One chaperone wanted

Editorial

Wanted: A mature, rational adult with a basic understanding of world affairs, a level-headed attitude and a butt seated squarely on the fence, in order to protect the world from the mind-boggling ignorance of some college students (notably those from Langara College) and to restore some semblance of maturity where there is none.

In the case of the Langara Student Union (LSU) (see Nov. 21 cover story in November Archives for details), it is unbelievable that these students have the power to ban every single Israeli from ever speaking in the Langara Student Union because they once had to do compulsory military service with the Israel Defence Forces and, well, the LSU doesn't like that. As well, because the student union controls most of the bulletin boards on campus, that means any organization wanting to advertise an event has to undergo the embarrassingly ignorant and discriminatory assessment of the LSU.

What is disconcerting is the fact that Langara College has no authority over this student union, a situation repeated across Canada in various other educational institutions, most notably Concordia University in Montreal.

So here's a batch of students, many of whom have no real life experience (work, travel, opening a book that isn't required reading for school), who are given the run of a building – who is accepted and who gets ridiculed; who's allowed in and who gets an insolent finger pointing to the door.

While it's true that universities and colleges should be venues that allow students to express themselves politically, give students an opportunity to experience leadership roles and practise somewhat of a "hands off" attitude when it comes to students governing themselves, the situation in campuses across Canada has become intolerable. Students need to be shown that with such responsibility comes the obligation to be open-minded and fair, allowing for the possibility that even though they might not agree with a speaker's views, other people should be allowed to hear the speaker nonetheless. What a concept! Please, somebody, get them a chaperone!

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