A university is a place for exploring ideas and examining them. They operate on long time scales making them conservative about traditions. Therein also lies their stability. The great universities of this country and Europe having centuries-old histories, not true of any company or business. Yet, universities are also sites of innovation. This necessarily means a tension between the two, yet one that works often to advantage. Any change that occurs after serious deliberation and incubation among many is likely to be better than one hatched by just one or two at the top.A faculty has a longer time horizon than students and administrators. There is a wealth of knowledge and expertise in faculty across campus, some of it specific to us, and it should be brought to bear on proposed changes to our Flagship’s course. It should not be any administrator’s “project.” In that vein, let me pose some questions regarding the “realignment plan.”Does it make sense to move Experimental Statistics, which has its roots in agricultural and biological data and in mathematics, into a college that has none of those disciplines? Why is Mass Communication not part of Humanities and Social Sciences or Education? What is gained by simply elevating some schools into colleges, yet still with just one department? So long as we are rationalizing units, why not do so also on the basis of equitable size among various colleges? Considering the costs associated even with mundane items like changing letterheads, what is the cost of these changes, and is this the right time to be incurring them? And, above all, how does the new system compare to the current one? Let there be a vigorous discussion.A.R.P. Rauphysics and astronomy professor—–ContactThe Daily Reveille opinion staff at [email protected]