2008 Woodie Awards
ASG not representative of students
A confederacy of dunces
Noel Runyan
Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: Opinion
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I've been plagued by a slightly unsettling feeling for a few days now. What disturbed me was the realization that college life is beginning to echo "real life." The petty divisions, the blind ambitions, the love and the hate - everything that will complicate our lives on a grand scale after we graduate is alive and well among us right here, right now.
I find this immensely depressing beyond all else. I'm longing for the days when students were na've idealists. More and more, I find myself yearning for the good ol' days when the youth of America were hopelessly misguided but filled with noble intentions, when a conglomeration of economics and English majors, who had only skimmed a few representative chapters of Marx, decided to try to occupy the chancellor's office and basically make every effort to get themselves arrested and embarrass their parents.
I'm no fan of civil unrest, but I would take that in a heartbeat over the institutionalization of ignorance coupled with apathy we seem to have inherited today. I feel compelled to ask, as all serious moralizers do, "What is the world coming to?" The world seems turned upside down, or haven't you noticed?
Have you noticed that no one seems to care about the process of student government, rendering the essentially powerless Associated Student Government all the more farcical than it already is? Have you taken time to consider the so-called government of "students for the students?" If you missed the last episode of "Family Guy," don't worry about it, but that motto of the ASG definitely gives Stewie Griffin a run for his money. I suggest a modest amendment - "government by a few, for a few" - specifically, for the approximately 20 percent of students who happen to be members of fraternities or sororities.
I am not out on a witch-hunt. I am not out to make a name for myself, or to even to trash Greek life at the UA. It just seems that we have this same discussion every year, and the more I think about it, the more I believe that there must be a good reason for that. Consider that august representative body, the ASG. You might find that their overall membership might be weighted a little toward the Greek side of the camp.
I find this immensely depressing beyond all else. I'm longing for the days when students were na've idealists. More and more, I find myself yearning for the good ol' days when the youth of America were hopelessly misguided but filled with noble intentions, when a conglomeration of economics and English majors, who had only skimmed a few representative chapters of Marx, decided to try to occupy the chancellor's office and basically make every effort to get themselves arrested and embarrass their parents.
I'm no fan of civil unrest, but I would take that in a heartbeat over the institutionalization of ignorance coupled with apathy we seem to have inherited today. I feel compelled to ask, as all serious moralizers do, "What is the world coming to?" The world seems turned upside down, or haven't you noticed?
Have you noticed that no one seems to care about the process of student government, rendering the essentially powerless Associated Student Government all the more farcical than it already is? Have you taken time to consider the so-called government of "students for the students?" If you missed the last episode of "Family Guy," don't worry about it, but that motto of the ASG definitely gives Stewie Griffin a run for his money. I suggest a modest amendment - "government by a few, for a few" - specifically, for the approximately 20 percent of students who happen to be members of fraternities or sororities.
I am not out on a witch-hunt. I am not out to make a name for myself, or to even to trash Greek life at the UA. It just seems that we have this same discussion every year, and the more I think about it, the more I believe that there must be a good reason for that. Consider that august representative body, the ASG. You might find that their overall membership might be weighted a little toward the Greek side of the camp.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 5
xurbia
posted 10/29/07 @ 12:09 PM CST
"I am not out on a witch-hunt."
The first five paragraphs were written in order to defend the statement. The next eighteen necessitate the first five. (Continued…)
GREEK
posted 10/29/07 @ 3:00 PM CST
haha kid must have got CUT
Former ASG Senator
posted 10/29/07 @ 4:49 PM CST
Unfortunately, Mr. Runyan's assessment is substantially accurate - and easily self-evident. All one need do is to look around the chamber while Senate is in session to witness the homogeneity. (Continued…)
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