WIRED short insensitve to LGBT community
We are writing in regard to the WIRED 2008 production that was presented on Feb. 2. As members of the campus community and as individuals who respect the guidelines of common decency, we were appalled by degrading aspects of this particular production.
This opinion does not reflect negatively on all involved with the six plays presented that evening. In fact, many who worked on this endeavor created entertaining shorts that showcased the many talents of our students. However, one play in particular stepped out of bounds.
The third short, "Suite!," was written to humorously show six college students living together in a communal setting, presumably for the first time. The writers, billed as Dan Keyser and Vincent Scafuto in the handout provided to audience members, decided to use the play as a device to spread tasteless generalizations about homosexuality, specifically about gay men.
Countless remarks in the script demeaned the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community and furthered outdated misconceptions about gays. Among the many inappropriate remarks was a joke about animals being forced into the anus, and a fake commercial that listed one of a sexual device's possible side effects as homosexuality.
These remarks were offensive and unnecessary to the plot of the play.
We fully support the First Amendment and the right of the playwrights to speak and write freely. However, when these freedoms are used to perpetuate stereotypes and to maliciously attack members of an often-marginalized community, the fine line between humor and bad taste is certainly crossed.
It is unnerving to think that such obvious attacks were not addressed or muted during the entire production schedule. We would hope that in future productions, similar arrogant statements would be treated with greater sensitivity.
David Adams and Alex Seise
Amer responds to impeachment
I was unjustly impeached from the presidency of the Student Government Association (SGA) sophomore class council position because of inaccurate accusations proposed in a resolution by the executive board.
I formally requested that the executive board carefully review the resolution, which had false claims prior to being finalized. This request was ignored.
Furthermore, I was not given an ample opportunity to present my entire defense to address these fallacies (listed below), during my impeachment.
These infractions were: failure to run meetings, failure to run fundraisers during the first semester, exceeding the allowed number of absences and failure to complete October Campus Engagement, a monthly requirement for every senator.
Although our meetings were not always held in a classroom setting, or in the same fashion as our general body meetings, we did consistently exchange ideas, and divvy up responsibilities when needed. Of the freshman, sophomore and junior class councils, I believe it was a relatively uneventful semester with the exception of one event, the battle of the bands, fantastically run by the junior class.
The issue at hand is a lack of guidance for the class councils. Last year, the members of the class councils and I, as the president of the freshman class, met to address this issue and created the class council coordinator position.
With this position, we hoped to create a collaborative effort among the class councils.
Due to lack of interest from the executive board, this position was not maintained.
This is a systematic problem within SGA that needs to be resolved immediately in order to ensure that our class councils can consistently serve their respective classes.
I also had an intense semester, which led to my increase in absences from SGA. Among these, I had an unexcused absence due to an exam I needed to complete and two other unexcused absences due to a car accident involving my sister.
I accept full responsibility for this infraction because in my position, I am responsible for an entire class of students and it is my responsibility to attend all necessary meetings.
The final infraction listed in the resolution said that "The sophomore class council president did not complete Campus Engagement in October 2007."
This infraction is probably the most baffling of all to me. During our Dec. 3 meeting with the executive board, I submitted a record of my campus engagement for October. The record of my Campus Engagement, which was submitted to SGA executive vice president Lauren Russo, was never properly filed.
As a result, I call for Russo to provide documentation for all of her records to ensure they are properly filed.
I certainly believe that there is at least some biased towards me from the executive board.
Why? I cannot say for certain. I now feel that if if no one steps up to eliminate this corruption, I will be forced to do so.
Regardless of this impeachment, SGA bylaws protect my right to run for office in the future.
The next thing you know, the executive board will present a resolution to prevent anyone who has been impeached from running again.
Mohammed Amer
