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It’s officially summer here at UW-Marshfield/Wood County.  Commencement was May 21; our first summer school session started Monday. Most area elementary and high schools are out as well.

A break from the books is a good thing, generally.  But those of us in higher education have concerns in that regard.  It seems students today are taking breaks from books in general.  In other words, youth today aren’t reading – not because they can’t, but because they choose not to.

For years, television has cut into people’s reading time.  The Internet – including chat rooms, instant messaging and blogs – have taken the place of a good book with many of our youth.

The result?  Student vocabularies are suffering.  One professor recently told us how a student in his class asked what “paternal” meant.  What was even more disturbing was that three other students in the class didn’t know either, but didn’t bother to ask.

Professors see the same thing when students are asked to paraphrase a piece of writing.  Many of them can’t because they don’t understand what they read, and therefore repeat what they read rather than reason through it.

This problem is not unique to UW-Marshfield/Wood County.  Our counterparts at the four-year universities are seeing the same thing.  The problem is national It’s a complex problem, because college and university curriculum typically assumes a traditional high-school graduate vocabulary.  The lack of it spans all disciplines.

Our faculty, staff and administration have begun meetings to discuss ways to address this problem.  One thing is certain – this isn’t an issue higher education can solve alone.  To borrow the cliché of the day, “It takes an entire community to raise a child.”

So no matter what age your children are, please make sure they hit the books in some way this summer.  Make sure they get to the library.  Make sure they bring books home.  Make sure they see you reading.

For children who frequent the Internet, encourage them to make wise choices.  Have them visit the UW-Marshfield/Wood County Web site at www.marshfield.uwc.edu.  Throughout the summer, our home page will include “Vocabulary Booster” links to pages that contain “Words of the Day” and other features.  The sites include:

? SAT Prep Site - This site allow you to register to have a vocabulary word emailed to you each day.  The site also has links to two dictionaries and a thesaurus.

? SAT Vocabulary Quiz, Nouns - This site offers a new word-definition match style quiz every time the page is refreshed.

? Merriam-Webster Online – Pronunciation and word origins are featured, along with definitions.

? Dictionary Reference.com – The “Word of the Day” is featured in four sentences from newspapers, books and periodicals around the word.

In many countries, the ability to read is a privilege rather than a right.  Taking that ability for granted limits it.  Encourage reading, and enjoy the summer.

Dr. Andrew Keogh is the dean and campus executive officer of UW-Marshfield/Wood County, a freshmen-sophomore campus of the University of Wisconsin.