Monday, February 05, 2007

Students for a Dainty Society

When I was a young college punk at Kent State University way back in the 1970s, the SDS had already sunk into irrelevance, but they at least tried to keep up appearances of being tough, staging loud and boisterous protests around the campus in which ragged jeans, dirty T-shirts, and very long hair (hey, it was the 70s--we listened to Foreigner) were all de rigueur. So what are students for a democratic society up to these days? Well, here's a nice passage from a story about the SDS here at Ohio University (my emphasis added):
The students never did get to present their demands to [Ohio University President Roderick] McDavis. When they arrived at Baker Center's ballroom he was not there.

"There's the dean of students," someone said, pointing at Terry Hogan, who had followed the group to the ballroom. "Let's give [the demands] to him."

The others agred (by a show of hands) and made Hogan pinkie swear that he would hand deliver a list of the demands to McDavis. Hogan pinkie-swore, and OU sophomore Gui Guenther read the list of demands aloud to Hogan.
YEAH baby! I'm sick and tired of being hassled by the Man! Off the establishment! Hey, who drank my latte?!

Man, how the mighty are fallen. I think that if I were Gui Guenther, I would crawl under a rock and hide out there until I turned 30--how embarrassing for him to have his name associated with this milquetoast version of "student activism."

Oh, what were they protesting, you ask? U.S. involvement in Iraq? Warrantless wiretapping? Gitmo? Read it and weep:
Graduate Student Senate president Dominic Barbato shared his hope for a future Ohio University where "the free and open green space will not require bureaucratic red tape for students to use it."
Um...OK...has anybody seen my AC/DC 8-tracks?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Gui is a girl. Her real name is Shannon Regina Gunther. She's an anthropology student who went by Reggi in high school and changed it to Gui just for college. I'm amused to read your reactions to her and the pinky-swearing that apparently went on - yes, this place is apathetic. Yes, there will be a Zombie party running for student council next quarter, and no, I don't even care.

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