Letter to the Editor
Griffin Green Cars and more
Brody Leven
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Forum
I write in response to an article I was surprised to see as a Letter to the Editor, Volume XLII: Issue 15. Ms. Katy Atencio and Ms. Ariel Rouzer wrote a wonderfully articulate, but unfortunately misinformed, letter replying to less than one sentence included in the previous issue's article, "Wait, Who Did You Vote For?" I was extremely excited to read further proof that students care so much about what is happening around Westminster, including behind-the-scenes. Atencio and Rouzer are two shining examples of what makes Westminster such a wonderful place for us to spend these years.
I'm glad you liked my campaign. The "reduce, reuse, recycle" aspect was evident: the three R's that environmentalists sing the world over in an attempt to curb irreversible environmental destruction. Moreover, it had awesome and implicit significance: Reduce things like…apathy. Reuse things like….motivation. Recycle…my ASWC experience, leadership, passion and ideas. I love and support the environmental preservation movement, and while this is the obvious meaning of the three R's, it wasn't the only suggestion. The recycle sign and green colors were not only eye catching, but, moreover, alluded to those various connotations.
The "GO" in the middle of the recycle sign had many meanings, as well. "Go" is a motivating word. It was to encourage people to get up and go for what they feel strongly about. To recognize and encourage the passions that I, as a student, understand each student has within him or her. To vote. To study. To make student voices heard. To enjoy Westminster in his/her own style. In hindsight, this year's victorious student government party at a neighboring state university was the "Go Party," like mine was this year; and the losing party was the "Revolution Party," which was the slogan I ran on last year.
Griffin Green Cars, a program mentioned in Atencio's and Rouzer's letter, as well as in the article about the ASWC cabinet victory, has nothing to do with ASWC. It's something that I, as an environmentally-minded student, researched and proposed on a very preliminary basis. There are currently no plans of furthering this initiative and ASWC has absolutely no direct connection to the proposal. This should be clear and the separation needs to be understood. The original article falsely suggested a nonexistent relationship.
As far as the project is concerned: if it was to ever come to fruition, it would chastise no one. I don't drive an eligible car; I walk and bike to class and I can't afford some new hybrid, either. There are stipulations in the preliminary plans that reward a huge variety of the Westminster community without punishing anyone. It's a super cool plan, and I hope to soon be able to unveil the concept as something more than just that. I agree with you, that no "kid with better, more expensive cars, green or not…get special treatment and precedence over the rest of us." No part of the article mentioned that, and the plan doesn't include that in any form-because that isn't a good idea. And bad ideas suck. I'm not trying to promote inequality. I'm trying to support Westminster students.
Thanks so much for your votes of support, Katy and Ariel. I would love to listen to any environmental, or other, ideas that you or other students may have.
I'm glad you liked my campaign. The "reduce, reuse, recycle" aspect was evident: the three R's that environmentalists sing the world over in an attempt to curb irreversible environmental destruction. Moreover, it had awesome and implicit significance: Reduce things like…apathy. Reuse things like….motivation. Recycle…my ASWC experience, leadership, passion and ideas. I love and support the environmental preservation movement, and while this is the obvious meaning of the three R's, it wasn't the only suggestion. The recycle sign and green colors were not only eye catching, but, moreover, alluded to those various connotations.
The "GO" in the middle of the recycle sign had many meanings, as well. "Go" is a motivating word. It was to encourage people to get up and go for what they feel strongly about. To recognize and encourage the passions that I, as a student, understand each student has within him or her. To vote. To study. To make student voices heard. To enjoy Westminster in his/her own style. In hindsight, this year's victorious student government party at a neighboring state university was the "Go Party," like mine was this year; and the losing party was the "Revolution Party," which was the slogan I ran on last year.
Griffin Green Cars, a program mentioned in Atencio's and Rouzer's letter, as well as in the article about the ASWC cabinet victory, has nothing to do with ASWC. It's something that I, as an environmentally-minded student, researched and proposed on a very preliminary basis. There are currently no plans of furthering this initiative and ASWC has absolutely no direct connection to the proposal. This should be clear and the separation needs to be understood. The original article falsely suggested a nonexistent relationship.
As far as the project is concerned: if it was to ever come to fruition, it would chastise no one. I don't drive an eligible car; I walk and bike to class and I can't afford some new hybrid, either. There are stipulations in the preliminary plans that reward a huge variety of the Westminster community without punishing anyone. It's a super cool plan, and I hope to soon be able to unveil the concept as something more than just that. I agree with you, that no "kid with better, more expensive cars, green or not…get special treatment and precedence over the rest of us." No part of the article mentioned that, and the plan doesn't include that in any form-because that isn't a good idea. And bad ideas suck. I'm not trying to promote inequality. I'm trying to support Westminster students.
Thanks so much for your votes of support, Katy and Ariel. I would love to listen to any environmental, or other, ideas that you or other students may have.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
VacMan
posted 5/19/09 @ 2:59 PM MST
Thanks a lot for this information."Wait, Who Did You Vote For?" article is good too...
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