Due to budget constraints, IU will cut 35 faculty positions over the next few years, 23 of these from the College of Arts and Sciences. No professors will be fired, but professors leaving or retiring will not have their positions filled.\nThe cuts are predicted to save IU $2 million and make up for the debt due to a dip in enrollment and decreased state funding. State regulations prohibit raising tuition to cover the debt.\nIU already has the most AI's of any Big Ten university, so it is unfortunate that even less professors will be here in the near future. \nCutting the positions is, however, the safest and least risky way to solve the budget problem. Other options include adding a fee, which would put the burden on students, and dipping into the endowment, which is only intended as a last-resort fund and which can have major financial repercussions.\nIt is better to see IU actively nipping debt problems while they are in the bud than letting them accumulate and becoming a bigger problem in the future. Though we do not like to see IU lose its rankings and attractiveness based on student-professor ratio, it is the best solution to the debt problem.
Harry Potter \nencourages reading
\nThe Harry Potter buzz is causing a stir for devout Catholics. \nIt has become recent news that the Pope is firmly against the series, as stated to the author of an "anti-Harry Potter" book. In a letter to the author, the Pope said "It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly." This statement was made in 2003 when the Pope was still a cardinal. \nWe think the whole situation has been taken out of perspective. The line between non-fiction and imagination has become hazy. \nGroups are getting together to rip pages out of the new book and even going as far as to burn it. Can you imagine the reaction a child would have to see their favorite book burned in front of them? \nWhat we need to realize is that these kids are reading. Instead of wasting hours on end watching cartoons and subjecting themselves to inappropriate television shows, these children are picking up books and reading for hours. They're tapping into their imagination instead of zoning out in front of the TV. Using their imaginations allows children to be creative and show their creativity.\nSeeing kids get very excited about reading a 700 page book should be a good thing and not considered sacrilegious.\nIt's impossible to protect children from everything all the time, but at least it can be comforting knowing they are in their room reading a children's book instead of wasting their intelligence in front of a TV.
