Thanks for the great education, Mr. Frank Bumb. Sometimes we think we understand it all, but until others also have the opportunity to express their views, no matter how distasteful we might find it, we are just like blind men around a huge elephant without the capacity to appreciate its full dimensions - you are in grip of its tail and you think you have found it all, but there are other sides that you are yet to discover.
To speak in your letter about falsely framing students as deviants, let me first disabuse the impression you have tried to attribute to me, implying I suggested all students engage in substance-generated rupture. I disassociate myself from such generalization categorically with reference to line two of the third paragraph of my letter: this is not to say all college students who attend these parties indulge themselves in this anti-social behavior. The point is that we all have what give us some form of fun.
To some, it may be the game of chess with their comrades; others like me might find reggae and communion with the idrens to be our soft spot. But in whatever form our pursuit of happiness leads us, we should be able to appreciate it when that fun is way out of what is reasonable and tolerable.
We can go on and on to dissect the nitty-gritty of the proposed ordinance until there is nothing more to digest. But I reiterate my point that I will support any initiative that will limit the unreasonable anti-social behavior of students who get too high and way out of control with their noise. If that implies that the police would have to come for people without warning, so be it. Students must learn to be responsible for their actions. It is not simply a matter of chess playing-comrades having fun and making noise as a corollary.
When I find fellow comrades of the academy on my rooftop with their voices hitting the skies at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, when I badly need a few hours of rest to face the coming week, I won't tolerate that as noise from chess playing-comrades. It must be regarded as insanity at its peak. There is no caterwauling here and there is no false frame here. I rather failed to add the alcohol-generated noise, but I am mindful of its commercial value to business and tax revenue within Athens.
I am very glad that the City Council has finally seen the need to take action by granting more powers to the police to arrest deviants who think we should wake up when they are up.
On the issue of authoritarianism or what you termed authoritarian outlook, I hope you do appreciate the fact that The Post provides an excellent forum for us to have a meaningful discourse, exchange ideas and, in the same vein, take criticisms. If, based on reasons I enumerated in my article, I call for an action on noise levels within residential Athens, I think you should respect that I do have the right to express my views just as you have. I believe this is one of the beautiful things about our democracy. But if that tantamount, in your view, to authoritarianism, then a short visit to North Korea this summer will help you come to terms with the meaning of authoritarian outlook on life.Your right to state your case and make your voice be heard ends where mine begins. It is therefore untenable for you to think that by making my point I am being authoritarian.
Mr. Paul Wiehl, you are in the right direction. Don't be deterred by students who think when they speak no one else has the right to speak.
Prosper Yao Tsikata is a graduate assistant in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and Center for International Studies.
4 Opinion
Letter to the Editor
