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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
Talkin’about a revolution
Intellectuals must realize that the task of
changing the world falls to themselves
Two weeks ago I told you about Chuck. Chuck,
now defunct, was a top friend of mine who died
because he did nothing to halt his hideous gorg
ing habits. He kept gobbling up burger after burg
er, swelling like a pig; and one day, after an oily feed ses
sion at home, he wound up snorting blood from internal
decay, collapsing on the kitchen floor, dead, prostrate be
tween the can opener and the microwavable burrito, life
less between the grade AA butter and the unctuous ice
cream scoop.
Chuck died, 1 told you two weeks ago, because he did
nothing to stop his self-destroying eating habits. De
spite the warnings, he kept pigging out on grease,
and the excess of lard killed the prick. Did nothing
and died.
Just like the intellectuals in this country, I said
two weeks ago.
So you, intellectuals out there, because of your so
cial inactivity, because of your indolent actions, be
cause of your consenting attitude toward society —
you are just like fat Chuck.
And before you explode in a volcanic out
burst of rage and fury’, let me tell
—— you something straight out: We,
Opinion t^le alw'ays-very-professional
people at the Emerald, are no
different. Just like Chuck and
the intelligentsia, the good folk
here at the Emerald are also a
flock of semi-useless, pseudo
intellectual, greedy, competi
tive, unDrincioled and wicked fat
scavengers whose commitment to the
\ ince establishment is as great as that of any
Medeiros y°u out there
__ So I'm not saying we’re any different.
We’re not. But we should be.
And now you’re probably asking: Is that it? Just because
we don’t do a whole lot to transform stuff you’re gonna go
on calling us all a useless, egotistical, overfed, pseudo-in
telligent, immoral and evil mob who only care about our
selves?
You betcha.
That’s it.
And here’s why.
Thing is: The intellectuals, the thinking elites of this
country, are the ones who possess the capability of under
standing society, of perceiving its most enigmatic prob
lems, of better comprehending the workings of the sys
tem. Ultimately, the academics are the ones who hold the
keys to the most hidden and complex secrets of the uni
verse. Therefore, they are the ones who should perform
the role of democratizing knowledge, of promoting
awareness, of exposing the deep, rotten wounds of our
false democracy.
They, the academics, are the ones who should help pro
mote change.
Yet the intellectuals appear to be oblivious to the fact
that almost two-thirds of the world population is exclud
ed from the “wonders” of the free market, blind to the re
ality that rickety, hunger-stricken Africans are shown dai
ly on our sadistic TV sets and ignorant of the fact that
thousands of people wander homeless in the streets of
New York City every day.
While the world screams for help, academia shows ab
solute passiveness, contemplative conformity, quiescent
acceptance.
This is so because the university is just another piece of
the intricate superstructure the system relies on to perpet
uate its existence.
OK, OK, we are a free society and all people are al
lowed to think and say what they want. Fine. But it is ex
actly for this reason, because we are a democratic society
of some sort, that the state cannot control the flow of ideas
by force. But listen to this, reader, it can control the ideas
themselves, it can control the very content of what you
Ana the experts in cunningly control
ling the ideas that prevail in our society,
the masters of legitimizing the system,
the geniuses of making what people in
power do seem fair and just are .,. who?
who? who? You got it: The educated elite.
Us, fellas.
Journalists, public relations people, advertis
ers, business administrators, professors, people
with university degrees: we who have accepted the in
doctrination and mythically, fabulously, with faith even,
have come to believe we are telling the truth and promot
ing the good. Our task: To create a system of belief, to en
gineer acceptance, to promote maintenance.
But if only we opened our eyes to the fact that things
are not perfect and that we can, really, if we want, think
independently and critically and art to democratize
knowledge and promote improvements. If we could do
that, I’d be stoked.
Vince Medeiros is a columnist for the Emerald. His tieus do
not necessarily represent those of the newspaper.
Letters to me hciitor
Special election
was a fraud
I thought you might
like to know what I en
countered today while
voting in the “special”
election. At the voting
booth there was one
other student voting.
He asked the ASUO
workers at the booth
how the current griev
ance process works.
One of the students
working at the booth
proceeded to tell him
that the current griev
ance process is run by
the Constitution Court,
and they take a really
long time to handle
grievances.
Last year, she said,
they were still working
on grievances in June.
The new process, she
told him, would be
much faster and better
handled. The new
process is better, she
concluded. Maybe this
ASUO worker didn’t
understand that she is
n’t supposed to cam
paign or try to sway
votes while she is
working at the booth. I
think this event I wit
nessed is just another
example of how right
the Emerald is in de
nouncing this special
election. It is nothing
but a fraud and stinks
of corruption.
Courtney Konopacky
Political Science/History
Gender defender
questions letter
In response to Tony
Fox’s letter to the editor,
“Transfers Unfair,” (ODE,
March 1). I have a ques
tion: Should all the fe
male athletes also "suck
it up and be a man”?
Molly E. Newcomb
Sociology/Journalism
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