Student Congress lacks student voice
Main Editorial

It is election day, and the general population is not allowed to vote.

The given reason argues that no one shows enough interest in the government to care, so from now on, only government officials will choose who will lead the country.

This may sound like some far-fetched reality, but it is happening today at GRCC. The GRCC Student Congress has continued the same miserable excuse it used last year to keep its elections closed to the student body.

The basis of their argument states that ‘open elections will not happen because students do not show interest in what we do.’

Even if there is not enough interest in the Student Congress, this is not a viable reason. The student body should know who is running for the offices of Student Congress, including president, vice president, budget director, and communications director.

This is not an impossible task. A year has passed since the Editorial Board of the Collegiate last addressed this issue, and nothing has been done. So we are asking again. Does Student Congress take into consideration that there are students here that would like to vote on those running for congress.

‘Apparently not’ is the message received. Have the Congress members even thought about the fact there are students who might have children and cannot devote the time to come to the meetings?

What about students who have a full load on those meeting days? Has Congress considered that there are those who do not want to come to meetings, but would still like to participate in the democratic process of voting?

If the Congress represents the student body, then the student body should be able to vote. The Student Congress President speaks to the GRCC Board of Trustees at their annual meetings. The Student Congress President is currently participating on the search committee for a new president for this college.

The congress members were part of the committee to make this campus a tobacco free campus. In the past, this same congress tried to add a fee to the tuition that would help pay for events. This is an outrage to the student body.

This organization has the control of an $184,000 budget to fund all the organizations and clubs on campus. Despite all this, students have no say in who is elected to represent them.

What is really amazing is not one faculty member or staff member has even questioned this. What is going on here?

The Congress continues to ignore the issue of opening elections to the general population only because they can get away with it. The student body needs to hold Student Congress accountable. It is time to speak out. It is time to say no more to the unjust election process. We want change.

GRCC students need to send a strong message to this year’s executive board of the Student Congress and its advisor. Students can go to the meetings to protest the secrecy of the elections.

We need to protest the fact that students cannot vote. Write emails to studentcongress@grcc.edu address them to the President of Student Congress, or call them at 234-4983. Go to the Student Life office on the first floor of the Student Center to express your concern.

Ask to speak to those in charge of this organization. America is a democracy. How come GRCC cannot be the same way with its own student government? No more excuses from the Student Congress. It is time to let us vote.

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ATC computer lab not ready for a faster society
By Jacqueline Prins
Web Design Editor

The ATC computer lab may have some of the latest software, but its hours of operation remain in the Stone Age.

According to GRCC’s Admission and Enrollment Center Web site, over 30 percent of GRCC’s student population is 25 years or older, and 60 percent attend school part time. It is easy to see that GRCC students live outside the realm of the conventional nine to five work day.

The GRCC Applied Technology Center Web site reports the computer lab is open from 7:45 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. on Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, it is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and on Sunday it is only open from 1:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Though the ATC’s computer lab is available almost 80 hours a week, our active student body requires nearly fulltime accessibility to the ATC’s resources for a number of reasons.

Just take a look down the halls of GRCC. Students in scrubs, carrying briefcases, or wearing other work related attire, flock to their classes. Financial aid resources don’t always cover everything a student may need. Therefore many students also work while going to school.

Some students also have the responsibility of providing for their families. In today’s society, students may have to work second or third shift just to get by.

As a student who has a job while attending school full time, I understand how difficult it is to make it places within the conventional twelve hour work day.Sometimes the weekend and evenings may be the only time I can make it to the computer lab.

GRCC is a place students can get an education even when their resources run low. It is a place for those just starting out, and also a place for adult students to come back. Shouldn’t their utilities and resources reflect this?

GRCC’s boasts its “Flexible scheduling so you can effectively balance your education with other commitments in your life.” Can a student effectively balance his or her education with other commitments of life if he or she needs access to software or computers outside the standard hours?

The Aquinas College’s Grace Hauenstein Library computer lab is open from 1:00 p.m. to midnight on Sundays. Even slight changes in the ATC computer lab’s hours may make the lab more useful for the students of GRCC.

The days when Sundays were seen as days of rest are not a reality for the majority of the population. However, traditionally there have always been occupations that require people to reorganize their sleep patterns in order to be successful. Doctors sometimes work 24 hour shifts, and all hospitals require caregivers such as nurses, nurse aids, and secretaries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some grocery stores, such as Meijer require staff 24 hours a day. Around the clock service is not only becoming an accepted part of our society, but also a part of our everyday lives.

