By Rebecca Perbetsky, Staff Writer

I am transferring to University of Georgia because of the merger.

People who know me or have ever been in a class with me this past semester or the current one know that I am completely against the merger and have been since they announced that it was going to happen. There are a lot of people who have tried to sway my opinion on the subject, but honestly I don’t see how this merger could, or will ever, be a positive thing for the city of Augusta, Ga. It has done nothing but cause problems for all of the students who go to either Augusta State University or Georgia Health Sciences University.

I have not yet heard a strong argument as to why this merger is “the greatest thing since sliced bread,” so I decided to transfer to the University of Georgia after this spring semester.

Now don’t get me wrong, the merger is not the only reason I am transferring to UGA; it is, however, one of the more important reasons. My other reasons, perhaps, make more sense to outsiders. However, I feel that transferring because of the merger is a very valid reason.

I have friends who have to extend their time in college because they are in the nursing program and have been told that they either have to pick up classes they were originally told they didn’t need or they have been told they can’t precede in their studies at this time because of the merger.

Not only did all of these reasons spark the idea to transfer in the middle of my junior year, but the thought of not being able to get a degree with “Augusta State University” on it made me sick to my stomach and had a huge factor in my decision.

Yes, I know that some classes can pay extra for that, but why should I pay extra for something I was promised when I began my studies here? I am a student who believes in Augusta State and everything we stood for, and because of this I decided to get involved on campus. I know that I have gotten to know many members of the faculty and staff here at Augusta State, and it saddens me that I will be leaving such wonderful and intelligent people. However, I still don’t think that it’s fair that someone who applied at a certain university should be denied a degree from said university. Now, frankly, I don’t think that to any of us students who came to this campus while it was still Augusta State wants to receive a degree from a school we didn’t apply to in the first place, so I came to the conclusion that I was not going to let any of these possible outcomes happen to me.

The degree thing didn’t get to me as much as the name change did, and because Augusta was not in the name I started to think about transferring in the first place. Now I was not born here nor do I say I am from here; however, I have called Augusta my home since I was 7 years old. It saddens me that, as a community, the people of Augusta didn’t fight back stronger with the Save the A campaign, and it frankly pisses me off that we just let he who shall not be named run over us and shut us up so quickly. Adding Augusta to the end of Georgia Regents University showed absolutely no respect for the students at Augusta State, or for the city of Augusta, and that right there was THE final deciding factor in me transferring to Georgia. If this man we call the president of our school doesn’t have the decency or respect to either use proper grammar when adding Augusta to the name or to even choose a name that highlights the two universities, then why the hell do any of us students think that he is going to have the decency to care about anything we do?

This is why I decided to jeopardize my entire college career to get away from this merger and everything that has to do with it and transfer.