Editor:
I really am amazed and bewildered at how little people are able to get along like civilized human beings on this campus. The letters of the past few weeks have been especially full of hatred and animosity concerning Greek/non-Greek, gender and culture/ethnicity issues. All this anger, hate and conflict serves no purpose but to make us all miserable, so why does it continue?
There is nothing inherently wrong with being Ä or not being Ä affiliated with IFC or Panhellenic. There really isn't anything wrong with being a Delta Chi either, to bring up a sore subject of the past several months. Greek organizations are the right thing to do for the people who choose to be part of them. There are many good people who are affiliated with these organizations and there are some who leave a lot to be desired because of what they have done or are said to have done. Those of us who choose to not be a part of the Greek system should not tag every member of these groups as bad just because of things that a few people have done. This simply isn't fair to those upstanding members of IFC and Panhellenic. True, individuals are representatives of the group, but there is, or, at least, there should be, a limit to the responsibility that the group must assume for the actions of the individuals. If an individual makes the group look bad, then the groups needs to decide whether or not they want that individual to be one of their representatives.
Male-female conflicts have always been a facet of human life. I admire anyone who stands up against unfair or ill-treatment of women or minorities Ä to a point Ä but I don't think people should take anything too far. Sarah Works, in her letter that was printed in the Feb. 6 Wildcat, I think, should be commended for being courageous enough to stand up and speak out against something that offended her. I don't think however, that her being "flipped off" had anything to do with her being a woman. From the comments that I have read and heard, I imagine that the young man who flipped her off would have done so if she had been a man as well, and would have regretted it just as much. The complaint seemed a little out of place in a school newspaper. I get flipped off occasionally on campus and, while it makes me a little angry at the time, it doesn't offend me to the point of needing to complain to the whole campus about it.
As far as minority and other culture relations are concerned, I am inclined to agree with the "wise Irishman" who was quoted as telling Michael Schofield (Feb. 6) that "White pride should not be considered the same as white supremacy." This is so true. Being proud of one's culture and ethnicity is no sin. Being a supremacist Ä viewing oneself as superior to another based solely on a difference in race/ethnicity/culture Ä is. We all have red blood flowing through our veins and we all breathe in and out all day long, regardless of where our families originated or the color of our skin. Beside that, we can't tell what color anyone else is when it's dark, so why bother messing with it when we can see? We should all be proud of who and what we are without making someone else feel that they can't do the same.
What I'm trying to say is that we all need to put these things aside and try to get along. We are all going to live on the same planet for the rest of our lives and that would be much easier if we just accepted each other as human beings and dealt with each other on that level instead of bringing superficial issues into play. By superficial, I don't mean that we should not consider the issues discussed in this letter at all. I mean that we shouldn't let them be the sole basis of measuring the worth of a person.
Jenn Noce
Secondary English
Education Senior