Assuming that President Jischke will be heading to greener pastures some time soon, we at the Daily have come up with our very own wish list. This list contains the things we would like to see done, regardless of who the president of Iowa State is going to be in the foreseeable future.

First thing we need to do is get rid of those cheesy ISU commercials. Who talks like that? Who would see one of these commercial and want to come here?

We need a better mission statement, one that doesn’t simply refer to being the best land-grant university in the nation or becoming better through the use of technology.

We need to come up with some concrete steps to take in order to improve this university. Baby steps, not jargon are what you need for improvement and not pie-in-the-sky proclamations about dominating the fields of technology.

Shift the emphasis of this university from research to teaching. Certainly, research is a major part of any university’s role, but research without teaching is like a loveless marriage. It works, but to what purpose?

Faculty members, regardless of their department, should not be made to feel as though they are not contributing because they aren’t piling up the research.

A good teacher is worth 10 researchers, and anyone who says differently is only looking at the bottom line.

Can we get some Pepsi products on this campus? Maybe it’s not the “choice of a new generation,” but it is the choice of enough people to warrant its presence in vending machines from Vet Med to Schilletter Village. Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing.

Conflicts of interest should be a thing of the past. If you are on the board of a major corporation (or two or three) and you are making decisions that affect the future of this university, then you better make sure the companies you work for have nothing to do with biotechnology, agriculture or engineering.

If you do not see the conflict of interest inherent in these positions, maybe public service is not for you.

Be open. If Ed Koch can be a man of the people in a city the size of New York, then certainly the president of Iowa State can get out and mingle once in a while. In spite of the trend to view us all as a collection of numbers — Social Security numbers, money in, money out — students are real people with vested interest in this university.

Do not deny students our stake in this school.

If you see us as customers, we will begin to see ourselves that way and, ultimately, Iowa State will suffer for it when we find a better deal elsewhere.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Kate Kompas, Greg Jerrett, Heidi Jolivette, Justin Kendall and Tara Payne.