Editor,
I was profoundly disappointed to read Felipe Medina-Marquez’s article “Tutoring Service Gets Mixed Reviews” in the Sept. 29, 2011 edition of the Daily Lobo.
With all the upheaval and cynicism at UNM, the anger that we see every day all around campus, I was dismayed to see Medina-Marquez pander to vitriolic attitudes.
I was a former tutor and staff member at CAPS for years, as well as a patron of its services throughout my undergraduate career, and I recommend CAPS to all the students I encounter.
CAPS is an organization focused on one thing above all else: serving the student population at UNM with sensitivity and with excellence. Despite challenges that most students never even know about (because the staff rightly takes care of them behind the scenes), CAPS proves that it is committed to consistency and stability for its students throughout each semester.
How many other departments on campus can make those claims?
Like every other student-support group at UNM, budget restraints and institutional regulations mean that CAPS cannot do everything.
It does the very best it can with the limited resources available.
The issues I gathered from the article’s two complaints were a solitary interaction with one tutor and another’s concerns with the sheer volume of students. The former could have been easily remedied by speaking to a CAPS staff member (and not a Daily Lobo reporter).
The latter is a testament to UNM students’ demands for academic assistance. CAPS offers different types of tutoring, extended hours, locations across campus and several online opportunities for help.
Even with all of these options, it is not possible for tutors to spend as much time as they would want with every student.
While there were some who defended CAPS, the negativity from the headline and the first half of the article overpowered the add-ons that Medina-Marquez was clearly not interested in pursuing.
Yes, CAPS is often busy. CAPS tutors are the best at what they do and CAPS serves thousands of students.
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Yes, students may have to plan ahead to make the most of their time with a tutor. That is a fact true for most real-world interactions.
Yes, there may be ways CAPS can improve its services. Tell someone who works there.
I’m not saying ‘let’s blindly rave about every campus service,’ but can we give credit where credit is due? If the Daily Lobo is truly the voice of UNM students, then please don’t get swept away by the loud and the few — the quiet and the many are likely too busy finishing their homework in the library.
Mary Cianflone Romero
UNM staff
