Guidelines comments

Wimblees@aol.com Wimblees@aol.com
Thu, 12 Jun 2003 20:17:11 EDT


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In a message dated 6/12/03 4:39:37 PM Central Daylight Time, fssturm@unm.edu 
writes:

> Administrators are willing to 
> pay what it takes to hire the football coach who will win them the required 
> number of games. They are willing to pay for the number of groundskeepers 
> it takes to keep the flowers and grass looking pretty. They'll buy the 
> computers and pay for the LANL and support staff to stay at the cutting 
> edge of technology. None of those expenditures saves them money. They do it 
> because it is necessary to achieve a level of excellence

A winning football coach brings in millions to the university, from more 
attendance at the games, to bowl games, to scholarship money given by alumni who 
want to support a winning team. A coach might be great with the players, but if 
he doesn't win the right number of games, he's gone. Groundskeepers earn 
their keep by making the campus look attractive. That's a visual thing that 
everyone who comes on campus sees. Again, it attracts alumni who donate to the 
university. But if the lawns aren't perfect, or if there is too much trash laying 
around, some alumni will not only complain, but will threaten to withhold 
donation until the place is cleaned up.  And since everyone uses computers these 
days, most of which are donated by the computer companies, or at least 
subsidized by them, they are a good investments again, because alumni, who give money, 
remember how good the computers were. 

But a piano stuck in a practice room is only going to be noticed by a few 
music students, most of whom will earn very little money, and thus will not 
contribute much to the university. Even the piano on the stage in the concert hall 
only gets heard by a handful of people, compared to the number of people who 
attend a football game. The overall impact, the visual effect, much less how it 
sounds, not to mention how it plays, just isn't there. Virtually no one will 
know the difference if it isn't voiced or regulated. 

So the ONLY impact a piano tuner has on the instrument is on the longevity of 
the investment. Most technicians can only do so much to impress the faculty. 
Even with outstanding facilities, and an excellent technician keeping the 
pianos in tune, the money needs to be justified. Keeping the pianos sounding and 
playing great isn't going to be enough if the university decides it doesn't 
want to spend the money to keep their investment in top working condition, unless 
it can be shown that without the technician, their investment will need to be 
replaced in 20 years, instead of 40.  

I agree that getting testimonials will help. I want to add my name to the 
list. Can you tell me how to do that again, please. But we need to do more than 
that. We need to think of other means to impress administrators. You asked for 
suggestions. Why are you so reluctant to accept mine?

Wim

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