Technology has taken the world to new places. We live in a faster, more innovative society than ever before. It is time the ATC’s computer lab caught up to speed.

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Change the tradition of ‘Black Friday’
By Kyle A. Kiekintveld
Collegiate Staff Writer

We are almost there. It is almost time to spend way too much money on stuff we don’t actually need. Black Friday is a celebrated day in retail.

It’s the day most businesses make a proverbial killing because people go crazy buying presents for their friends, family and, of course, themselves. I know the economy is in bad shape, and simple economics say that if we spend more money, everything will be okay. Still, I think we are forgetting something. We are forgetting the poor.

This is traditionally a very important time of the year for charities. When the economy goes bad, these charities face increased demand with decreased resources. While everyone is lining in front of Best Buy to buy a new flat screen or digital SLR camera, I encourage a different alternative. Get your money together and donate.

You don’t have to wait in line. You don’t have to get up at six in the morning, and you certainly won’t have buyer’s remorse

. I know it may seem terribly early to think about Christmas and the holiday season, but it is never too early to decide to do something different.

The nonstop coverage of the election will soon be replaced with the nonstop coverage of the overly corporate ‘holiday season.’ It has been said numerous times before, but it is worth repeating: the spirit of the upcoming season has been lost.

The world is absolutely full of starving people, poor people, people who feel alone, people who feel helpless. You might not be able to see the world change instantly, but you can make someone happy by doing something small.

A local church congregation recommends buying groceries, bringing them to a doorstep in a bad neighborhood, and simply ringing the doorbell. Other people suggest volunteering in soup kitchens. I have even heard people discuss taking a homeless person into their home on Thanksgiving.

In my mind the only bad idea is the status quo. The idea that we should continue living in our isolated bubbles, spending money on mostly meaningless stuff to hold our attention for brief moments while other people suffer.

I do not mean to misrepresent myself. I have spent far too much of my money in the past buying stuff for people I love and, of course, stuff for myself. Yet I found in the long run the more I got, the less I appreciated the things I have.

Isn’t it hard to think of the things we have received in past Christmases? How much do you actually appreciate those things?

It is one thing if it is something useful, something that has some sort of good benefit, but most often it is just junk. I know I have donated many things I got just last Christmas because I do not wear them, they do not fit right or I just plain don’t like them.

So let’s do what we can now to break out of the cycle. Instead of buying presents, or asking for them, think of a good alternative. Find a way to do some real tangible good.

Transform ‘Black Friday,’ from a day centered on commercial profit, into one dedicated to the spirit of giving.

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Tapping the soda tab
By Nicole Hoffman
A&E Editor

You see people do it all the time. “Click, click. Click.” They tap the top of their soda can before snapping it open.

This may seem normal for most people, myself included, but it is an abnormality to others. This is something I picked up on years ago as a child. I saw my parents doing it, and like most kids, I just did whatever they did, not giving much thought to why I was doing it.

In class the other day, I tapped the top three times, and someone asked if I thought it actually worked. I just said I didn’t really know, it was just a habit for me. Now that I have thought it over some more, I don’t really know if it does a thing.

To be honest, up until a few years ago, I didn’t know what tapping the top was supposed to be doing. For those who don’t know, who are reading this thinking I am completely crazy, babbling on about soda cans, the purpose of tapping the top is to get rid of some of the fizz.

I have been told that tapping the top a few times will get rid of the fizz on the top. It supposedly stops the soda from foaming all over and exploding when you open the can.

I have to say, although it seems like a fairly good idea, I haven’t really noticed the difference. I know there have been times when I open a can without tapping the lid three times like I usually do, and it doesn’t fizz everywhere. It doesn’t really do anything without being tapped.

I think the notion of tapping the tab is something someone along the line came up with, in hopes of making people feel at ease that their soda won’t explode all over them. Either that, or someone just did it to make people like me do it for no reason except to look foolish.

Which, in this day and age, wouldn’t surprise me. Basically what I am getting at is the fact that people do things for reasons that may be unknown to them.

