2008 Woodie Awards
Prime's Time
Andy Primeau
Issue date: 11/13/04 Section: Viewpoint
- Page 1 of 3 next >
I won't lie to you; I'm mailing it in this week, kids. And you know why? Simply put, because I can. At least I think I can. Put it this way, nobody's ever told me that I couldn't, but then again, I don't go to the meetings. In any case, I have it on pretty reasonable authority that I can. That's right, that's my name at the top of this column. And see that title, the one that looks like it's emulating a wanted poster from the old west or the opening credits of COPS? You'd better believe that's mine too. And yeah, that's definitely my homemade column picture up there (it's actually remarkably true to life).
All in all, it seems as though I've carved out a nice little niche for myself here on glorious page ten, and after four solid weeks of legitimate columns, I feel that I've earned an "abbreviated collection of things that are bothering me" article. It's like trail mix or leftover night, sooner or later, it's bound to happen. I need to use up some of this stuff before it goes bad, so let's start the insanity.
A few weeks back, I wrote an article attacking what I perceived to be a nearly unsalvageable Assumption Community. I said something along the lines of there being no communication, trust, or mutual respect between two key members of the community: students and the administration; a statement I stand by. Well, needless to say, my remarks were received with a warmth reminiscent of a well soaked sponge to the face. But that was to be expected. The response, however, was not.
Last issue saw responses (direct or indirect) issued by the administration (Dean Ravenelle), faculty (Dr. Schultz), and students (Erin Ahern and Amanda Cudmore). Maybe there's some life left in this community after all; perhaps I was premature in recording its time of death. It's unfortunate that a response of this magnitude took so long to reach everyone other than those of us in Student Government, but the heartening fact is it's an appreciated first step.
For years now, the common perception among students has been that their complaints and problems were falling on deaf ears. Dean Ravenelle disagrees with that, but the fact of the matter is, nothing was ever addressed, and questions were never answered (at least as far as I can recall) on a campus-wide scale. Sure, there is a decent amount of communication between the administration and SGA, but that in no way implies that the administration's obligation to the students is fulfilled. For the most part, the general populous hears from upper administration maybe once a year, and hardly ever in response to their problems.
All in all, it seems as though I've carved out a nice little niche for myself here on glorious page ten, and after four solid weeks of legitimate columns, I feel that I've earned an "abbreviated collection of things that are bothering me" article. It's like trail mix or leftover night, sooner or later, it's bound to happen. I need to use up some of this stuff before it goes bad, so let's start the insanity.
A few weeks back, I wrote an article attacking what I perceived to be a nearly unsalvageable Assumption Community. I said something along the lines of there being no communication, trust, or mutual respect between two key members of the community: students and the administration; a statement I stand by. Well, needless to say, my remarks were received with a warmth reminiscent of a well soaked sponge to the face. But that was to be expected. The response, however, was not.
Last issue saw responses (direct or indirect) issued by the administration (Dean Ravenelle), faculty (Dr. Schultz), and students (Erin Ahern and Amanda Cudmore). Maybe there's some life left in this community after all; perhaps I was premature in recording its time of death. It's unfortunate that a response of this magnitude took so long to reach everyone other than those of us in Student Government, but the heartening fact is it's an appreciated first step.
For years now, the common perception among students has been that their complaints and problems were falling on deaf ears. Dean Ravenelle disagrees with that, but the fact of the matter is, nothing was ever addressed, and questions were never answered (at least as far as I can recall) on a campus-wide scale. Sure, there is a decent amount of communication between the administration and SGA, but that in no way implies that the administration's obligation to the students is fulfilled. For the most part, the general populous hears from upper administration maybe once a year, and hardly ever in response to their problems.