Reading last week’s Lawrentian, I was glad to see the paper was covering the controversy over the Big Event Committee’s selection process. Unfortunately, the article was surprisingly one-sided and did little to address student concern over the committee’s action and promotion of its meetings.
The viewpoint of students concerned about the committee is not given space in the story. The only student quoted is a member of the committee. The article itself opens by chastising students concerned about the committee’s actions for lacking “good sense.” In an article about controversy, shouldn’t all sides of the issue be presented?
Despite the article’s claim that the meeting was well-publicized, many of us on campus would surely disagree. Had I known a vote was going to take place on which bands we would like to pursue for the Big Event, I would have attended. But I do not recall seeing posters around campus or being surveyed about my musical tastes at Downer. Perhaps I don’t live in the right dorm; perhaps I’m going to Downer at the wrong time. But the Facebook groups and “nasty e-mails” protesting the committee’s actions should serve as evidence that I am not alone in this regard. And while there certainly was confusion over the fact that Third Eye Blind was merely a top pick, not a final pick, the fact that this misinformation took hold among Lawrentians should serve as further evidence that the level of communication between the Big Event Committee and the student body is not effective or sufficient.
On Facebook, and again in this article, Big Event Committee members seem to have taken the position that students upset with their actions simply don’t care enough to participate in the process. This is clearly not correct, and it is unhelpful to insult those of us who were legitimately unaware of the committee’s activities. It would be more productive to seek out ways to improve communication with students and allow more people to participate in the process of deciding how to spend our $50,000.
– Patrick Timmons
Letter to the Editor
