This is how most college students select their major: New students arrive at a university excited by the expanded roster of subjects, which had been inaccessible to them during high school. In many cases, the first choice of a major is more symbolic of a general area the student is passionate about rather than a solid lock meant to last all four years of study. While a minority of the UA population may have a clear endgame concerning a specific career, a great deal more are wanting to try out subjects that interest them before making any concrete decisions.

How then can condensing curriculum options for students be the right move? A simplification of educational avenues is not the proper solution to the administration’s mounting financial burdens. Maybe it’s ludicrous to suggest a curbing of expenses toward the University’s construction projects, but it nevertheless occurs to me that this placement of priorities is not only reprehensible but irresponsible. It is the duty of the University to present itself in the best possible light. This is achieved just as much through maintaining a diverse curriculum as it is from efforts to make postcard-worthy architecture.

The fields of TCF and journalism (JN) are two distinct subject matters, which each contain separate processes for relating information to their respective consumer bases. The two studies are not without shared characteristics and often can work in tandem through areas such as news reporting. In addition, the modernization of media often allows for the lines between the two to become blurred, such as is the case with the podcast series “Serial.” This does not make them the same subject, but instead comments on how intellectuals from either field can take elements from the other in order to create a more compelling narrative experience.

I started off my time at the University as a major in journalism before switching to TCF, which I now believe best suits my passion and skill set. If the two studies are to be condensed into a single entity, the question arises as to what about either of these subjects seems so lacking that they cannot retain their status as separate majors. This, I think, could be directed more at JN than TCF, as the former is usually perceived as a disappearing novelty. While most industry professionals might admit the newspaper business is shrinking, it is certainly not dead, and the notion that journalism’s fate is the same as the newspaper industry’s is overly simplistic. Historically, newspapers have been the primary source for coverage, but they are not the only avenue. Magazines, annual journals and radio all represent different avenues for relating news to viewers.

The College of Communication and Information Sciences only has five undergraduate majors. Five. That is not a number which seems excessive to me. To squeeze these subjects into an even tighter corral because of perceptions concerning the legitimacy of their status, or because they are simply seen as tying down expenses the University feels could be better spent elsewhere, is an unacceptable proposition. I admit, part of my frustration stems from a fear of insignificance being attributed to collegiate curriculum deemed less lucrative than others – sciences and business come to mind. A greater part of this anger is derived from the fact that we will deny future students of this University a chance to explore, to their benefit, the most expansive roster of classes we could provide.

Chase Bodiford is a junior majoring in telecommunication and film.