Get your facts right

Facts are an important part of my job.

I respect everyone's right to express his or her opinion and that is exactly what I am doing here now.

I love the involvement of students on this campus lately. However, that being said, I don't believe those that are distributing information around the campus about the faculty cuts are doing it in a great way.

Many students are upset that they are not getting answers that they are looking for. Many people say that President Carol Moore and the rest of the administration are just going around giving the same answers every time.

Guess what? They are. You know why? Because you keep asking the exact same questions time after time. Come up with an original thought and then maybe you will get an original answer. 

As you all know I do my best to stay neutral throughout the year on every topic that is brought up. I struggle with it sometimes, but for the most part I feel as though I do a good job at it. However, since this is an opinion page I will express mine on the recent ‘brochure' that has been circulated on campus.

One of the flaps lists some things that are "FALSE." Why don't we talk about those for a second?

"The administration is going to listen to the students of Lyndon State College," is listed as false. Really? So the administration didn't have a presence at the sit-in? Did they not host an open forum? Do members of the administration come to SGA and answer questions? Yes they do. So in my opinion that statement is in fact true.

Also listed under false is "The students are attacking Carol Moore and not respecting her." I find this to be true as well. Under that column is a ½ truths, in that section the pamphlet refers to President Moore as Carol. Not Moore, or Ms. Moore, or Dr. Moore, or President Moore, just Carol. I find this to be an ultimate form of disrespect. Calling someone by his or her first name in a document like this is disrespectful. Standing up at an SGA meeting and yelling across the dining hall at the president of your college is disrespectful. Laughing out load during an open forum and shifting around in your seat violently when a statement you disagree with is made is disrespectful. Calling her arrogant when she gives an answer you disagree with is disrespectful. Waiting until the president has left the room to bring forward a resolution saying the students of LSC have no confidence in the president is disrespectful.

So yes, some students are disrespecting President Moore.

Now to some of the "True" stuff.

"The faculty is the only contributor to the students educational development." This is listed as a truth, but as a student who is four weeks away from graduation I am willing to disagree. What about Donna Keely and her peer leaders? What about club advisers who aren't professors? I also serve as the president of the hockey club and I can say that Jonathan Davis has taught me a lot of different things. What about other students? I can honestly say that without former Critic editor Ben Holbrook, I would not know a lot the stuff that I use on a daily basis in my field.

I want to address every point, but my editor is giving me the stop sign (Yep, I'm speaking in the third person).

I don't know who it is that started this brochure, or who it is that is hanging up the posters all over campus. For all I know it is the same coward who slid an anonymous note under my door last semester. I just ask that before you represent me and other students, you take the time to get the facts straight.

I take it as a personal offense that so many fictitious lines are getting tossed around and that students are claiming they were uniformed of things. My staff and I bust our asses to get the facts right and get you what you deserve; you pay for the service we provide so I suggest you take advantage of it.

I have another idea to save money as well! Stop printing full color posters for your protests and hanging them five feet apart. Where is this money coming from?