EDITORIAL
Clements starts on the right foot
WVU president’s speech cites improvements for years to come
Little more than a week ago, WVU President James Clements marked his 100th day at the helm of West Virginia’s flagship university. During that time, he’s been out and about town, addressing civic groups and fraternal organizations or attending his daughters’ volleyball games as he gets to know the community. He’s also been busy assessing university needs and how they’ll be addressed in the next decade and beyond. Among his priorities is improving academic and faculty quality by adding staff. He addressed the issue during his “State of the University” address Tuesday. Noting that the professor-to-student ratio (1:27) is not what it should be, he promised to hire at least 100 professors to improve the ratio to improve academic success. As important is that he hopes to meet that goal, in part, by reallocating existing funding — a refreshing approach to such an aggressive plan. We trust that if Clements views the budget with an objective eye, he will likely see areas where creative reorganization could enable the institution to grow while holding the line on its finances. WVU is such a massive entity — it would be ludicrous to think there aren’t areas where belts could be tightened or funding could be moved to help reach that goal. In addition, Clements discussed a 10-year plan to address other important areas such as research, undergraduate and graduate education, health care, multiculturalism, globalization and the university’s impact on the state. We like Clements. We like his energy and sincerity, and his down-to-earth attitude. We wish him well as he strives to reach his goals to better WVU. It’s been a good 100-plus days. Ban handheld cell phones The state Legislature is bantering about banning text messaging while driving. But technology has improved so that it isn’t necessary to hold a phone to use it. And, dialing or holding a cell while driving is an unnecessary distraction — let alone texting. Currently, West Virginia law mandates that those under 18 with learners’ permits are barred from using cell phones while driving, period. That law should be augmented with a common sense mandate — only hands-free cell phone use allowed while operating a motor vehicle. No hands — no texting.