2008 Woodie Awards
SGA's 'empty symbol' sends mixed signals about suicide
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Editorial
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SGA can do many great things for the student body.
They can get us money for school trips and organizations, and they can develop pet projects of their own.
But sometimes, they make us wonder if the members actually think about the campus-wide reactions to their plans.
The most notorious of these plans in recent memory was the infamous "wall o' minority slurs," a large cinder-block wall they constructed near the UC and covered with the most vile language imaginable.
The idea was they would tear down the wall, thus symbolically "tearing down" all the language on the wall. They omitted, however, to let anyone passing by know what they were doing for the first few days, and to the causal observer, it appeared that UTC was one of the most insensitive places on the planet.
When they finally did put up an explanation, the writing was so small as to be unnoticeable.
The response to this wall was that a few pranksters, who have gone down in UTC history and in the hearts of those of us who were on campus at the time, as some of the most inventive and bold people around, painted the wall white one night, with the words "Empty Symbol" and hung up a sign bemoaning the money spent on the wall.
Our response at the Echo at the time was, "Good on you."
Now SGA is planning on spending more of the students' money on a gesture in which we're sure their hearts are in the right place, but they haven't thought the action through.
According to Bill Staley, SGA president, they will be planting a tree in memory of UTC freshman Cameron Patterson, who committed suicide last month.
We are all for planting trees on campus, and we are all for planting trees in memory of students and alums who die, but Cameron didn't just die. He committed suicide. And in America, we don't reward people for that.
Cameron has had news stories written about him, memorial services in his honor, and tears shed over his death.
In the words of his own father, "He would want us to move on."
They can get us money for school trips and organizations, and they can develop pet projects of their own.
But sometimes, they make us wonder if the members actually think about the campus-wide reactions to their plans.
The most notorious of these plans in recent memory was the infamous "wall o' minority slurs," a large cinder-block wall they constructed near the UC and covered with the most vile language imaginable.
The idea was they would tear down the wall, thus symbolically "tearing down" all the language on the wall. They omitted, however, to let anyone passing by know what they were doing for the first few days, and to the causal observer, it appeared that UTC was one of the most insensitive places on the planet.
When they finally did put up an explanation, the writing was so small as to be unnoticeable.
The response to this wall was that a few pranksters, who have gone down in UTC history and in the hearts of those of us who were on campus at the time, as some of the most inventive and bold people around, painted the wall white one night, with the words "Empty Symbol" and hung up a sign bemoaning the money spent on the wall.
Our response at the Echo at the time was, "Good on you."
Now SGA is planning on spending more of the students' money on a gesture in which we're sure their hearts are in the right place, but they haven't thought the action through.
According to Bill Staley, SGA president, they will be planting a tree in memory of UTC freshman Cameron Patterson, who committed suicide last month.
We are all for planting trees on campus, and we are all for planting trees in memory of students and alums who die, but Cameron didn't just die. He committed suicide. And in America, we don't reward people for that.
Cameron has had news stories written about him, memorial services in his honor, and tears shed over his death.
In the words of his own father, "He would want us to move on."
