Take a second look
Campus Times
February 28, 1997
The sparkling and expensive half-page
letter disguised as an ad that you will find on page six alludes to
my last column. The charge: I unprofessionally slammed the delicate ego
of the Associated Student Federation (ASF) Forum to the point that the entire
group was "forced" to act in self-defense and, yet again, waste
students' money in the process.
First of all, the Campus Times does not force people to spend $180 on
half-page ads. The Campus Times encourages people to write letters if they
have problems with anything written, even personal opinions found in the
Opinions section. However, since the members of the ASF Forum had such a
troublesome time condensing their opinion to 250 words, even though there
is a former Times section editor on its staff, they collaborated their efforts
in an ad.
It is not to say that we are not appreciative of the money; we as a
newspaper are surely glad for any advertisements we get because it supports
our cause as the watchdog element of this institution.
What is interesting is that by placing the ad, the Forum has disproved
its point that it is responsible enough to allocate funds. Every year, each
ULV student automatically pays an activities fee of $90 to ASF, which comes
straight from tuition.
So, because the Forum members got a little hot-headed about something
written that mentioned them, the fees of two students went to waste. Why
did they not write a letter to the editor like everyone else? They must
want the school to take note of their throwing away of precious money-money
that, combined with the prize of $700 for the Lip Sync contest, could send
more than a few seniors to retreat.
It is obvious from the unfounded spread of propaganda and charges prevalent
throughout the ad that the scribes of the letter are the only ones spreading
"gossip" by means of contention, their own "blanket accusations"
and personal attack.
As a member of the press, I have contributed many times to the Campus
Times' coverage of ASF activities. Maybe if the Forum members did their
own "good research," they might note that the Forum, as a governing
body, has been more than thoroughly covered in what it does contribute to
the school.
At the beginning of the semester, a reporter from my staff was given
the Forum as a beat, meaning she attends meetings on behalf of the newspaper.
Surely Forum members understand the delegation of responsibility? So, by
the ad, the Times is being wrongly criticized for doing its job.
A few members of the newspaper staff attempted to attend the meeting
on Wednesday morning but, unfortunately, it was a closed session. Could
this super-secret closed session meeting have anything to do with the 40-odd
Mighty Ducks tickets purchased by ASF that they could not sell? How ironic,
another venture that has blatantly failed by this thriving "political
social group."
The ad made clear, however, that the organization is personality-driven
and has a thin skin. It made clear the realization that the letter is right
on some counts-ASF does need to be watched over a little more carefully.
A $700 Lip Sync prize? Money well spent. And why is there an overwhelming
majority of people who run unopposed in ASF elections? What is won when
winning is by default?
Ask yourselves, were any student needs considered in all the time that
went to drafting, editing and revising the letter by the Forum members?
The Forum's mission is to serve the students and, in many ways, so is
the newspapers'. Resentfully, I have to waste space in my column to counter
the false accusations brought against the newspaper in this ad.
If the Forum members spent less time and money ragging on the newspaper,
it might be able to disperse its efforts in more effective ways. The ad
notes that we should work collectively to solve problems. In response, I
must remind the Forum that the newspaper has never claimed to have all of
the answers. Our position is to ensure the public that groups such as the
Forum are executing their jobs efficiently, especially when the jobs were
given to people in the groups by the students who voted to put them there.
But we know our duty. And thank you for your support.
Raechel Fittante, a junior journalism major, is editor in chief of
the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at fittante@ulvacs.ulaverne.edu.