Letter to the Editor: Fees should go toward classroom repairs, not Five Points cab service
By Adam Summerford | Feb. 24, 2011I read the article about fees paying for taxi cab rides from Five Points and was outraged.
I read the article about fees paying for taxi cab rides from Five Points and was outraged.
Let's face it: The recent Blackboard failure has inconvenienced everyone. Across campus, professors and students alike are talking about how important it is that they access the site. The university merely responded on its bulletin that professors would still be able to access student e-mail through VIP. This bulletin was issued at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, almost 18 hours after I began experiencing problems Tuesday. Professors are still able to e-mail students, but where does that leave students? I had an exam Wednesday afternoon. I had no notes because the professor's slides were put on Blackboard. I was able to get the notes from a friend in the class, and I'll even reluctantly admit perhaps I should have been more prepared (although after paying $200 in technology fees, I would expect no problems accessing the site on a night before a full day of classes).
There is a large group of students each year that attends every Carolina football game. They are faithful fans who are there when we win and there when we lose. They stand loyally for their Gamecocks in the freezing rain, hot sun and sometimes temperatures as low as the teens.
I am writing with regards to the various campaigns for Student Government executive positions. This year, I hope to see candidates emphasize issues over image and substance over symbol. During my two years at this university I have seen Student Government claim that it is important and that it represents students' interests while complaining that not enough students are involved. The time has come for Student Government to look in the mirror and realize that the reason why students don't take Student Government seriously is that Student Government doesn't take itself seriously.
Many of your contributors seemingly deem anyone on the “far right” an old tin can on a dirt road — they just love to kick them around.
With regard to Robert Sinners’ opinion that guns should not be regulated, and that any passably sane person should be able to publicly carry a firearm, I present two scenarios.
Though it is hard to address the entirety of misinformation presented by Chelsey Seidel in her plea against the degradation of Christianity in such a short number of words, a clarification of facts is in order.
To state, as last Friday's article "Christianity Deserves Respect" so audaciously does, that Christianity is becoming a "taboo," "insignificant," undeserved victim of religious intolerance is to exhibit a revolting state of religiously based ethnocentrism.
Nearly two weeks have passed since the ball dropped in Times Square, and you may still be left wondering where the past year has gone.
In his Dec. 1 opinion column "America should join world state," Ryan Quinn was right to suggest that the world's governments could improve with international cooperation, but was wrong to propose that a world government could bring world peace and fair governance. Of course, a unified state offers obvious benefits. Economic unity often leads to greater prosperity, and a world under one government would likely foster more amicable relations across the globe. But such a utopian vision is unfeasible and impractical.
Dear Editor, Last night a momentous thing happened — the Student Senate voted to pass the new Student Government Constitution, and to send it to the students for their ratification. For the last year and a half, members of the Graduate Student Association and Student Government have been working hard to provide for greater representation for a previously undeserved population: our graduate and professional students. While we initially wanted our own government, we were asked to come to the table and negotiate, to ensure that SG spoke with one voice. While initially skeptical, I have come to the conclusion that SG really does have the best interests of graduate students in mind. They vindicated my faith last night, when they passed the document we worked so hard to write. I must extend my thanks to Meredith Ross, Alex Stroman, Ebbie Yazdani, Taylor Cain, Ben Ortiz-Colon, Eve Goodstein, Matt Ungar and Anna Hecksher, as well as my fellow graduate students, for all their hard work. It is through the efforts of student leaders like these that the concerns of graduate students have been addressed over the last year and will continue to be addressed in the future. However, while the first major hurdle has been overcome, there is still much work to be done. When you return in the fall, the constitution will be submitted to the student body for ratification. Under the terms of the bill passed by the Senate last night, at least 10 percent of the student body must vote in a ratification election, and of course, the majority of those voting must approve. Now is the time for all of us, especially graduate and professional students, to do our part. Without a doubt, we have been the driving force behind this push for change. It must be us who carries it through to the end. For the last year and a half, I have been advocating on your behalf. But I’ve taken you as far as I can. You must take yourselves the rest of the way. I am graduating next month and thus will not be here to witness the end result of all this hard work. But those of you who remain students will be the ones to reap the rewards. But only if you turn out and vote. I have faith that I am leaving the University a better place for graduate and professional students than I found it. Undergraduate leaders have been made aware of the problems facing student government and they have stepped up to the challenge to help address them. I hope that graduate students who will be here in the fall will pay close attention and urge their friends and classmates to vote “yes” when the new constitution comes up for ratification. I also hope that they will step up to fill the new Graduate Board that the constitution creates. One of the biggest questions I faced from undergraduates during this process was will graduate students do our part? Will we be able to fill our legislative body? I believe that we can and we will. But that is up to you. We have been given the opportunity to secure our own futures. If we fail to do so, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Sincerely, Alan Tauber President of Graduate Student Association