OCR Text |
Show ARY THETHUNDERBIRD • SOlJTHERNl.TfAHUNIVERSITY• THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1993 • PAGE .f C!JM€ tJ}J ()u~ OPINIONS WELCOME AND NECESSARY ,~A, MIUIA£J. ! t,J& 'i,~ YtJUf=AIRI PRol'1 ts f;1' .. ., T he definition of communication is the process of understanding and sharing meaning. This process does not find its way into SUU classrooms, Student Senate meetings, or The Thunderbird 'Letters' column found on this page of the paper. Students are not involving themselves in discussions and are not being heard. Voicing an opinion is easy - it takes a relatively short amount of time, and is pertinent to the success of any newspaper. Students have an obligation to themselves not only to read the opinions placed in the paper, but to respond to them as well. They must respond because without pooling the ideas and opinions of all students, communication and education falls short of what it ought to be. Opiniohs are not being shared, and so they are not being fully understood. The Thunderbird adheres to certain guidelines in order to create the best possible publication for all students. We seek press accuracy and fairness at all times. This staff will not publi h malicious or libelous material that involves charaner a sa sination and will not advance the selfish interest of any group or clique of students, faculty, administrators or group of people off-campus, but we will print legitimate opinion letters and access columns. We do this in order to promote a readable publication, not an intellectually insulting commentary. We provide space especially for students opinions and sit on our hands while very few people write to tell us how they feel. ln order to communicate to you, the students of SUU, about how campus members feel on issues pertaining co them we need to hear some opinions. We will not insult certain members of the student body or faculty in order to get our point across and will not use vulgar language to say what we have to say because the staff is made up of at least college-level students who are familiar with words made up of more than four letters. Communication is a vital part of any group or organization. lt is what instructors feed off in class discussions, base their lectures around, and what many students are failing to do succes fully. This quarter, the editors waited until half way through the quarter before they received any sign of life from the student body. This is inexcusable. Supposedly, all SUU students were admitted to the university because they showed competency in several areas - writing was one of them. Writing is an inexpensive, painless process. All it takes is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a little thought The students, in part, make the newspaper what it is. If there is no participation, there is no communication. It is this lack of communication that results in ignorance. THE THUNDERBIRD SOUTHER UTAH UNIVERSITY· CEDAR CITY, UTAH Editon )fflnifer Morlq and Brady H. Pt:1tnon Opin;.,,, Dittetor Hoath«Grttn Aru Editor Mid,<lk Ckgg SpotU Editor John McCloskey ~o f.4itor John Gumler On Cam1>U Edit<>< Bill Oa!v.n Th< Thw:M<Ylrinl " p11bluhcd ..ct, Mond:,y •nd Thuttd,y of me ocockmic ,n, br ond lor me ,tud<nt body of Soumem UM Univenhy and , noc ,fliliao,d w!th me uniwl>ity', cli,po.nrn<nt of communbdon. Th< - . ,nd p,nH)N ~ ,n Th< Thw.d..6,nl are mooc, of indtvldual wrilrn ond do not ,_..n1y relka ti>< •i<w• of tho lnmrution, f..ruky, ..,.« "' JMlont body in g,mcr.,1. The, unsigned odllONI dirocdy ,i,.,... lo ih< 01,ruon of Th< n,.~.J OJ J oingk •ntity. Lfflrn ,o the odito< mW< bt eypod u,d indud< tho """"' and ri,o.... numbtt. Only d1< namt wdl bt prin..t. Name, will not bt ..ithh<ld under aoy dn:um11».nca and eh< ednor ...,..""" ediring privilqr.. l..tm,n must bt M1bmilllOCI br noon Mi<byJ br Monday editions: 5 p.m. T uesdav, lor Thul'5QOf <dmons. Grioovanca, Any lndiYidual With a gri<vonoe op1Nt Th< Th•~nl lhould di..a such probl<m fint o, me ed,ror. If unraolo<d, mat ,1-ould thm bt dit<Clltd ., ti>< oclvila. lf ...U un...olv<d. tho rncwna lhould b< diremd ., eh< suu Publladom Council. S86- 7710. Th< Thwnd,rblr.l: Orfittt in SUU Tn:hn<>k>tr, Buoldin, 00 . M•1l ar SUU Box 9l&I, Cedar Oty, UT 64720. Phone, (801) S86-77SJ , S86-77S8. S86-nso. 58(,.S48(1. FAX 586.si87. '*"'ntt -- LETTERS There is more to the world in which we live TO THE EDITOR: l have a question. How many times can one person read about "Cedar's red dirt" befo re it becomes boring, tedious, and repetitive? There is more to the world which we live in. Someday soon, if not already, we will become productive citizens and working members of soc.iety. For us to be prepared, it is important that we know what is going on around us. This means we must know more than when the next dance is or what the last dance was like. We need to know about Clinton's health care plan, the Russian Parliament, and David Koresh. So what if Bill Clinton doesn't go to school here? I do, and l 've never been in The Thunderbird. Clinton is the president of the country we live, work, play, and exist in. I think as such, he deserves at least a mention in our student paper. A paper, by the way, that you say is for the benefit of the srudents ofSUU. Don't you think that knowing about world news would be to the benefit of each of us? And as to your fears that the reporter, and hence the readers, would be biased by reporting world and national news from their only sources, CNN, USA TodaJ, etc., I would hope that the reporters would be intelligent enough to provide both sides of the story, and even if not, that the readers would be intelligent enough to form their own opinions. (Incidentally, are you saying that these news sources are biased!) " 'This is the real world ... you need to wake up and take a look around. ' ...............111i,................ We are no longer in high school where we were sheltered to some degree. This is d1e real world, and I think you need to wake up and take a look around. We do not live on an SUU island. The Simon and Garfunkel song "I am a rock" can not be applied to any of us. We are a part of a big, complex world and as a paper for the benefits of students living in that world, you have an obligation to provide us with important news, not just the weather. It is ridiculous to print only campus news on the pretense that the paper must relate to the students. Because SUU is not an island, everything affects us. Some of the major problems plaguing this country now are created by people who, for some reason or another, aren't aware of national, world, and local news, and can't make any educated decisions concerning them. By ignoring a large portion of the news, you are promoting ignorance. You say that information media has become "more interested in catering to human emotion and fears rather than informing the audience and letting that audience make up their own minds." Well, you sound like a hypocrite co me since you are only printing SUU news and not giving us all the information we need. Instead of providing pertinent news, you are catering to a human's emotions and fears - yours - by printing only "safe" news - news that will not incite (or excite, for that matter) anyone. Tiffani Ban |