Page 3 - Phoenix1999-2000

COMMENTARY Thursday,September 16,1999-Page 3 Summer vacation at WM C Orientation disappoints While most WMC students said Sara Hoover explains weeks away for the entire year, I Kevin Lockett critiques the a fond farewell to the campus last summer working life on began to realize working here ALL new student program. policies that were probably new to most people: destroy prop- "Don't May, I said, "It's me again!" I spent the Hill. summer may have been a bad idea. erty that isn't yours. Don't drink al- my summer vacation working on So, as the end of summer ap- On Thursday, August 26, at ap- cohol if you're under 21. Don't do campus, working for the College drinks in the Gamercom!" I tried proached faster and faster, I began proximately 7:30 am, I arrived at drugs." Activities Office as a secretary and to remember when Iwas their age counting the days. The July and Au- my new home. Soon thereafter, my We mayor may not have heard in the Gameroom. and then decided that Iwas never gust heat was borderline unbear- parents and I were arranging the this in kindergarten. These few I worked everyday, including "like that." able in DMC, where some of the pile of furniture placed haphazardly simple rules took only about one weekends, and never clocked in less My salvation came when I summer student-workers lived. in the center of my dorm room. hour. I was forced to ask myself, than five hours a day. Ishared the job worked in the office. I answered As the weeks went by, I longed I was anxious to begin my new "Why not just give us a handout?" with another student. We each aver- the phone, filed, and did some for my real vacation. Soon enough, life as a college man ... a man on This was just the tip of the ice- aged about thirty five hours a week- projects on the computer. That I clocked out on the last day and his own schedule, freedoms, and berg. For three days, 1 was thrown at least. was the best part of my job. said good-bye to WMC for a week conveniences. As the day went on, into a restrictive, inhibited world Now, do not let me mislead you, With no kids, no yelling, no and five days. Ienjoyed my job. I made good money illegal drinks, no bare feet, or the I went home, went out of town, I found that my orientation calen- where I participated in activities dar left little time for any freedom. meant to help me gain new friends and spent time with my friends who occasional pool ball that acciden- and then enjoyed my last few days I had little time to get to know and contacts for my college career. were also on campus. tally falls off the table, the office of summer in the cool air condition- my new roommate and even less It is almost impossible to be Oh yes, this campus is VERY was my speed - calm, quiet, and iog of my house. alive during the summer. Probably, fun. Not to mention that the Col- My trip was fun, a week in Chi- time to arrange my new livingquar- "forced" to make friends. I cer- ters. After the first day, my hopes tainly saw no sign of the freedom at least one person you know worked lege Activities Office staff is a cago: lounging by the pool, going for an independent, unrestrained that is arguably the most appealing on campus this summer. Between all great group. shopping and Lilith Fair. environment were far out of sight. college characteristic for young the undergraduate and graduate stu- The only real problem oc- Back at home, Iremember how with my "Peer Men- A meeting dents that flock to take summer curred to me about a month after much I enjoy the calm of my own tor" was first. Imet the other mem- adults. If these four days were meant courses, the, Hill was jumping. the summer began. With only two home, dog, and family. bers of my freshman seminarclass to acquaint me with the inner work- There were several summer people doing the jobs, there was As flook back, the summer was of college life, camps that operated here from June not much time to go home for a not extremely terrible. Idid take the and spoke with some of them ings and routines orientation is in need then freshman briefly. to August. Idealt with these children long weekend. statistics course Ineed for my ma- After this meeting, we slept of vast improvement. in the Gameroom. When I could get home, I jor. Ispent time with my boyfriend, through a number of boring, point- Now, days after I arrived, J am Iyelled at football players, argued worked extra hours for the missed who was also here. Then, there is less speeches and rang a bell in our still unequipped with the knowl- with soccer players, and watched as time. the money I made and the experi- school's courtyard to "officially" edge needed to function in my new preteen cheerleaders attempted to se- Missing home was not my ence I gained. induct us into WMC. home. duce those in band camp and the la- only problem. I began to feel a But, being here all summer After this convocation, we re- My computer is still 'not con- crosse players. certain amount of disgust for the helped me remember, after a year turned to the classroom and met our nected to the Internet, my phone I watched these children run by campus. Having been here since of being "on my own" at college, professor. She went over some in- are answered as I bellowed behind them, "No August of 1998, with only a few that home is a great place too. formation she thought was impor- messages of hours of toiling, only be- cause and my "I want my MTV" to respect tant. We were told the rules, pur- trash was piled high until just a few pose, and goals of the class. At least the ago when Idiscovered hours generation X . this time it was told by someone trash room. us new. WMC needs to stop wearing thin with tiring schedules dedicated I just saw a commercial, and it Kristen G. Fraser [he point. ~i~~:a~~~~~~i~:~:~~:i~:::~ [0 common sense infuriated me to the point of writing discredits MTV's The entire attitude and essence a few rules with our Resident As- us the information