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Campus should be ‘willing to fight’


I was outraged (but, unfortunately, not surprised) to see that the front page of last week’s Pacer hosted the article, “Where’s the best deal on beer in Martin?” It was irony at its utmost to open the paper and then find the “campus too apathetic” opinion written by Stephen Helgeson.

First and foremost, I would like to wholeheartedly agree with you, Mr. Helgeson. I would also like to thank you for addressing what I see as the most detrimental epidemic on this campus: apathy.

I have never attended any other college and for that reason, I am forced to limit my observations to this educational arena. However, I am bound (partly by my idealism) to a belief that there are people out there that are greatly concerned with the human condition.

I am also bound to a belief that the majority of the UTM student body feels that the current state of affairs is “good enough.” Let me state unequivocally, this is NOT good enough.

This is a campus where a student art exhibit has to be overtly controversial to gain any attention and even then the attention is negative.

This is a campus where forty people attend a candlelight vigil honoring those who have lost their lives to hate and a campus where two hundred people turnout to watch a bunch of twenty-somethings tug on a rope until they fall into the mud.

This is a campus that circulates a paper that is read primarily as a Greek-organization event schedule and a campus where copies of the yearly student literary magazine barely sell. This is a campus where Miss Tennessee can make the paper for weeks straight but a protest for tolerance on campus doesn’t even appear in print. This is a campus where out of 4,000 or so students, it is a struggle to get five with viable opinions to express themselves in the Pacer.

Speaking of the Pacer … I have always been under the impression that it is the job of the journalists to delve into their social surroundings and find the good news. Why is it that the Pacer staff consistently blames the student body for lacking articles?

Granted, the student body should stake a passion in something and have the gall to express that passion. However, I have seen several social and cultural events on campus go by unnoticed.

Appeasing the majority has become the prerogative of this paper. I’m forced to ask, to what extent do we sacrifice cultural intelligence and integrity to satisfy the masses?

If anyone goes against this philosophy, I should hope that it would be a college newspaper. I have lost much faith in the UTM campus but I can assure you that there is more to write about than the prices of beer. I can only speak from personal experiences, so my rants will always be biased. How many times will we join hands and pledge to make a difference without really doing so?

Ani DiFranco writes, “I know the biggest crime is to just throw up your hands - say, ‘This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can’.” I have written this because I am uncomfortable, because I am willing to fight.

I hope you are too.

Danielle Aquiline is a junior English major from Jackson.