REFLECTIONS:
By Robin Luke

Ah, the age of technology! I am writing this during a break in the Marketing Management Association's Annual Meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago in the association's complimentary "cyber cafe." The window in front of me shows no let up in the snow that falls dutifully on the pedestrians (and everything else) below. Since I can easily remember the days of carbon paper and the IBM Selectric typewriter (not to mention spirit duplicators), this is quite a come-uppance!

It took me more than one year to gather my research for my Ph.D. dissertation in the seventies and then several more years to complete it. I went out and purchased the just-released IBM Selectric typewriter (the one with the ball) so that I could then beg my wife to type my dissertation with two-part carbon paper. I will never forget her wailing when she made a mistake on the last line of a page, as there could be no mistakes on the carbons that went to various "black holes" on campus. Today, a doctoral student can do their research "literary search" in two weeks and have a degree easily within two to three years. Ah, the age of technology!

Reflect on how technology affects your daily life, both at work and at play. We now take much of the big "T" for granted, and frankly, forget many of the things in our past that made for a very different pace and lifestyle. Such reflections make more understandable the reasons why our students know little or nothing about President John F. Kennedy or Kent State or Watergate. Who cares? Life is in the present and the future...not in the past.

Here at SMS, we are very pleased about what our faculty has accomplished in the past, but also what they are doing now and what they have planned for the future. While the financial picture for education in Missouri is very bleak (our faculty have had but one raise in three years), you can be assured that SMS faculty remain prideful in their professional quest to "develop educated persons" - one of the major components of our major mission statement.

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To do this, we now, more than ever, need your support - human and financial. We are looking for the brightest students - so we can develop individuals who can become successful leaders in the future. We are looking for continued relationships - with those of you who mean so much to us for guidance and resources. You have provided valuable internship opportunities for our students through your businesses. You continue to provide financial assistance for scholarships, research, and departmental needs. And your feedback to us on what we are doing—right and wrong-- remains invaluable. THANK YOU - WE COULD NOT DO WHAT WE DO WITHOUT YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

We are displaying the business cards of our alumni for all who pass by to see them. Please - SEND ME YOUR CARD. One more favor, please. Let me know of anyone who you would like for us to place on the e-newsletter list. We would love to send it to those who would enjoy receiving it.

I hope that you enjoy our second e-newsletter and that you will send it to many of your friends. Enjoy the articles about our alumni, students and our professors. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever be of service to you.

All the best,

Robin Luke
Professor and Department Head
Southwest Missouri State University
Department of Marketing
901 South National Avenue
Springfield, MO 65804
 

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