Thursday, April 21, 2011

Rant Thursday: Too Discriminate or Not To

T-Bird Nation,
        As Cedar always tends to be behind in most things going on in the rest of the nation apparently anti-discrimination policies are one of the most apparent, especially with the constant coverage by the Journal. I understand the major demographic in Utah is White and Mormon. That is fine but the majority should never be able to oppress the minority.
       The Queer-Straight Alliance and the SUUSA Senate have both pleaded with the city council to pass a Anti-Discrimination Policy concerning work, housing, ect concerning LGBQT members of the community. Twice now the policy has been voted down by most of the council members, excluding Georgia Beth Thompson (Bless her soul). The council has told the club and SUU that their own anti-discrimination policy should suffice and that many of the Cedar Constituents would be upset if such a policy was created.
      First off, SUU is not it's own city. Just because we have a policy it doesn't protect those people once they leave campus which is not fair. Furthermore, since when should the University be the leaders of the community and have to make these choices, that is why we have a town council. The policy isn't ludicrous, it just asks members of the community not to discriminate based on sexual orientation. Not that bad.
      Secondly, Cedar City needs to get with the times and realize this is just different form of the the same problem we have always delt with through out our history with minorities. Why should a minority be treated differently and worse just because they are different. That is pure ignorance. So I urge you, Thunderbirds, make your voice heard in Cedar and help protect your other students!

Multi-Cultural Appeal

سيداتي وسادتي (Ladies & Gentlemen-in Arabic),
         I was privileged enough to see and hear some pretty amazing things last night on our fine campus here at SUU. Last night was the closing banquet for the Multi-Cultural Club. If you have never seen there sick t-shirts and asked them what they are all about, let me give you the low down. The club was started for lack of a better phrase "break up the white" that is going on in Southern Utah. Obviously, if you have ever been to So. Utah, you know 98% of the community is White & Mormon. SUU has started an amazing global outreach program but the students who get here are extremely traumatized by the overwhelming lack of diversity.
        The club was created to celebrate diversity and different cultures, but not only to celebrate but to educate. The club would spend a whole week learning about on of the members cultures and they would cook food associated with the culture, learn basic phrases, and even learn dances. The club seeked to spread knowledge and they did just that. With a total of about 50 members it was a great start. All because of one man, Shaka Richardson. He, sorry for the pun, "had a dream" and he pushed until he saw it fulfilled.
        As I sat in the Great Hall last night, watching them talk about their accomplishments and honor their members, i realized this may be the best club on campus and one of the most needed here at SUU. As a Saudi student was honored with a certificate from my table, you could tell it meant so much to him and he was so honored. Throughout the rest of the night he took pictures with many of the members but the certificate was always proudly presented and one could tell it was now one of his most cherished possessions. Americans tend to take certificates so lightly and just toss them out, but he was truly honored and that club/his new family made his experience here at SUU memorable and amazing.
       I encourage all of you to at least participate once in Multi-Cultural Club next year, as I know they have many plans. Learn about something that you aren't familiar with and step outside of your boundaries, you will be surprisingly pleased in the end.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Rant Thursday: University Journal- News or Not?

This last Friday, Brian Regan, one of the most popular comedians in the country and one of the biggest activities on campus for the whole year performed in the Centrum Arena. However, you wouldn't know it because instead the Journal is giving  entire pages to themselves of ineffective advertising to join their staff and reporting on stories that could be put off until next week: i.e. how Power91 is cooler than last year.

Furthermore, the most prestigious awards ceremony on campus, The Thunderbird Awards, was on Saturday and got one picture, not even of any of the awards recipients, with a caption. The Journal has been know to frequently misquote or misrepresent the quotations/stories they are given. I know several people on this campus who refuse to do a verbal interview with the reporters of the Journal because they do this, instead they will only interview via email so they have document proof of what was said.

I think it is a tragedy when our "New Source" doesn't report on these important things happening on our campus. That I can't trust what I read because I know how often the stories are misconstrued. I think there needs to be a higher standard and expectation for the Journal and until I see that improvement, I think it might be better to just save a tree and recycle your next copy.