issues and give needed for our a response. It demeans me and my connection to youth. of the advertisement is to classify sistant. We were informed of some personal lives in college. generation. It generalized my age and glorify the work of these ac- " N . I..? group to a point that disgusts me. from her purse, and her face to" as that ofMTV viewers. So. ew era In po ItICS. What was this distasteful ad? lights up in a huge smile. let me get this straight. Did some old men who were com- A teenage girl and boy fight You are not a cool youth unless pletely out of touch with age group furiously over a video game. The you engage in these behaviors. Or, Ryan Sea volt addresses instance, Bush appears to be tell- produce it? No, it was produced by two leap all over one another, you are not a normal youth unless presidential coverage. ing the truth. The Republican front- MTV, the youth bastion that is sup- spending endless hours physi- you simulate these behaviors. Or, George W. Bush, Jr., governor runner even claims that he quit posed to be connecting to my life- cally assaulting one another to if you are a delinquent, MTV will of Texas and front-runner for the drinking alcohol 13 years ago, with style. master the game. accept and embrace you. Whatever Republican presidential nomina- family and friends corroborating The ad showed a variety of dif- An excited young man at- the message, I do not agree. tion, is being bombarded with ques- this statement. ferent scenes showing what was as- tempts to stuff his mouth full with I do not need to take a poll to tions of drug use by the media. By sumed 10 be normal American youth. some form of cafeteria concoc- tell you that this image is not true saying that he hasn't used illegal found A CNN/USA Today/GaUup poll Elizabeth Dole was behind By normal American youth, 1 assume tion, either fish sticks or fright- of America's future. I would like drugs in the past 25 years; he im- Bush with only 13 percent of re- that includes WMC students. ening mozzarella sticks. People to think that as a whole, we are plies that he had done so earlier. spondents favoring her with all that he has claims Bush In an age where the media is being blamed for youth violence and been faithful also to his wife for more other Republican presidential hope- fuls in the single digits. excessive gun use, MTV seems to be trying to reinforce this than 20 years, again, implying that Another CNN poll found that if before that time, he was not always the presidential election were today, notion, faithful. Nevertheless, Bush em- with George W. Bush and Al Gore phatically states that such rumors as the candidates, Bush would win To illustrate my point, I will de- are cheering him on, praising his more prosperous. To simplify it, I of his past are not relevant today. percent. to Gore's scribe the various scenes of this dis- obvious talent. do not believe that MTV viewers Media attention focusing on the with 55 percent issues constantly drug The tasteful ad. In one scene, a high A group of fraternity boys, or are as lawless as that. personal life of a candidate is very brought up by the press do not seem school girl works diligently on her other such group, band together In an age where the media is similar 10 what Clinton faced dur- to be hampering the Bush campaign test, while about six students sur- to encourage a hapless youth to being blamed for youth violence ing his candidacy, and in particu- in the least. It would appear that we round her in an attempt to copy her chug a drink that is most obvi- and excessive gun use, MTV seems lar, when Monica Lewinsky's story have entered a new era in Ameri- work. ously beer. to be trying to reinforce this notion. surfaced. A group of teenagers gathers in a A girl stands alone and hur- can politics, an age where we know However, back alley and proceeds to sneak into riedly chugs a frozen drink with Whether the media is at fault or not, ences between there are some differ- that our politicians are not saints or I do not appreciate the Bush and Clin- using MTV a building. The place that they are the sole purpose of inducing someone my age as a reinforcement ton cases. Bush, while perhaps not even morally adept human beings, sneaking into is not clear nor is it "brain freeze." As she achieves for societal problems. openly acknowledging his past but where we overlook this fact and focus on the issues. important. her goal, a one-syllable expletive I am an MTV viewer, but I am drug use, did not lie about it by say- A teenage boy sits at his com- can be easily read from her lips. Perhaps it is good not to hold our puter, eyes completely glazed over. These teenagers fly past at a not a delinquent My age does not ing something so ridiculous as "I elected officials up to such high I resent didn't connote destructiveness. inhale." Some pornographic material that fills whirlwind pace, set to the pulsat- the implication. Furthermore, Bush has not lied standards. If we've leamed nothing the screen fascinates him. As his fa- ing beat of rock music. At the end about alleged past affairs as did else from the Clinton presidency MTV we should been known has always ther walks in, he Shows no sign of of the commercial, a pithy slogan for edgy marketing, offending most Clinton, and insists that his drug and the Bush candidacy, in the eyes of in mind that keep shame or even vitality. flies by: "MTV: the rhythm of of baby-boom crowd. Their normal problems, if there were any, and his much of the public, a politician's A girl sneaks into the bedroom of youth." I can never match the in- intention is not to offend their own unfaithfulness to his wife are in the her mother. She sneaks over to the tensity of the visual medium in a viewing audience, and I feel that distant past. personal life is not relevant subject rnatter. table by the bed, steals a wad of cash newspaper, but that is not really they stepped beyond the line. Unlike President Clinton, in this