2008 Woodie Awards
EDITORIALS
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial
- Page 1 of 1
You want more student events and involvement? Then vote, dammit!
The key to curing an apathetic student body is to take a course of action. In this particular case, voting in the upcoming Student Government Association election is one way to make your voice heard.
We hear time and time again that our vote counts - and it does on Webster's campus. If you want change, then do something about it. There are 20 students running for a position on SGA and each comes with his or her own outlook and ideas.
Why you should vote in next week's SGA elections:
• Your vote will count. In a school of more than 7,000 students, every vote counts. Heck, especially if only 100 people vote, their vote definitely counts.
• It takes less than five minutes of your time. We know, you're busy, but so are we. But can't you spare just five minutes of your time? By logging onto http://www.webster.edu/sga, voting for next year's SGA is super easy.
• Last year, 373 students voted in the SGA election - and that was a record. If there are more than 7,000 students who take classes at the Webster Groves campus, why didn't more take the time to vote? Be a trendsetter. Take the plunge. Vote. Maybe setting a goal would help. How does 400 students sound?
• New SGA members bring fresh ideas to our student government. This is not to say that the ideas of current members are stale, but new sets of eyes and ears are always advantageous. Same goes for us at The Journal - we welcome new writers every semester.
• You'll feel good about yourself. It's almost like doing a good deed - but for not just for yourself, but for the student body as a whole. Plus, knowing you voted is sure to brighten your mood and put a smile on your face. Others might think you're crazy, but that doesn't matter because you will know that you have made a difference at your campus.
We don't know about you, but we at The Journal hope to be one of the first online at 12:01 a.m. April 17 to cast our vote. Well, maybe not at 12:01 a.m. exactly, but we do plan on voting for SGA. After all, as Ghandi said, "We are the change we wish to see in the world."
Conservative Christians could bring anti-gay agenda to Webster
In the last several years, universities have made great strides in recognizing and respecting the rights of minority students to learn in a safe and comfortable environment. Gay students in particular have benefited from policies that promote acceptance and ban discrimination.
But now, some conservative Christian student groups and organizations, including one group of lawyers and judges, are posing legal challenges to the anti-discrimination policies of public colleges. They claim the rules suppress their right to voice their opinion - that homosexuality is immoral.
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times profiled the legal fight these "attacked" Christians are bringing to universities across the country. According to one survey cited in the article, a majority of Americans feel that organized religion, particularly evangelical Christianity, is being actively attacked.
One leading evangelical quoted in the article referred to the movement against the intolerance of intolerance, so to speak, as the civil rights movement of the 21st century. Another Christian activist said the argument against evangelical Christians is unfairly putting them in the same place as racists - that is, making their beliefs as untenable as racism is.
Christians who condemn gays to hell and protest gay student groups might be compared to racists, but what's so unfair about that? While we at The Journal would be hard-pressed to push for laws or rules that would stifle free speech, it's difficult to sympathize when members of the overwhelmingly dominant religion in this country compare themselves to the martyrs of the civil rights movement.
There may not be any protection from such a fight here, as some private companies have had their anti-discrimination policies successfully challenged in court. With any luck, Webster's longstanding tradition of tolerance and acceptance will prevent conservative religious groups from hijacking the fight for gender and sexual equality into a fight against Christianity. Don't let right-wing religious fundamentalists divide Webster to advance their political agenda.
The key to curing an apathetic student body is to take a course of action. In this particular case, voting in the upcoming Student Government Association election is one way to make your voice heard.
We hear time and time again that our vote counts - and it does on Webster's campus. If you want change, then do something about it. There are 20 students running for a position on SGA and each comes with his or her own outlook and ideas.
Why you should vote in next week's SGA elections:
• Your vote will count. In a school of more than 7,000 students, every vote counts. Heck, especially if only 100 people vote, their vote definitely counts.
• It takes less than five minutes of your time. We know, you're busy, but so are we. But can't you spare just five minutes of your time? By logging onto http://www.webster.edu/sga, voting for next year's SGA is super easy.
• Last year, 373 students voted in the SGA election - and that was a record. If there are more than 7,000 students who take classes at the Webster Groves campus, why didn't more take the time to vote? Be a trendsetter. Take the plunge. Vote. Maybe setting a goal would help. How does 400 students sound?
• New SGA members bring fresh ideas to our student government. This is not to say that the ideas of current members are stale, but new sets of eyes and ears are always advantageous. Same goes for us at The Journal - we welcome new writers every semester.
• You'll feel good about yourself. It's almost like doing a good deed - but for not just for yourself, but for the student body as a whole. Plus, knowing you voted is sure to brighten your mood and put a smile on your face. Others might think you're crazy, but that doesn't matter because you will know that you have made a difference at your campus.
We don't know about you, but we at The Journal hope to be one of the first online at 12:01 a.m. April 17 to cast our vote. Well, maybe not at 12:01 a.m. exactly, but we do plan on voting for SGA. After all, as Ghandi said, "We are the change we wish to see in the world."
Conservative Christians could bring anti-gay agenda to Webster
In the last several years, universities have made great strides in recognizing and respecting the rights of minority students to learn in a safe and comfortable environment. Gay students in particular have benefited from policies that promote acceptance and ban discrimination.
But now, some conservative Christian student groups and organizations, including one group of lawyers and judges, are posing legal challenges to the anti-discrimination policies of public colleges. They claim the rules suppress their right to voice their opinion - that homosexuality is immoral.
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times profiled the legal fight these "attacked" Christians are bringing to universities across the country. According to one survey cited in the article, a majority of Americans feel that organized religion, particularly evangelical Christianity, is being actively attacked.
One leading evangelical quoted in the article referred to the movement against the intolerance of intolerance, so to speak, as the civil rights movement of the 21st century. Another Christian activist said the argument against evangelical Christians is unfairly putting them in the same place as racists - that is, making their beliefs as untenable as racism is.
Christians who condemn gays to hell and protest gay student groups might be compared to racists, but what's so unfair about that? While we at The Journal would be hard-pressed to push for laws or rules that would stifle free speech, it's difficult to sympathize when members of the overwhelmingly dominant religion in this country compare themselves to the martyrs of the civil rights movement.
There may not be any protection from such a fight here, as some private companies have had their anti-discrimination policies successfully challenged in court. With any luck, Webster's longstanding tradition of tolerance and acceptance will prevent conservative religious groups from hijacking the fight for gender and sexual equality into a fight against Christianity. Don't let right-wing religious fundamentalists divide Webster to advance their political agenda.