In Hollywood, they say any press is good press. I am a firm believer in this statement. If you’re in trouble, it must mean someone listened to something you said. I have mixed feelings about the response that President Kaplan wrote in regards to the editorials Zack and I wrote at the end of last semester. In a sense, I’m proud I spoke up since it obviously caused a stir among administration. In another sense, I’m disappointed because the issue at hand was so greatly avoided.

I greatly appreciate that President Kaplan would take the time to counter my editorial about the Board of Governors. However, my entire message was completely disregarded. I never claimed to have a problem with the Board itself. On the contrary, I believe that the Board does great things for the university and its students. They are obviously the reason why a lot of projects on campus get funded and seen through to completion.

My true message, which I thought was clearly outlined, was the manner in which the university responds to the approaching visit of the Board.

Any student here can clearly recognize that the Board is due for a visit. This fact saddens me, in all honesty. It is great to walk through Maxcy and see that the ugly blue stairs are getting a makeover. It is a feeling much further from happiness, however, that is experienced when one realizes they are only getting redone for the Board. Plain and simple: the blue stairs were good enough but not for the Board. I would love for any administrator to prove that this isn’t true. However, it is impossible. There is no way to justify why the stairs were changed right before the Board of Governors was due to enter through that set of doors to look at the Laurel Vlock Center for Convergent Media. In my fourth year as a Communication major, I can tell you that those stairs were ugly when Maxcy 103 was ugly. Now, instead of housing a vending machine, which is much more useful to a student in that hallway than two benches, the freshly-painted foyer features new tiles instead of the broken ones that had been there for at least four years. Connect the dots.

I absolutely do not mean to complain. All I aimed to do with my first editorial was to speak out about an injustice that has been noticed by all. And ignored by some. Since my original message was so misconstrued (or maybe just blatantly avoided), I deemed it necessary to set the record straight.

The only topic that does reply to our original editorials is the statement regarding programming tables in Bartels. I can’t fully express my gratitude that the issue was addressed and that it shouldn’t happen again. I don’t think anyone but those involved in the USGA understand how hard it is to find programming space while the Board of Governors is on campus. Every room in Bartels is booked for 24 hours a day. You may be asking yourself why the Board would be here at 11:00 p.m. Well, the answer is that it is not here at 11:00 p.m. I can only assume (since it has never been addressed) that the rooms are kept closed so that student events will not ruin the great painting and cleaning that maintenance slaved over the week before. Is that reason enough to be banned from using a room that is meant for student programming in the STUDENT CENTER? I don’t think so.

I wish I didn’t need to write about this issue once, let alone twice. I also wish I wasn’t singled out for bringing the issue to the attention of students, administration, and maybe even others. Unfortunately, I do feel the need to write about it, bring it to the attention of everyone, and take the heat for it. Call me a martyr or a troublemaker. I just want to do what’s right.