"The future of SDSU" that Dr. Ann M. Johns puts forth for SDSU (Opinion, March 24) is well structured – for yesterday's university.

Recently, the National Science Foundation created new interdisciplinary programs now funding all sorts of new endeavors at the intersections of traditional disciplines with computer science, and with an emphasis on teaching and research.

The world is changing and new research areas are emerging from unexpected areas.

For SDSU to adopt an old approach and refocus only on teaching at a time when research and teaching are becoming more intertwined, and when new disciplines are emerging out of traditional ones, would be a tactical mistake. While I agree that SDSU's primary role should be to teach, SDSU should not forgo the opportunity this era uniquely presents.

SDSU should continue to welcome a diversity of students from the region, the state and the world.

SDSU should not focus on region-appropriate studies, because today, the region and the world are becoming one.

TOM IMPELLUSO
San Diego

Three cheers for Johns' essay. She writes what I have been thinking for years. SDSU should be proud of its legislated mission to be a regional, higher-education teaching institution that grants degrees to the masters level. Offering doctoral programs is so far outside of SDSU's mission that it needs to partner with doctoral-granting institutions to do so. I cannot help but think that SDSU suffers from an inferiority complex as it stands in the shadow of doctoral universities such as UCSD and USD.

As a tenured professor teaching in the community colleges for 12 years, I regularly witness the struggles of students attempting to transfer to SDSU. As Johns points out, these struggles are largely based upon SDSU losing its institutional compass. Just as those of us teaching at the community colleges know our mission and would never attempt to grant bachelor's degrees, SDSU should also consider operating within California's Master Plan for Higher Education and confine its activities to the bachelor's and master's degrees.

KEVIN PETTI
Department of Natural Sciences
San Diego Miramar College