COLUMN: Let’s hear some chatter
For a large fraction of students at USU, the woes and triumphs of dating are always simmering in their minds. It seems as though our success as individuals partially revolves around our success in capturing the attention of members of the opposite sex. I assume this has a lot to do with why the column written by Richard Orcutt that ran in the Statesman last semester prompted the most discussion – it focused on this very subject: dating. Perhaps our readership will skyrocket if we switched up the game a bit and compiled a newspaper that resembles Teen Vogue and Entertainment Weekly. In fact I know Statesman content, whether it is in print or on the web, would be tweeted more often if “Wild” Bill Sproat’s latest breakup was spattered across the top of the front page. If this is what you are interested in, tough luck. I advise you to download some newsworthy applications on your iPhone and start worrying a tad more about the bigger picture.
In case you were not aware, you are now paying a sum of 25 cents per credit hour in your student fees – which total just over $400 – so the sustainability council can talk about ways in which USU can become more ecofriendly. Hopefully it’s not all talk. This fee may not seem like a big to-do and could most likely be found lurking in hidden corners of students’ cars. This isn’t the point. Which organizations will ask students to increase their enrollment fees next? If the Sustainability council can do it, shouldn’t everyone else? Are they more important, or did they simply just have the courage to ask? What are we willing to pay for, and what makes those things more important? The truth is very few students ask themselves these questions. Maybe I need to face the facts – students just don’t care.
However, I refuse to believe this. I have met too many intelligent young people attending this institution. These people have opinions about university policies and regulations but would rather listen to themselves groan than groan in a public forum. I understand the therapy of talking to oneself, but that does not make it productive. If I could challenge every student to do one thing this year, aside from surviving group projects, it would be to become a proactive student. Find out what ASUSU executive council is talking about. Find out how they are spending your money. Without your feedback they will continue to make decisions based on what they believe you want this university to be, rather than what you, yourselves, want it to be.
Get your jaw moving. Submit letters through the Statesman website, comment on the articles published about campus issues, download the ASUSU and Statesman iPhone apps and attend ASUSU executive council meetings. The Statesman will initiate weekly polls on its website and around campus, searching for your opinions. My hope is that you invest a few minutes each day informing yourself on the decisions that are being made around you, and in many instances, for you. Be part of that decision process. If you decide to remain uninvolved quit whining when things don’t go your way.
I’d say it’s about time you start caring, and I am positive every Statesman editor has attempted to convey this message in one way or another. I can only hope a few students’ wandering eyes fall on this page while searching for the crossword puzzle. With the uncertain economy, unspeakable amount of national debt, the upcoming U.S. presidential primaries, our loved ones fighting wars overseas and a state legislature that puts education on the back burner, it’s a pivotal time to use our First Amendment rights. Americans fought for years to ultimately attain the freedom of speech, and what a waste it would be if we did not take advantage of it.
Catherine Meidell is the editor in chief of The Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to her at statesmaneditor@gmail.com.