Tripod Opinions -- November 9, 1999


A recent exercise for our Political Science 330 class, the Government and Politics of Contemporary China, has raised some serious questions about the policies on our campus. On Tuesday, October 26, we made and subsequently hung a series of large character posters attacking "capitalists" and other "counter-Communist revolutionaries". Our goal was to creatively mimic the events in Maoist China in the 1960s, commonly known as the "Cultural Revolution." The majority of these posters were aimed at class members, who were fully aware of their content and even assisted in hanging them. Some of the posters attacked Marriott and the Trinity College bookstore. Full story...

Articles: November 9, 1999
For God's Sake, Try To Respect Our Dorms, Rooms, And Quiet Being at college for my second year, I now realize that in addition to being a hallowed place of learning and academia, a college campus is also a social engine that is fueled by Parties, Noise, Sex, and Booze: the Four Sacraments of collegiate social life. To be totally honest, I can't name anyone who hasn't partaken in at least two of these activities, and I know lots of people. However, I'd like to remind the Trinity College campus that there are many ways in which we go too far. I live in Jackson Hall. It's the "quiet dorm." I put this in quotation marks for two reasons. First, it's the arbitrary designation used by the Office of Residential Life for the dormitory selected to have twenty-four hour quiet hours. By virtue of a contract signed by every resident of the hall, any noise originating within a student's room that is audible outside of the room is grounds for removal from the dorm. Secondly, since the beginning of this school year, I personally have not experienced a single weekend where the term "quiet dorm" could be applied to Jackson Hall. In this context, my quotation marks save our publishers some money; they don't have to print the colloquialism "so-called" in front of "quiet dorm." Full story...		Students Need Something To Do Face-painting, psychics and hypnotists. Is this what my weekend activities are coming to? Every weekend I run to the computer to check out what's happening on campus. It seems as though the "Anything at the Barn" series isn't anything that the upperclassmen would expect. I feel like my life has been rewound back to freshman year in boarding school. I do understand that it is unlawful for under age students to drink, and that the college has to respect the law because of liability issues. I do not mind that every student who walks through the door gets carded. However, I think the administration and the "powers-that-be" are missing the students' point. WE JUST WANT SOMETHING TO HAPPEN ON CAMPUS! We do not have to have alcohol at every event. Is it against the law for the school to sponsor an activity that features a band at the "Party Barn?" Last year there were disc jockeys and bands almost every weekend. It is well known that last year, when there was no beer at the Barn there was low attendance. Now, there is nothing to do except either get obscenely drunk in your room, drive to a bar, or get your face painted. Full story...
We Say The Women's Center For A Reason Last week I sat with Marjorie Smith and Laura Lockwood in front of Mather Hall soliciting comments from people about eating disorders and body image. Every year RIBS, translated Redefining Ideal Beauty Standards (translated Marjorie the hard working rock star), cuts out construction paper T-shirts on which people write about body image. This year we got everything from "I like big butts," to "This is for my roommate who thinks black olives are a meal." I was happy to see many men contributing comments about their body image and about their perceptions of women. One man was especially chatty. Full story...		Faculty Views: The Trustees Are Misunderstood I have been invited to write a column about my perceptions of trustees by the Opinion Editors of the Tripod. I find this a difficult assignment because "opinion journalism" is not a concept with which I am comfortable. I gather that its aim is to effect informed debate by provocative opinions. I am not impressed by opinion journalism in action, either in the pages of the Tripod or elsewhere such as the public affairs shows on television where lack of civility is loudly celebrated. I must say that when I read Mr. Weiss's portrayal of trustees as wealthy, ignorant, uncaring control freaks who are changing the College in an undesirable fashion, my reaction is to pass this debate by. I find these characterizations too far from reality. I thought that the comments offered by Trustee Chair Tom Johnson in response to these characterizations were a sufficient response. Full story...
Letter to the Editor: Hartford Is On Comeback Trail, Should Not Be called A Ghetto This is in response to the article published last week entitled "Life in the Trinity Ghetto." First of all, on behalf of myself, and hopefully the entire Trinity community, I would like to apologize to the surrounding neighborhood for such offensive remarks made by one of our students. Not only was this article offensive to the Hartford community, it was also offensive to all Trinity students, faculty, and administration who have been working extremely hard in recent years to improve community relations, while attempting to reconnect with our neighbors. To even suggest, as the author did, that Trinity should ask prospective students "how do you feel about living in a scary ghetto?" is appalling in my mind. To refer to Broad Street as a "fine example of a ghetto street" Full story...		Letter to the Editor"Life In Trinity Ghetto" Writer Unfair Inexperienced I am writing in response to the article "Life in the Trinity Ghetto" by Mai Goda. Frankly, I do not understand why people who work for the Tripod must constantly write articles calling the areas surrounding Trinity a ghetto, and complaining about how unsafe they are. It is not as if students did not know what type of area Trinity was in as they were coming there, and by writing articles such as these, the writers of these articles do not encourage students to experience the city for themselves. Full story...
Letter to the Editor:SGA Silence About Embezzlement Deplorable, Students Should Act Like most members of the Trinity College "community," I was shocked when I read the article in the Tripod of two weeks ago revealing the embezzlement of SGA funds by two Trinity students. However, unlike most people reading the article, I wasn't startled by the news that two students had stolen funds which had been entrusted to them. I had suspected that this embezzlement had been going on for quite some time now, but I had no evidence to prove it. I was shocked that the news of this felony had finally broken out into the open. I was beginning to think that this crime would never be brought to light. Full story...		Letter to Editor: A Message To The Trinity Community From The Vice President Of Student Services Over the last year I have talked about Trinity's "alcohol policy" in open forums, small meetings, and privately with hundreds of students. The discussions have helped both me and the students involved appreciate the complexity of the issues that Trinity and campuses all across the country are grappling with. Because of the continuing confusion and considerable debate still surrounding this issue, I have decided to write to all of you directly. Full story...

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