Open elections would benefit student body Student Congress closes the
door to democracy during the
election of new leaders for the
student body at GRCC. On April 10, GRCC’s Student
Congress will hold their annual
elections for the new executive
board. How does this affect a student
at GRCC? Why should a student
care about these elections? Student Congress represents
the students on campus as an
organization anyone can join. All
the clubs and organizations on this
campus receive allocated funds
from this student government
body. GRCC’s Student Congress
receives around $184,000 too divide
among Student Life activities and
student organizaions on campus. That is a lot of cash to be controlled
by a few who are elected only by a
few. Many on campus, except those
in congress, probably do not know
about this upcoming election. Student Congress needs to involve all of GRCC when electing its executive board. It is not fair to the student body of GRCC if the candidates running to represent the college students do not make their intentions public. If GRCC believes it is
important for the
students to vote
and understand
what it means to be part of the
election process, then the congress
should have a campaign process. The candidates running could
make intentions known during
January and start campaigning
early in the winter semester. GRCC’s Student Life could set
up voting booths or voting on
Blackboard since this college has
the technology, and the resources
are there in the congress to run an
election. It is not right to have only the congress choosing the next executive board. The ethics of this process are questionable and what kind of leadership does this campus receive from the current process? It is imperative
that students vote. To
allow those running
to coast into office on the coattails
of the former leadership or to even
run unopposed is unacceptable at
best. Even if less than 5 percent of
the student body participates in an
election, it will be more than the
handful that are voting now. It is time to call for an end of
this current election process and
have the students’ voices heard
on campus. Stagnated student
government can be overcome with
real elections and real campaigning. The current congress does not even
represent the GRCC community.
The current congress had only one
person run last year. Did that make
a real difference in the leadership
this year? The decisions being made by
the Student Congress affect campus
life. Without a real campaign and
a real campus election, it would
be like the United States Congress
picking the President of the United
States without the American people
voting. In order for change to occur,
students and Student Congress must
support each other. Students must
hold congress leaders accountable
by researching the issues and
electing the person best suited for
the position. Simply put, elections should involve the student body it is their voice and decision to make on whom should lead. Can oppertunity conquer apathy? Can Opportunity Conquer
Apathy? In today’s society, a college
education has become more readily
available. Attending college is now
considered more of the norm
than just getting the kindergarten
through 12th grade education. Although this is the case, we must
still view college as an opportunity.
College is a chance to get an
education. It helps us aspire to
greater lives. Since college helps
us get ahead, it should challenge
us to work hard for good grades. Out of the opportunity of attending
college, we are enlightened and
learn how to be successful. For one
to achieve success, one must face
adversity. My definition of being
successful is persevering
through adversity and gaining
understanding. Getting good
grades in college can be a
challenge due to the external
issues. It can be hard to make the
time to be diligent in study, but
studying must be done if we want
to succeed in this endeavor. When I became informed of
GRCC’s new Academic Standing
Policy, I thought of the fact that
some students do not realize the
privilege and opportunity there is
in attending college. Having the
ability to gain knowledge that will
create even greater opportunities
is priceless. There must be an expected
level of participation from the
student if he or she wants to go
to college. At this level of higher
education, one cannot be merely
apathetic to learning. A student
must work hard and persevere. Those who do not see the
opportunity college presents
and remain unmotivated will see
the consequence of this attitude. GRCC’s new policy will hopefully
put students in classes they wish to
attend, so they will perform well. I say all this not to be
condescending, but to reveal that
I also must not be lax. I must
strive hard for the grades I need
to achieve. I hope all students at
GRCC will realize the opportunity
they have been given and be
careful not to have an apathetic
attitude toward college. This new policy is a challenge
for us all to work hard and
persevere through difficult classes. If we want success in life,
we must forever strive through
adversity. That is the way success is
achieved. Special to the Collegiate: Chris Barber, 3rd year English major Protecting the First Amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of
grievances. Twenty-five percent of Americans
believe the rights guaranteed by the
First Amendment go too far. Recently I was in New York,
attending a College Media Advisors
conference. During a session I
attended about the First Amendment,
it was shocking to me to hear this
statistic. This statistic is absurd and these
numbers are only slightly higher
than pre 9/11 events. It is noted that
in the years before the 9/11 attacks
on America the numbers were
around 18 percent according to the
First Amendment Center. I always knew the First
Amendment had some opposition
