Recently there have been a few articles published in the Recorder that have greatly upset me. It is not necessarily due to the content with in the articles, but more of what is NOT in them. Every student in college should know by now that a good paper consists of good research, this includes articles written for the school newspaper. But research is what I am not seeing in these articles. Yes, they may be opinion articles, but words are weak unless backed by fact. As President of the Student Government Association I make sure that whenever my Senators are going to make motions, that they have research and facts to support such motions. I would expect the same from the Editor-in-Chief of the Recorder when accepting articles.
In the “Where’s the Health Food” article, why wasn’t there an interview with one of the many managers of our food service provider, Sodexo. Maybe then the writer could have learned about the Inter Residence Council’s Food Committee that works on issues just like the concern that was expressed in the article or that the Student Government has assigned Senators with the task of assessing Food Service Quality at CCSU. With that research, that writer may have even been able to go from an article complaining about food service to one about how students can make changes in our food service.
Once again in the “CCSU Fan’s Make No Impact” and “Hell Hath No Fury Like a Mascot (and Fans) Scorn” the writer doesn’t make reference to research he could have done. Did he talk with any one from athletics, maybe Mike Ansera, who keeps track of attendance at games? He referenced one past experience from a championship game, but that was it. I bet he didn’t know that the other school’s coaches state that CCSU has one of the most supportive fan bases in the NEC, but he wouldn’t because he probably didn’t ask. I myself could have also been a reference, after being part of athletics for four years, of which I was the mascot for two years. I have been to almost every single home basketball and football game since I was a freshman. I can say with absolute certainty, that while we may not be comparable to the Huskies “Dog Pound” yet, we are getting there. It just takes some effort. But to have an article attacking students about attendance won’t help, we need to encourage them. Positive reinforcement works phenomenally better than negative reinforcement; any psychology student on campus could tell you that.
Finally I’ll end with the most recent article, the editorial titled, “Focus on the Positives”, an article about the Student Government funded trip to the State Capital. The issue that arises is that the writer of the article did not contact one single student from the SGA to get more information on the trip. In the end they made an assumption, which as the saying goes, “If you ASS-U-ME you make an ASS out of U and ME”. As President, I have always made time to sit down with students. I have also never missed a meeting with someone from the Recorder; unfortunately I can’t say it’s a high number of meetings. The Recorder has only asked to meet twice this whole year; despite all the times they mention the SGA or a student related issue in the newspaper. If the writer did meet with me, they would have found that we are “Focusing on the Positives”. The students, who attend the trip, get a t-shirt that states, “CCSU, An investment into CT’s Future”. They will also receive a pamphlet of talking points that “focus on the positives” of CCSU, so when they meet a legislator they have something to say. While tuition raises may be inevitable we, as students, can fight to make sure that they are not as high as they possibly could be. The writer also mentioned textbooks as another inevitable cost. Yet had they talked with me, they would of found out there is a committee formed of students and faculty to address the cost of textbooks and find ways to make getting a textbook more reasonable for students.
I mean, talk about “focusing of the Positives”, where are all of the positives in the Recorder. I don’t see any articles about how three CCSU students were nationally recognized at a Psychology conference, beating out students from Yale, Harvard, and other major universities. Or how our Education Club goes to local schools to volunteer to help educate students on science, mathematics, etc. Or that the CCSU equestrian club took first place at the Zone 1 Region 1 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association’s show. Or that the SGA just allocated $100,000 to implement the “Improve It” program, which allows students to propose improvements to the CCSU campus and receive scholarships at the same time.
So I am calling out every student writer to start doing your research, and if you have done your research make sure to tell us.
Sincerely,
Andrew Froning
Graduating Senior, May 2010
Student Government President