I'm not saying that there is a silver lining to all of this. Don't get me wrong, hate crimes are hate crimes, and this is actually the fourth such incident this year on the UW dorms (but the first time that anyone has been caught). Last semester was a lot worse, GLBT-wise, than all of last year, in my opinion, at least.
But one good thing coming out of all of this is the student newspaper's bending over backwards to write 'pro-diversity, anti-discrimination' editorials.
And there have been some doozies. Just god-awful things, things that make me embarassed to go to school here, or just amazed at how beautifully idiotic and hyperbolic they are. It's times like these that remind me why people make fun of student newspapers. A few selections from this week's editorial board.
Take, for example, this paragraph:
The attitude that "nothing will be done" is almost as common on our campus as the hatred and discrimination that causes to much pain to too many of our fellow students. Some examples: hazing that continues to occur but isn't ever reported; people referring to things or people as “gay” without thinking twice; and people labeling others as JAPS (Jewish American Princesses/Princes) without realizing that some people consider it anti-Semitic.
Or, take this beautifully hyperbolic, over-wrought gem: Wisconsin is black America’s worst nightmare.
Or take this article, which posits that the only reason that the event made the front cover of the newspaper is that we had just started a new semester and there wasn't much other news to report:
Ignore the radical feminist inching her way toward the provost’s office and you will discover that until Wednesday, the University of Wisconsin was in the midst of a terribly dry news cycle....Then again, it is always the slow news days that find some way to end with the biggest headlines. And Wednesday proved no exception.... And if that means converting a mole hill into a mountain or two, campus leaders — especially students — are perhaps all to eager to step up to the plate.
But this girl really takes the cake in trying to prove that the 'stereotyping' of coasties is the biggest problem facing the UW system: UW ‘Coasties’ suffer from discrimination. It is, quite possibly, the worst article I've ever read in my life. And its Hilarious!
I really, really hope that I'm not the only person into meta-bigotry oncampus, and this is all going to culminate in some grand joke in Friday's article. Otherwise, man, I'm embarassed.