but this was outrageous to me. How
could this be true? I believe that
government should protect this
right. I do not believe Americans
should be willing to end The First
Amendment. The First Amendment affirms the
freedom of the individual. The basic
thought behind this amendment
is all human beings have certain
inalienable rights in America. Life,
liberty, and the right to pursue
happiness, is not free expression
a cornerstone to democracy? The
freedom to share information
about our government enables us
to seek alternatives when we feel
government is bad. As individuals,
our ideas and beliefs are our own
and we have the right to express our
thoughts and ideas. The First Amendment applies to all Americans. I may not agree with
the ability of the Klu Klux Klan to
march down the center of a black
neighborhood, or the ability of a
Nazi organization to hold a rally in a
predominant Jewish neighborhood. Nor do I approve of the Kansas
church group that protests at
the funerals of American dead
soldiers that fought in Afghanistan
and Iraq, telling families their
children have died because America
accepts the homosexual agenda. This I find appalling, but does
it give government or us at local
and federal levels the right to limit
those activities? If you say yes, think
about the five freedoms provided and
protected by the First Amendment. If you can name all five of them,
you are among the three out of 100
American citizens who can. The
freedoms guaranteed are speech,
press, religion, petition, and the right
to peaceably assemble. We need to consider fringe
groups, such as those mentioned
or religious organizations that are
on the edges of society. The First
Amendment protects even those
extreme groups. Many can say these groups go too
far. So ask yourself this: if you think
it should be changed to not include
those fringe groups, look at some
history about fringe groups. Some may not know that when
the First Amendment was adapted
to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791,
Roman Catholics and Baptists were
considered to be fringe organization So when we call for justice
against a person who is under the
protection of the First Amendment
right as a citizen, we trample on the
very right that protects us. I do not support the ideas of any of
these examples; it is just something
to think about as an American. We
have this right to protect us from
a government that can change with
the wind. The Patriot Act is a clear
example of fear that enacted all sorts
of violations to our freedoms, but we
went along with it to feel safe. Americans have to wake up and understand that if we continue to let fear guide our every decision, in the end we all will lose. It is important for students to know what the First Amendment is all about. Let us not keep on this path of changes because of fear or misunderstanding. Election Update: Meet the Candidates Sarah Wiltenburg Jeremy Christiansen Obama scores a touchdown Politics would be better if it
was treated like sports. Unfortunately, politics has
turned into one of the things we
don’t talk about at work. We don’t
talk about it very much at all, really. What we do talk about are
the people in politics and how
they have screwed up lately. Elliot
Spitzer is a name that I’m guessing
most people didn’t know until
recently. Yet he has played a very
important role in this country.
At the beginning of this century,
there were over 800 labor newspapers. Throughout the process of democracy in this country, labor and business battled back and forth using the media to advance their interests. That was until the sixties when business bought up the media. Then, of course, there was the Reagan administration, which sanctioned the illegal firing of untold numbers of union workers. Since the Reagan administration, we don’t talk about politics at work. We talk about sports. So let’s talk about sports; you
know, politics and sports actually
have a lot in common when you
think about it. First, there are teams, which are called parties, but it’s the same thing. Politics is a little different because only the same two teams make it to the playoffs every year. Second, we focus on the players,
not what plays the coaches are
running. There are star players on
every team. In politics we focus
on the players and not the issues;
after all, it’s more important that
someone has slept with a prostitute
then what he and his team have
done for the people. Third, we have mascots. In politics,
we really only have two. To
be fair it was actually a cartoonist
who started using the symbols. The
parties later decided to adopt them
officially. The third parties in the
United States don’t have mascots,
and would do better if they did
The list goes on and on with
similarities, I think I’ve proved my
point. When we don’t talk about politics
at work, the important issues
this nation faces are not decided by
the people, they are decided by the
two parties, who are in fact minorities.
Jesse Jackson said, “In politics,
an organized minority is a political
majority.” Until recently, you’d never
have heard of a politician needing a
football stadium for a speech. Then along came Obama, and
the excitement affectionately
called Obama-mania by Fox News
Corporation. But perhaps that’s a
good place to start; when people
get excited about their team do we
hear them called fanatics or brainwashed? No, we call them fans, and
rightly so. Just because the issues
in politics are far more intense
than which team makes it to the
playoffs doesn’t mean we can’t
show the same enthusiasm. Drained by watching the same
two teams make it to the playoffs
every year, it is a good start to
revitalize this country. Until people
become more involved and start
talking about politics at work, we
aren’t going to see much progress.
