Low turnout reveals apathetic student body

The recent Student Government Association elections sadly revealed the apathetic and indifferent feelings the student body has about campus operations and involvement.

Although most students find it necessary to voice their grievances about how Appalachian State University functions, most do not find it necessary to take responsibility and cast a vote.

Instead, only a fraction of students seized the opportunity to make a statement about Appalachian's management, which, in turn, made a disturbing statement about the condition of the student body.

According to Institutional Research and planning, 10,995 undergraduate students are enrolled this semester, but only 2,183 students voted--20 percent of the student body.

What happened to the other 8,812 students? If a majority of students have complaints with the university, a majority of students should have been voting.

Otherwise, every non-voter has relinquished their right to criticize the Student Government Association (SGA).

These thoughtless students make justifications in attempt to explain their reckless inaction.

However, their arguments are invalid and easily capable of being refuted.

There are many who say voting is a wasted effort because the SGA president and vice president do not accomplish any of their platform goals. However without a student government students would not have a voice to lobby university administrators or a seat on the board of trustees.

There are many who say the SGA candidates are not representative of the entire student body or they cannot relate to all individuals. But this year, there were three tickets to choose from.

The candidates who comprised these tickets offered different personalities, experiences, ideas and perspectives.

There are many who say voting is too much of a hassle, too much to ask from a busy college student with a hectic schedule.

Last year, online voting was introduced, and the process could not be any simpler, for on- and off-campus residents.

Students are shown a link for voting from campus computer labs, Appalachian's Web site and after logging onto Campus Pipeline. Obviously, this is not a hard sacrifice for anyone to make. Even lazy students do not have an excuse.

There are many who say they were not informed enough to make an educated decision.

With coverage from The Appalachian, candidates' Web sites, posters, flyers, debates, presentations and a forum on WASU 90.5 FM, it seems as though someone would have to try to not be informed.

Perhaps some students are walking around campus with blindfolds.

United States to China: 'Let my people go'

Chris Baucom

How would you feel if someone you loved, or even just knew, were trapped halfway around the world in a foreign prison? Would you be interested in any international borders or any country's foreign policy? No, of course you would not.

There is a group of families who are going through those feelings right now ... the families of the captive United States military personnel in China all have one thing on their minds: getting their loved ones home.

There is a great deal of political jockeying going on between the United States and China right now to meet the best interests of each country.

President George W. Bush is trying to coax the Chinese into letting the prisoners go, but not much progress has been made. The problem is everyone is missing the point.

Those prisoners need to be released now. We cannot allow another country to hold our military personnel for nothing.

Yes, our plane did land in Chinese territory. It had to land, however, because a Chinese fighter collided with it in the air. Our plane was in international airspace and was doing routine surveillance.

Sure, the Chinese had the right to make sure the plane was not violating their airspace. Even after the landing, it was understandable for the Chinese to look through the aircraft and question the personnel on board. They have national security issues of their own.

We would have done the same with a Chinese aircraft had it crashed in our territory. Now it has gone too far.

Those families are all concerned for the lives of their loved ones who are being wrongfully held.

Let's look at exactly what we have for a moment.

China is one of the few countries in the world that we hesitate to act on militarily because of the size and strength of their military. We, on the other hand, have become very important to China economically.

They sell a variety of products to the United States, and we are opening up markets for agricultural products among others in China. Both countries hold a seat on the United Nations Security Council and both are among the largest countries in the world.

What does either of the countries have to gain from this situation? Nothing. What does either of the countries have to lose in this situation? That question has many answers.

The most important is any hope of worldwide peace.

If our two countries do not lead the way, other countries have nothing to follow. Not to mention that a conflict between our countries could destroy the world.

Closer to home, in the case of a conflict college age students could easily be a part of a potential draft. Both countries have loss of economic interest involved.

China could lose their most favored nation (MFN) status in trade with the United States. The United States could lose a couple of billion consumers inside China's borders.

In summation, no one can gain anything from this situation. It would be best for everyone involved to drop it before it gets too hot.

There are other steps our government can take to get those people home and they should take them all.

Regardless of all of these hypothetical situations, our military personnel are the most important part of this whole mess, so let's bring them home.

Greek Week all about alcohol? Think again.

Sarah Bursley

So É Greek Week.

After glaring around the Student Publications office to see whose eyes actually lifted from the floor to catch theirs at the most recent staff meeting, the Bennett boys (John T., interim editor, and Adam, interim assoc. editor for production) nailed me with another commentary.

One topic I was actually interested in writing about was Greek Week, namely because there was one stand-alone picture in the paper (thank you, Paul) and not much publicity otherwise.

I realized there wasn't a lot of publicity to those students outside of the Greek-lettered community a few weeks ago when I overheard one young woman in the student union innocently ask about the Baklava, gyros and other Greek (adj., of relating to, or characteristic of Greece or other Greek isles) treats that were going to be at the festivities É yikes.

To most people on campus, Greek Week probably meant that a little more than a tenth of the student body sported letters that probably stood for drinking and socializing, which is where my commentary actually begins.

Greek Week, contrary to popular opinion, is an annual series of events crammed into a week that focuses on the camaraderie of social Greek-lettered organizations (members of Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council governing bodies) in order to promote community service.

While many schools nationwide sponsor Greek Weeks that focus almost solely on partying and staying drunk, Appalachian's event focuses on different aspects of volunteerism and athleticism each day.

Competition can bring more conflict than unity in any given situation. Brooke Yoho of Panhellenic and Morgan Moore of IFC did fantastic jobs of keeping the Greek Week Steering Committee volunteers focused on the task at hand: raise support for the underprivileged of Watauga County, while raising awareness of the Greek presence on campus.

A diaper drive which raised more than 17,000 diapers for the Hospitality House and the basketball tournament were held Monday.

Months of sororities' (and a few weeks of fraternities') practices Ð complete with props, costumes and perfected routines Ð culminated in the highly anticipated, annual Lip Sync dance competition Tuesday night. Portions of the proceeds of the Legends event ($3 or $2/canned good) went to the Hospitality House as well, totaling about $1,500.

Students painted a van for Habitat for Humanity near Sanford Mall Wednesday and also competed in a soccer match.

Soccer was a new addition to the week. Yoho and Moore combined teams to foster much-needed unity in the middle of the week. Instead of a tournament, IFC was split in half and the two teams played each other in one game. The same went for Panhellenic, and many students enjoyed the change of pace.

The campus-wide clean-up project and the hotly contested flag-football tournament were held Thursday. Remember the kids you looked at like they were crazy for picking up all those cigarette butts and random trash Thursday afternoon? Yeah, that was us.

The Greek Week finale, Mall Events -- with games like the egg toss, obstacle course, dizzy bat, three-legged and potato-sack races, and a pie-eating contest -- was held on Sanford Mall Friday afternoon, just after more than 7,000 cans of food were donated to the Hunger Coalition.

Eleven fraternities, seven sororities, and the historically black fraternities and sororities that comprise National Panhellenic Council came together throughout the week in support of their individual organizations, but also in support of each other.

People form stereotypes easily, and they often grow out of a lack of awareness and communication.

Greek Week may be seen by some as a good excuse to party, but to the organizations that participated, it was a week to bring out the best in each other, and to challenge and encourage our opponents and friends, all while raising much-needed funds and goods to help local charities that focus on Watauga County residents.

Think the week was about drinking? Not every stereotype is true.