Sometimes it’s something as simple as tapping the top of the soda can, or as silly as keeping food on their plate separate so as not to let it touch. (Yes, I’m guilty of that as well.) But I think that it’s fun to watch for silly things, such as the tapping of cans, just to see what others do out of habit.

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Wearing Political Pins should be allowed
By Ryan Lenau
Collegiate Staff Writer

With the passing of the recent presidential election, a law came to my attention that I was not even aware existed.

Apparently a person, who is attempting to fulfill his or her patriotic duty and vote, cannot wear a pin or anything else that would show what party they support. My only question is, why?

The law I speak of has been on the books in the state of Michigan since the 1950s. The law forbids people from wearing any political merchandise within 100 feet of a polling place. It was later amended in the 1970s to prevent voter intimidation and help keep voting locations neutral.

I have a couple of issues with this law. First, I believe that if a voter is the kind of person that can be so easily swayed to change their vote based on the t-shirt, hat, or pin that the person in front of them is sporting, than perhaps they would be better off not voting at all. I think it is better to not vote, then to make a choice based on peer pressure.

Second, what is the problem with wearing political paraphernalia to the polls? I was under the impression that less and less people were voting. If people get into the race so much, to the point where they want to show their support for their candidate, I say let them. After all the more people that vote who are well informed, the better.

Lastly, I always thought of a political race as a sporting event. There are two or more teams vying for the prize at the end and they all need their fans. Anybody who has watched any sort of sporting event knows what I am talking about.

On one side of the stadium the fans of the home team sit, all of them decked out in jerseys, holding signs and shouting words of support or scorn to their team. On the other side the opposing team sits, all dressed in their team’s colors. Both sides are there to support their teams and have a good time. So why then is it frowned upon at the polls?

People should be able to freely express their political beliefs. I guess this issue boils down to freedom of speech. I believe that, as Americans, we should be allowed to go to the polls and vote for the candidates that we want. And we should be allowed to do so while wearing pieces of flare in support of the candidate we plan on voting for.

For those people who fear intimidation and violence because of the T-shirt that they wear, I say get over it and vote. Remember, people in other countries have a more difficult time voting then we do.

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Wearing Political Pins shouldn’t be allowed
By: Sarah Wiltenburg
Collegiate Staff Writer

After this past election, I found some voters do not like the election law in Michigan preventing political paraphernalia at the polls. Voting is intimidating enough in itself. If people were allowed to wear all their political gear, then who’s to say it will stop at just wearing it? Doesn’t this begin to cross the line of the continuation of campaigning?

Intimidating someone is completely different from being swayed to vote another way. If a republican is voting in the midst of a city of democrats, they don’t want to and shouldn’t have to listen to all the opposing opinions.

As educated voters, most of us already know how we’re voting and just don’t want to hear it. The fear of being harassed by these “campaigners” may intimidate some enough not to vote. There is no need to keep campaigning for your candidate while there.

Voting is private to some, and citizens should be left alone to vote how they want to once at the polls. Before the election is when campaigning and debating should occur. Once Election Day comes, it is all about voting for what you yourself believe in, and you should not be afraid that someone will be there to harass you into their beliefs.

The polls should be a place to feel comfortable. This should be a place they feel safe to come put their opinion down on a ballot without being judged. The polls need to be a sacred spot for people to feel at ease, not intimidated.

There is talk that the Constitutional Right to Freedom of Speech is being disregarded. The Presidential race lasted a long 22 months, and for those months, everyone’s freedom of speech is exercised.

Once it comes down to the day of elections, this speech may then become offensive to those voting the opposition. When offensiveness or intimidation comes into play then this freedom of speech has to be left at home.

The polls are strictly there for people to vote, not to promote, debate, or canvass with opinions. Polling should be left for each individual to vote how they want, isn’t that the point of voting?

This ban of political garb should not be looked down on, but instead embraced. If you have a strong opinion on a candidate or proposal, do your campaigning before Election Day, don’t go to the polls to do your candidate’s dirty work.

Our Constitution is there to give us freedom, but this freedom is only extended for positive reasons. Once intimidation starts to happen, this is when the government can come in and say there is a place and a time, and this is neither.

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Student Shoutout Online results

Do you think the economy and recent credit crunch will affect you?
Yes 72%
No 6%
Undecided 22%
(18 total votes)

Click here to vote in our current poll asking if employers should use MySpace and Facebook before hiring new employees.

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Current Edition:
November 12, 2008

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