Letter to the Editor:
Apathy kills potential
Steve Miller
Issue date: 5/13/09 Section: Forum
Dear Editor,
When I was a freshman, I sat in the forum staring at the sky saying to myself, "I love everything about this place. I love the smell, the feel, the lights, the people, the idea. I love it." I'm not saying that is everyone, I'm not saying that you have to love it, or even like it, but I am saying that YOU choose to come here. For better or worse, you are part Bearcat. I made the decision to get involved in campus through SGA but I had friends who didn't get involved and they still loved SBU. However, the university has changed. When I took the Campus Activities Chair, I thought I would "Save" SBU and that was my problem. Thinking I could save anything is ridiculous I'll admit, but I doubt I'm wrong in saying SBU needs a "saving" of some kind.
Apathy is defined as, "lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern"; or another common definition, SBU. I'm not saying you, I'm saying WE; WE are apathetic. How it got that way, when it started? I can't answer that, but since I've been here, its nearly killed SBU. Why don't we care? Why don't we want SBU to reach its potential? We complain about Mellers, chapel and sidewalks, yet who is fighting those? Which one of us complaining is talking to Alanda, Kurt or Physical Plant? No one.
So you say, that's SGA's job. Well yes, it is. But SGA can't do that without us. For the dozen voted in members, thank you for fighting. Did you hear that? That's literally 12 students out of nearly 1,800 (that's 0.6%). Yet, we've got all 1,800 complaining, doing nothing. You wonder why nothing gets done, don't you? SGA needs us to do its job. I'm not saying cabinet is perfect; they are bound to make mistakes, be forgetful and dare I say sin. I'm not saying they have responded to every email but they have read it but SGA has to prioritize. Just because you don't hear about your complaint, doesn't mean they don't do anything.
UAC is not clearly defined in anyone's eyes, even mine. University Activities Council does activities. It's compromised of 4 chairs, and in total, adding all of our committees together, you get 13 people; once again with 1,800 complaining we never do anything, there's nothing to do on campus. Do we check Facebook? Have we seen the posters in every building on campus? Do we check our mailboxes? Can we read? We don't know, because we tune it out when it's plastered everywhere and blame the fact that UAC does nothing.
When I was a freshman, I sat in the forum staring at the sky saying to myself, "I love everything about this place. I love the smell, the feel, the lights, the people, the idea. I love it." I'm not saying that is everyone, I'm not saying that you have to love it, or even like it, but I am saying that YOU choose to come here. For better or worse, you are part Bearcat. I made the decision to get involved in campus through SGA but I had friends who didn't get involved and they still loved SBU. However, the university has changed. When I took the Campus Activities Chair, I thought I would "Save" SBU and that was my problem. Thinking I could save anything is ridiculous I'll admit, but I doubt I'm wrong in saying SBU needs a "saving" of some kind.
Apathy is defined as, "lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern"; or another common definition, SBU. I'm not saying you, I'm saying WE; WE are apathetic. How it got that way, when it started? I can't answer that, but since I've been here, its nearly killed SBU. Why don't we care? Why don't we want SBU to reach its potential? We complain about Mellers, chapel and sidewalks, yet who is fighting those? Which one of us complaining is talking to Alanda, Kurt or Physical Plant? No one.
So you say, that's SGA's job. Well yes, it is. But SGA can't do that without us. For the dozen voted in members, thank you for fighting. Did you hear that? That's literally 12 students out of nearly 1,800 (that's 0.6%). Yet, we've got all 1,800 complaining, doing nothing. You wonder why nothing gets done, don't you? SGA needs us to do its job. I'm not saying cabinet is perfect; they are bound to make mistakes, be forgetful and dare I say sin. I'm not saying they have responded to every email but they have read it but SGA has to prioritize. Just because you don't hear about your complaint, doesn't mean they don't do anything.
UAC is not clearly defined in anyone's eyes, even mine. University Activities Council does activities. It's compromised of 4 chairs, and in total, adding all of our committees together, you get 13 people; once again with 1,800 complaining we never do anything, there's nothing to do on campus. Do we check Facebook? Have we seen the posters in every building on campus? Do we check our mailboxes? Can we read? We don't know, because we tune it out when it's plastered everywhere and blame the fact that UAC does nothing.
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