Letters to the Editor: Alex Garinger for Young Trustee

Of the three finalists for Young Trustee, Alex Garinger stands out from the crowd. As editor of The Chronicle, Garinger has a perspective unmatched by other Duke undergraduates. While many passionate students choose to spend their time lobbying for changes in institutional policy or student programming via DSG, Campus Council, the Union and a host of smaller student organizations, Garinger has served faithfully at The Chronicle during his undergraduate career as steward for the University community. He is the only candidate with a proven grasp of the major challenges posed by our new academic facilities, the restructuring of West Campus, Arts & Sciences and the inevitable changes the student body will experience as our now Ivy-led administration resolves the debate about the role of intellectualism in Duke's undergraduate experience.

While his understanding of the Medical Center is admittedly lacking, Garinger's knowledge of this major University sector far exceeds that of the other candidates, and he will learn more quickly because of it. Furthermore, his priorities are balanced--he knows the importance of the revolutions in science that will be stimulated by CIEMAS, the French Science Center and the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, yet he remains committed to the strengthened role that the arts should play in revitalizing this often lackluster undergraduate campus.

The fact that Garinger is editor of The Chronicle should not count against him in the process. Quite the contrary, indeed, for Garinger has already had to serve in a trust position for the University as The Chronicle's editor. If elected Young Trustee, Garinger must be sure to exclude himself from any role he might play on the advisory board of The Chronicle or Duke Student Publishing Company.

However, Garinger's insights should not be squandered; his background as a journalist makes him an ideal candidate for Young Trustee. As Terry Sanford would have wanted, Garinger represents no particular constituency, but has simply demonstrated his love for the University and the larger Duke community by his tremendous dedication to the newspaper that serves them.