Faculty losses sign of deeper problem

The latest loss of a high-profile chemistry professor should be the last straw for President Myles Brand and the administration. During the past several years, too many excellent faculty have been lost, each describing problems with the current administration. President Brand, in turn, has ignored the issue and instead spent valuable funds on new construction. It doesn't matter if IU has the largest and finest sciences building in the world if the administration's policies hinder recruiting and retaining the finest possible faculty. The president's reaction to IU's declining academic stature is to deride the measures used. This is folly. All universities are rated in the same way, and the excellent students and faculty of tomorrow use these rankings to choose their next academic destination. By allowing IU to slide, Brand is hindering the future of this University. Overall, President Brand and the current administration have their priorities misplaced!\nInstead of spending millions for new buildings and boondoggle projects such as the failed golf course, the focus should be on retaining IU's excellent faculty, solving the funding problems in both the College of Arts and Sciences and our elite School of Music and ensuring that IU returns to the higher echelons of this nation's universities. President Brand has not done these things; in fact it is his policies that have helped them develop in the first place. It is now time for him to step down, before IU suffers further loss in reputation.\nJoel Corbin\nBoulder, Colo.