Don't just sit there, do something!
By: Ricky Galvez, Sports Writer
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Opinion
It's the last issue of The Stentor and I am sure that the last thing anybody wants to read is a teary-eyed, sappy farewell from some nostalgic senior who wants to impart a word of advice before leaving.
Guess what? I don't care.
If there is one thing I have learned about voicing your opinion from four years of writing for our Lake Forest newspaper, it is this: offend people.
The purpose of a newspaper is not only to report the news, but to be an outlet for those who have got something to say.
When students see a problem or think that something on campus is not right, they have the opportunity to voice their opinion to the entire campus in an article. At the very least, other students will read it, agree, and give the other a pat on the back. At most, the problem could actually get fixed.
It is all too often that the apathetic population of LFC will just sit around and whine about a problem instead of doing something about it. Granted writing 300 words is not a Herculean task and probably will not even result in the immediate solving of any problem, most would not even consider it.
When I advocate offending people, it does not mean throw around insults or whine. It means that when there is a problem, it should be addressed forcefully.
Sometimes to get a point across, people need to get angry. It's easy to find opinion pieces that are so afraid of offending others that the author loses sight of the strong points. Granted there are many that this is clearly not true, for it is a sad trend.
In four years, I have seen very few things change at Lake Forest. There are certainly those who get out and try, sometimes successfully, to fix problems. But these are the exceptions. The apathy among the Lake Forest student body is disgusting. Too many of us are content to just sit and listen to what we are told, and the administration is content to draw the lines for us.
This does not mean that what we are being told is inherently bad. Life is good here, let's not kid ourselves. If it was not, there are hundreds of other good universities and colleges that would gladly take our money.
The administration should not take our complaints personally. We need to criticize because we care about this place. We have a vested interest in LFC; aside from living here four years, we want to be able to come back later and be proud of our degree. If a student really believed that LFC was a terrible place, they would not write an article, they would leave.
Maybe if more people actually did this, it would not come as a surprise when the faculty reads that students are upset about something. Maybe if people actually got passionate about something, they could get something done, even if it means offending a few people.
Not so sappy, right?
Guess what? I don't care.
If there is one thing I have learned about voicing your opinion from four years of writing for our Lake Forest newspaper, it is this: offend people.
The purpose of a newspaper is not only to report the news, but to be an outlet for those who have got something to say.
When students see a problem or think that something on campus is not right, they have the opportunity to voice their opinion to the entire campus in an article. At the very least, other students will read it, agree, and give the other a pat on the back. At most, the problem could actually get fixed.
It is all too often that the apathetic population of LFC will just sit around and whine about a problem instead of doing something about it. Granted writing 300 words is not a Herculean task and probably will not even result in the immediate solving of any problem, most would not even consider it.
When I advocate offending people, it does not mean throw around insults or whine. It means that when there is a problem, it should be addressed forcefully.
Sometimes to get a point across, people need to get angry. It's easy to find opinion pieces that are so afraid of offending others that the author loses sight of the strong points. Granted there are many that this is clearly not true, for it is a sad trend.
In four years, I have seen very few things change at Lake Forest. There are certainly those who get out and try, sometimes successfully, to fix problems. But these are the exceptions. The apathy among the Lake Forest student body is disgusting. Too many of us are content to just sit and listen to what we are told, and the administration is content to draw the lines for us.
This does not mean that what we are being told is inherently bad. Life is good here, let's not kid ourselves. If it was not, there are hundreds of other good universities and colleges that would gladly take our money.
The administration should not take our complaints personally. We need to criticize because we care about this place. We have a vested interest in LFC; aside from living here four years, we want to be able to come back later and be proud of our degree. If a student really believed that LFC was a terrible place, they would not write an article, they would leave.
Maybe if more people actually did this, it would not come as a surprise when the faculty reads that students are upset about something. Maybe if people actually got passionate about something, they could get something done, even if it means offending a few people.
Not so sappy, right?
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