The student activity fee vote ended Thursday night, resulting in a two-year continuance of the $80 mandatory fee; although voter turnout was sufficient and the majority got their way, the undergraduate community should not feel the job is done quite yet.
Although students have officially told the Student Association to keep spending their money, a certain level of entitlement should come with this experience. Students should take proactive steps by giving input, rather than holding on for the ride. For those who care about campus events or have a complaint about how SA spends student money, do something about it.
There are many ways for opinions to be heard. For the overachiever, undergrads can run for student assembly, volunteer for event planning or request an appointment to speak with an SA official. For the lazier undergrad, simply writing an idea or criticism on a piece of paper and dropping it into one of the dozens of SA suggestion boxes along the academic spine is always an option.
Not every idea or personal taste can be considered, of course, but expectations can't be met if they are never heard or addressed. The student body voted 'yes,' but in the long run that might not be enough. The SA officers are not mind readers, nor do they claim to be, so it's the duty of the students to tell the SA what they want out of their time spent at UB.
Humdrum high school shootings
Media rashly ignores an issue that needs to be addressed
While many readers have grown desensitized to the constant violence in Iraq and the groveling between Republicans and Democrats over immigration, journalists still put forth their effort to cover all the issues that are pertinent to the average American; or at least they're supposed to.
On Wednesday, Platte Canyon High School in Colorado relived the terror of Columbine as hundreds of students evacuated the school building, fleeing from an unidentified man with a gun and intent to kill. There were two fatalities. When The New York Times, The LA Times and The Washington Post hit newsstands across the nation, not one featured a front-page story or news brief about the atrocity. Local papers across New York State also found the event unimportant, including The Buffalo News, where the story was pushed to page A6 and was just left of the wildly news-breaking feature photo titled "Moose on the loose."
This - another high school shooting - is news. Perhaps not the most popular news, nor what will please readers, but it is definitely news. The shooter wasn't an outcast kid in a trench coat with only his trusty rifle by his side. It wasn't a misguided teenager angry with his unfair parents and the world that doesn't understand him. The suspect that took the life of an innocent 16-year-old girl and his own was believed to be between 30 and 50 years old. This is beyond the breach of security of Columbine, or any other high school shooting, because unlike a student who is supposed to be at class, this shooter was an unidentified male that should not have been wandering the hallways to begin with.
While newspapers might justify that school shootings are becoming humdrum and not front-page newsworthy, and that making these events the focus every time would exasperate readers, this is simply not true for the tragedy at Platte Canyon High School. High schools across the nation might not be able to control every one of their students all of the time, but one thing that can be better prevented are outside threats. This type of tragedy should point out a very blatant hole in school security, and force local leaders and school administrators to reassess their campus safety.
When there is big news, we as journalists have a duty to present it absent of bias or editorial agenda, and while the media may believe that readers have had enough of high school tragedies, they still need to hear it. A school is supposed to be a safe haven. When one is turned into the site of a murder, the media should give a better chance for the nation to take notice.
