Kim Manahan
By Kim Manahan (Whetstone Staff Writer)
Why do some people cower at the idea of thinking for themselves and speaking up?
Especially for important issues like improving life at Wesley College.
For a few stories this issue, I made the mistake of interviewing people by e-mail, in part because of the recent snowstorms. Not only does this give them time to give a-play-by-play to themselves of what they want to say, but the responses I received tended to be full of bureaucratese.
For some reason, it seems that when some people are given this chance, they only say what they know will make other people happy.
When they return my e-mailed questions, their responses are carbon-copied to their bosses and words appear to be scripted in advance.
I’m not accusing anyone of lying. But conducting interviews via e-mail gives time for the person to backspace what they have already typed, to converse with colleagues before responding, or to put big words together to perhaps shroud their meaning.
Life sometimes seems like a long game of learning how to play politics.
The higher-ups at Wesley – and at just about everywhere you’ll ever go – know how to present themselves in a way that will appeal to both the public and their bosses.
Have you ever noticed the change of tone that certain administrators get in their voices when dealing with the public – and then listen to them dealing with college business?
It’s there. Listen for it.
Anyone can be a crowd pleaser.
Just take note of what the people with the most friends do and mimic them. It doesn’t take much to follow the trends and to learn what to say to make people lean in your general direction.
Are some of the students at this college bureaucrats in training? Is the main lesson plan to keep quiet and to say what you know “the school†wants to here?
The student newspaper is meant to be the student voice of the college.
How can we be the voice of everyone if people mute themselves out of fear of saying the “wrong†thing?
Yes, I am encouraging everyone to complain if there’s something to complain about.
It’s how things change.
Poke, prod, annoy, do whatever it takes. Speak up! Exercise your First Amendment rights. Exercise them before you forget you have them.
This doesn’t just go for students at Wesley, but for everyone and everything you’ll do in life.
We can follow Big Brother all we want or we can say what needs to be said and make some kind of change.
No one can pay me enough to voice an opinion that is not my own, or not how I feel.
No one will ever be able to pay me enough to shut up and stop what I’m doing.
