Give us choices in Obama-level events
If any myth still existed about Nevada’s importance in politics, last week hopefully killed it. The same for myths about student’s importance.
It was an anomaly and a unique opportunity for us to earn a visit from Sen. Barack Obama. The Democrat is looking more and more likely to be the one taking the oath of office in January, if polls are to be believed, and at five weeks out he decided to stop at our university.
The university deserves major kudos for pulling off such a major event that came about at the last minute. The shame of it though is that some professors and department heads didn’t allow students to take advantage of this opportunity.
College is one of the most important experiences of our lifetime. We have the opportunity to see major political figures, such as Gen. John Abizaid and Ralph Nader, about every other month.
However, neither Obama nor Republican Sen. John McCain fits into the same category as Abizaid or Nader at this point in the election cycle.
Obama’s speech is an event that many students in non-swing states won’t have an opportunity to witness, especially on their campuses. Faculty and administrators need to understand this.
We should be encouraged to go see these looming political figures at every opportunity, not be punished for skipping class.
Don’t dock us a quiz for seeing the next possible leader of the free world. Don’t persuade us to not go to an event with extra-comprehensive test prep classes. Don’t rob your students of the kind of education that is impossible to achieve in the classroom.
But on the flip side, it is equally important that these events don’t rob us of the ability to accomplish what we came to this university to accomplish. Even events as major as the arrival of a presidential contender should not unwittingly shut down the campus.
We heard students plead for alternate routes to class and we could only watch as they were told to take much lengthier routes to classrooms a minute or two away. We heard stories afterward of students failing to make it to quizzes or work on time.
We know a careful juggling act for the university arises with events this important. We only ask that officials take our needs into careful and precise consideration when people like Obama want to stop at our campus.
Give us the option of missing a class to see a person who is making history. At the same time, don’t force us to miss class because that person is appearing on campus.
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October 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
What myth? NV was always a contested state.
“student’s importance” - who is that student and why is he or she so important? Or could it be that you meant the plural form of the word and don’t know how to use an apostrophe? Nah, can’t be…
“It was an anomaly” - why? Edwards and Kerry visited UNR in 2004. Pretty sure so did Gore in 2000.
“and a unique opportunity” - That was Obama’s third visit to Reno. The first one was in may 2007 in Wingfield park - just 2 miles south of campus.
“at five weeks out” - today is Tuesday, October 7. Election is on November 4 - in 28 days. That’s four weeks.
Since when is a general a political figure? I thought military produced soldiers, not politicians.
“don’t force us to miss class” - how many people actually missed their class? Some may have been late, but unless their class was in Stead and they were walking, they still made it.
October 8th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Get a life, Grigory.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
:))
I’ve got one, thanks. In those rare moments when I sit down, I like to read through the Sagebrush, a newspaper I spent 18 months at, and see what they’re up to. Seeing it riddled with inaccuracies, fallacies and plain old typos feels … wrong. I merely hoped that my criticism would open the editor’s eyes to the glaring inadequacy of his current copy desk. But hey - if you want to read an inferior product and have your brain cells die every single time you try to make sense of a dumb typo - be my guest. Just don’t go blaming those of us who want to improve this world, even if they do so through criticism.