Last Week's Apathy Column – a complaint or a self-criticism?

In last week’s article, staff writer Jackie Borchardt wrote a column that accused the UR undergraduate student body of political apathy and social ignorance. I strong believe that Borchardt lacks authority to judge the political scene on campus, specifically the small, yet active, liberal factions of UR. While she may choose to socialize with students that show indifference to current events, groups such as Students For Social Justice, Grassroots, Amnesty International work with the growing number of undergraduates that have not automatically labeled our campus inactive. By simply attending one Grassroots meetings, a student can gain a better perspective of national environmental issues. Borchardt, however, specifically complained about the lack of liberal political activity on campus. She must have missed the hundreds of paper fliers that, to Grassroots dismay, Students for Social Justice plastered to walls and bathroom stalls across campus. Specifically, last Friday members of SSJ stood beside community members in a protest for strong employees’ health benefits. In an attempt at campus wide consumer responsibility, SSJ is currently fighting to get UR licensed with the Worker’s Rights Consortium – an independent monitoring service that would provide information on where university apparel is manufactured. It appears that Borchardt let the Princeton Review tell her what UR lacked before she ever took the time to attend a meeting at either these previously mentioned ‘liberal’ clubs, or the Campus Republicans who are also quite active and politically aware on campus. I believe that the world is what we make of it, as are the extracurricular activities at UR. Instead of criticizing the status quo, perhaps Borchardt should attempt to better the campus by contributing to these already dedicated groups, or even start one of her own if she cannot help but to stereotype the UR student and exclude herself from that category. Brielle WelzerUniversity of Rochester 2006