2008 Woodie Awards
The way we see it ...
Spring has just began
Arbiter Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
It’s a no-brainer right? Seasonally speaking spring has sprung.
So what?
So, we’ve broken spring in and now we must settle down, focus our studies and get those grades up and in and graduate and bounce into summer.
But there are some things we must remember as we complete this 2006-07 school year, things we must clear up.
The onset of spring brings a rebirth of thought and insight which may have frozen over the winter.
In recent weeks this campus has been a contemptuous mess.
We bickered over what exactly we mean this university to stand for. There is no right answer. There is no way we will ever come to a consensus on our beliefs or our opinions. We have strong voices on not two sides of these issues concerning race and society, but 19,000 sides.
There have been accusations of racial tendencies slung from the right and left and every point on the line in between. We ask that you cease attacking each other. Our online forums have been wrought with anger and assumptions which cannot be quantified. Do not presume that someone exists within a closed mind, just because they have strong opinions. And DO NOT BE CLOSED-MINDED! Do not assume that just because you have always had an opinion, that that is the right opinion.
Let yourselves be open to dialogue and listen to one another, or even better, start to actually hear what your opposition has to say.
This opinion is purposefully vague. This April Thursday we do not wish to tackle a specific issue, but rather how we approach all issues, all topics of debate on this growing campus. Growth can be measured in layers of steel and concrete, but true growth exists within the minds of the populace walking the paved trails and communal lawns within and beyond our bounds.
We appeal to your young minds and foundational beliefs, and ask you to let them be challenged, to learn and accept all viewpoints. You need not adhere to others’ opinions, but you must accept that they exist. Realize that there are people behind those opinions and beliefs, people with hearts and minds which can be insulted, outraged and sincerely affected by your actions and statements.
There are great troubles in this world and the only way to get solutions is to commit to reasoned discourse.
So what?
So, we’ve broken spring in and now we must settle down, focus our studies and get those grades up and in and graduate and bounce into summer.
But there are some things we must remember as we complete this 2006-07 school year, things we must clear up.
The onset of spring brings a rebirth of thought and insight which may have frozen over the winter.
In recent weeks this campus has been a contemptuous mess.
We bickered over what exactly we mean this university to stand for. There is no right answer. There is no way we will ever come to a consensus on our beliefs or our opinions. We have strong voices on not two sides of these issues concerning race and society, but 19,000 sides.
There have been accusations of racial tendencies slung from the right and left and every point on the line in between. We ask that you cease attacking each other. Our online forums have been wrought with anger and assumptions which cannot be quantified. Do not presume that someone exists within a closed mind, just because they have strong opinions. And DO NOT BE CLOSED-MINDED! Do not assume that just because you have always had an opinion, that that is the right opinion.
Let yourselves be open to dialogue and listen to one another, or even better, start to actually hear what your opposition has to say.
This opinion is purposefully vague. This April Thursday we do not wish to tackle a specific issue, but rather how we approach all issues, all topics of debate on this growing campus. Growth can be measured in layers of steel and concrete, but true growth exists within the minds of the populace walking the paved trails and communal lawns within and beyond our bounds.
We appeal to your young minds and foundational beliefs, and ask you to let them be challenged, to learn and accept all viewpoints. You need not adhere to others’ opinions, but you must accept that they exist. Realize that there are people behind those opinions and beliefs, people with hearts and minds which can be insulted, outraged and sincerely affected by your actions and statements.
There are great troubles in this world and the only way to get solutions is to commit to reasoned discourse.
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