humanities programs located in the College of Arts & Letters, such as English and philosophy, to programs such as communication, MSU's administrators have sent an implicit message that the value of the humanities exists not within themselves, but only insofar as these disciplines can be bound to supposedly "productive" activities within the world of business and the like. While this might be a very well-intentioned plan in ensuring the "marketability" of such disciplines, this sends a chilling statement of nonviability or lack of worth inherent to these programs as they exist as courses of study in their own right.

Thus, in evaluating the methods behind such a mind-boggling reorganization, one must ask the question: Do the humanities possess a worth that is intrinsic, or are such areas of study valuable only to the extent that they can be marketed?

Joseph F. Slowik
philosophy senior