Aparently, I'm a radical dissident
tracy — Thu, 09/21/2006 - 08:47
For those of you who may be wondering what in the world I'm talking about, a fellow alumnus of Dartmouth College, Peter Fahey '68, wrote an op-ed that was published in today's Dartmouth. Five Reasons to Vote, and Vote "Yes"
In this article, he calls those who are against the new constitution, radical dissidents. He also uses this name to refer to the 3 trustees of the college who ran as petition candidates. Already, I can tell this is a well-written and scholarly work.
In addition to name-calling, his five reasons for why I should vote for the new constitution can be roughly translated into this:
- Because a lot of time was spent on it, and most of the people in power want you to.
- Because trustee nominees have better things to do with their time than convince us that we should vote for them. They were picked by the committee after all.
- Because those who are against the new constitution might have their own agenda.
- Because if it doesn't pass, a bunch of alumni might take their money elsewhere.
- Because if you don't vote for it, the communists might win.
None of these seem like particularly good reasons to vote for the new constitution. Number 2 can be adjusted through amendments to the current constitution. In addition, he seems to be saying that it's unfair to those who are handpicked by the committee to lose to people who might care more than they do. Number 3 is downright laughable, since any Dartmouth student should know that EVERYONE has an agenda, including Mr. Fahey. The doomsday scenario in Number 4, first is misleading, as I am sure there are other alumni like myself who refuse to give more money to the college due to the current people in power, and second, because he has no proof of his argument.
So there you have it folks, because I disagree with the proposed constitution, I'm a radical dissident. Man, I feel like I'm in kindergarten all over again. Oh, and did I mention that the ballots even tell me that the college and the current power structure, want me to vote for the new constitution?