So start participating in local political
parties with the same commitment
a Super Bowl party is given. Do that and tell me about it. I’ll be there with a stupid hat screaming “Yes we can!” Advertisers take notice: sex still sells I’m disgusted when I see a man
staged in front of Abercrombie &
Fitch wearing boxers sagging down
his ass. Many young teenagers are
dragged into this superficial
engagement of sexual
advertisement. They want to look
cool, feel pretty, and be popular. Every quarter of the year,
A&F’s catalog is released but can
only be purchased by adults 18
years and older. The catalog is a
scrapbook of teenagers who have
little to no clothing on. I’m not sure I understand
the concept of advertisement in
this situation. Shouldn’t they be
advertising people wearing their
clothes? I want to know how a shirt
might look on me, but I can’t get
an idea when it’s balled up in the
sand while teenage models are
photographed swimming nude. Sadly, as a young girl, I fell
into this trap. I would amble my
way into A&F; that half naked
man would stand there with oh-so adorable
smile. He was obviously
older then me, but I didn’t care.
He looked at me and welcomed me
in, making me feel superior to the
world. How can a single human being
have that kind of effect on a young
girl? How could that boy make me
purchase a shirt that cost my whole
month’s allowance? I’m not sure how it works,
but it does. The deception of that
advertisement was carefully
created. Advertisers are smart, I
will give them that. A Christian Cincinnati-based
group launched a boycott campaign
in 2003 against A&F’s catalogs
due to frontal nudity and articles
promoting “sexual promiscuity.” The catalogs were actually
taken out of most A&F stores
throughout the United States. Did
their stores shut down because
of this? Nope, their business still
soared. After the yank, the company
made $228.9 million. That was just
in the month that the catalogs left
the shelves. They stayed alive and
open. Advertisements trigger normal
people with mediocre lives because
they want to be “that” person in“that” ad so they will buy “that”
product. When a photograph is displayed
in front of Victoria’s Secret of a
hot model in a brand new version
of the wireless performance bra,
every girl wants it and every guy
wants their girl to have it. The advertisers have both
sides, it’s perfect. No, it’s pathetic. Not only clothing companies
submit these embarrassing
advertisements. Liquor, vehicles,
video games, personal hygiene
items, and many more take similar
approaches to advertising. This upsets me just as much.
All of the above have nothing to
do with sex. Do they really think a
guy is going to buy Axe body spray
because girls will swarm all over
him? I do not agree with the way media portrays sex. Sex is supposed to be an act between a man and women in private. It should not be broadcasted around the world. Furthermore, it should not be used to reel in and exploit the misdirected consumer. Students transformed through graphics There are times where I really
get tired of reading a standardized
novel. As a GRCC student, I’ve become
acquainted with reading books that
are required, and I forget about
the books that grasp my interest
and spring my imagination like a
blazing fire. It was only a few weeks ago
when I realized graphic novels are
for me. I’m not much of a fan of
Anime books, but I recently started
reading adult graphic novels, and
an artist by the name of Craig
Thompson caught my eye. Thompson grew up in Traverse
City, Mich., and his books are
fi lled with poetry, imagination, and
beautiful artwork depicting events
of tragedy and mystery. In high school, he wanted to
become a fi lm animator and an
artist. While attending University
of Wisconsin-Marathon County
for three semesters, he worked
on a comic strip for the student
newspaper. He was quoted to have“fallen in love with it.” He has
certainly come a long way. I just finished reading a
book called “Blankets” in which
Thompson depicts his life as a
young child living on a farm and
going through the hardships of
being an outcast in high school. It’s
also a mature love story where he
develops feelings for a girl named
Raina, who has two siblings with
special needs. He also has a battle
within himself, trying to decide
who he really is compared to what
he has been brought up to be. I
couldn’t help but stay up all night
in order to fi nish reading it. So far, he has three graphic novels published including“Carnet de Voyage,” “Blankets,” and “Goodbye Chunky Rice.” I recommend reading all of them. Thompson has also contributed
many other pieces in the form
of comic strips and anthologies.
His work has appeared in both
Nickelodeon Magazine and Owl
Magazine. Thompson has won many
awards for his creations over
the years. He has received four
Harvey awards, two Eisner
awards, and two Ignatz awards. He
has even produced a cover design
for the band Menomena and their
album titled, “Friend and Foe.” It
won recognition in 2007. Reading a graphic novel is
a nice transition from reading
just plain text on paper. It often
intertwines watching a great movie
and going to a local art exhibit. When seeing each comic strip, I
pay close attention to the detail
of each character and his or her
surroundings. Graphic novels also help stir and inspire my imagination in so many wonderful ways. I can’t wait to start digging through the shelves of my local library for more of his great work. Student Shoutout Online results Click here to vote in our current poll about Student Congress voting. Speak Out! Have something to say? Sound off to The Collegiate at grcc_collegiate@yahoo.com for your tips or views on the current news, sports, arts & entertainment and opinion. Letters to the editors:
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