A Foothill required project that you can’t do at Foothill?

As of early last year, Foothill enacted regulations that prevent students from advertising or hosting an event on campus. This especially affects seniors who want to plan their own event for the mandatory Hero Project.

Isn’t that just a bit ridiculous? If Foothill makes a project a graduation requirement, they should at least give their students all of the resources to make them a success. And one of these resources is an advertising outlet.

In situations such as senior Audrey Benelisha’s Local Area Network (LAN) party, the target audience is students. With Foothill’s regulations, Benelisha is unable to reach her core audience as effectively as possible. Is Foothill setting their students up for failure by doing this?

The students who choose to go above and beyond the necessary requirements for the project should not be pigeonholed by red tape, and their projects shouldn’t be treated any differently than that of Schools for Salone.

Last year, you couldn’t attend Foothill without knowing about teachers Cherie Eulau and Melissa Wantz’s quest to raise enough money to build a school in Lungi, Sierra Leone.

The question here is: why should a faculty-run project receive more privileges than a mandatory student project?

Simply because an adult has more means to complete their vision does not mean it is any more valid than a student’s. In fact, because an adult has the means to complete such a project on their own, the administration should give more resources to the students than the faculty.

One problem principal Joe Bova addressed about hosting and advertising Hero Project events on campus was the possibility of too many students wanting to advertise. And while that is a valid point, it’s not a reason to ban all projects from being advertised.

Instead, Foothill could announce that there are a certain number of spots allotted each year for advertising (first come, first serve), and make students submit the details of the project and how advertising or hosting their event on campus would benefit them.

Sure, it’s not ideal, but it’s a compromise.

The bottom line is that if Foothill makes a project mandatory, they should be open to letting students use the campus for their benefit. And if the administration declares that no student-run projects can be advertised or hosted on campus, the same standard should be held for the faculty.