Dean of students shares root beer keg with students

Papa Choo Choo visited the halls of Wright Quad last night to tap a keg with students.
Better known as the IU dean of students, Pete Goldsmith sat down with students and a keg of root beer to discuss topics such as campus safety, tuition and how he got the nickname Papa Choo Choo.

Ben Siebert, vice president of finance for Wright student government, said having the dean of students sit down with the students has been going on for a few years.

“It’s the best way for students to get a direct route to administration,” Siebert said.
When students sit down with the dean, they can ask him anything they want to know about, he said.

Students were not the only ones asking questions; Goldsmith was also asking students about their experiences at IU. Goldsmith asked what could be done to help exploratory students find their major.

Students told him of their experiences with classes that help students choose majors and how there could be more focus on them. Goldsmith then addressed concerns with the issues of H1N1, safety and tuition.

Goldsmith said it was great IU has started the first round of vaccinations for H1N1 but said the university did not get as many vaccines as the administration had hoped.

“We had been hoping to get 3,000 vaccines a week,” he said. “But we don’t have control over how many we can get.”

No matter how many vaccines IU receives, Goldsmith strongly encouraged students to sign up to get the vaccines.

When discussing the issue of campus traffic, he said Provost Karen Hanson appointed a safety task force.

He said the task force is proposing two new cross walks on Fee Lane and hopes to have them soon.

Another side of the problem is that students need to be aware of their surroundings and think about safety, he said.

“I think many college students think they are immortal,” Goldsmith said.

When it came down to the topic of tuition, Goldsmith said it is not an easy question to answer. He said the University is being squeezed. IU’s costs are also going up, and the state is giving IU less money, he said. One thing that could be done to cut cost is to cut some of the services offered at IU, he said.

“The services IU offers are part of what makes it such a great place,” Goldsmith said.

The night started to come to an end with Goldsmith sharing his experience about being a student during the Vietnam War and with his work in the military. The most important, Goldsmith said, is to take advantage of what the University has to offer.

“Treat college like a job,” he said. “It is not only your job to get a degree, but to walk away with an education.”