Not once in the past month have I opened up a local newspaper and not seen a bad story or editorial about Ohio University.
Plagiarism has ruined OU's reputation. Budget deficits have caused sports cuts and program changes. The RIAA is suing students, and the university isn't really doing much to help.
OU undoubtedly is going through a difficult time. Not surprisingly, conversations floating around campus these days often include complaints about university issues and consequently, university administrators.But maybe we are failing to ask ourselves what actions we can take as students, aside from complaining during lunchtime conversations with friends.
Go to a Student Senate meeting. Attend a session of Pizza with the Provost. Write a letter to the university president. Maybe even think of forming your own student organization that solely sets out to save OU from the plagues. Do something other than simply sit back, point fingers and express discontent in a setting where the words will end up nowhere useful.
One might think that simply voicing an opinion at a forum might not create a change. But it might. These things happen bit by bit. Without colonists voicing their discontent about British rule, the American Revolution might never have happened. All pecuniary reasons aside, the university operates for students. We are the sole reason for its existence, and we have every right to complain and voice our opinions.
Bad reputation and budget deficits are not just going to disappear. In the midst of studying for midterms, being involved with student organizations and having fun on the weekends, it is difficult to spend time educating yourself on university problems by reading the newspaper and going to forums.
I wonder if even 50 percent of such people ever attend meetings where they can actually voice their opinions to university administrators. That's the thing: Why sit around and complain to your friends if you're not going to do anything better?
My theory is that people who regularly complain are actually people who don't care that much. If a problem really affected a person, he or she would stand up and take more drastic actions.
Take, for example, the OU athletes who rallied in front of Cutler Hall Friday. The rally showed unity among the athletes and gave other people a chance to show their support to the OU sports teams. The sad thing, however, is that there were not many non-athletes in attendance. Many people see sports cuts as a problem, but students feel the cuts are not relevant enough to their lives to incite an action such as participating in a rally.
While a segment of students are happily living their daily lives, others are being affected by program cuts. But eventually, as the university's reputation continues to suffer, these problems will affect everybody. We've already had national negative press coverage from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
Perhaps you are not someone who has been affected directly by these well-publicized problems. But they are on their way to your door. As students, we are the heart of the university. Problems that plague the body affect some vessels in the heart, and damages in the vessels can lead to greater damage of the whole.
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Rainy Phrompechrut
If you want change at OU, do more than complain
