MBA Acceptance
In regards to the Waymarsh State College protesters, there are various aspects of this editorial, which leave me questioning the validity of the statements expressed. To begin with, since this was published in the editorial section of a newspaper it needs to be read with an open mind, keeping in mind that editorials are merely opinions of individuals and not necessarily representative of a larger group. Editorials are a springboard for people to have their voice and opinion heard on particular issues. It is not statistically proven or fundamentally correct, it is a belief. With keeping that in mind, following is my analysis of this editorial. First, although only 200 students traveled to the state capitol to protest against proposed cuts in funding for various state college programs, the specific state colleges and their programs were not mentioned. To have been able to state the specific programs and the colleges effected by these program cuts would have not only been more informative, but may have helped to substantiate the argument for the protests at Waymarsh State College. If Waymarsh State College did not have a particular program to be cut, the need for students to protest would be decreased dramatically. The “buy-in” for college students usually needs to be great and usually needs to affect them directly and immediately. Also, freshmen in college are not apt to be too involved in the politics of the school, especially in the winter. These students have only been in college for a few months and are more concerned with keeping up on the heavy workload demanded of them and maintaining the social aspect of the college life. Political issues would probably affect a small percentage of freshmen. In the same respect, seniors, those graduating in the winter or the following spring, would also have less invested interest on these issues. By winter, many could have already graduated, which would have decreased the 12,000-student statistic; not yet updated to reflect those who are no longer attending the college. Those who will graduate in the spring realize that although protests will be made, any changes in the cuts from the legislature will not be handed down until those students are out of college. Again, this leads to the argument of the immediate and direct effectiveness of the proposed cuts on these two specific groups of college students. Second, the article stated that this took place in the winter. I would question numerous aspects of the reasoning for this. If the students were genuinely concerned about stating their protests, they would have better organized it at a time, which would heed more students to be involved.