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LETTERS
“Responsible” drinking is a team effort I’m always amazed (but never surprised) at the ridiculous comments that come out of some folks’ mouths on the subject of alcohol. From last week’s special report on alcohol: “get drunk, have fun, go to sleep, wake up...and go to church.” Many students in the articles used the word “responsible” in their sentences. It sounded nice on the surface—God calls us to responsibility, right? Unfortunately, the focus of all the responsibility talk was on individual behavior—how much I drink, how I treat MY temple, etc. Lost in the haze of beer and loud music is the responsibility we have for each other. Each year there are many students whose relationships, academics and/or faith are ravaged by their “experimentation.” People aren’t looking out for each other on this issue. For those who “party,” there’s little willingness to try something new on a weekend night, for the benefit of a friend or teammate who needs a new pattern. “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk,” but apparently some friends do allow friends to GET drunk—and don’t know how to support them when they want to stop. “Responsible” drinking for Christians is a possibility, but not at a house crammed with under age students, half of whom don’t care about responsible drinking. Students can throw around terms all they want, but what I hear is simply denial, rationalization, and the lack of “connection” between an active faith and an active life. The goal is to form those connections while you’re here.
Student workers need to form an association In its last issue, Chimes printed a letter to the editor regarding on campus jobs and equitable wages. In it, Trish Vanderkooy mentioned that something needed to be done. One of her suggestions was the unionization of students. We are sure that this action would only upset and anger the administration. Therefore, we propose the formation of a student workers association. This association would represent student employees in all wage and policy issues and foster better communication with management. Our proposed association would not be a union; it would be a representative body which would hold the administration accountable. The administration may believe that Student Senate can bring these issues to fore. Although Student Senate can voice student concerns, its primary function is to represent the entire student body, not a specific group, such as student employees. A single issue interest group is necessary for such a specialized and complex subject. It is a fact that wages on Calvin’s campus are not equal to those offered off-campus and the students who suffer most from the inequality are foreign students who are unable to work off-campus. As mentioned last week, an individual fighting the hegemonic power of the administration will quickly be stonewalled. However, a formal student association would be able to represent all the workers’ concerns and would be able to succeed where an individual countering the system would fail.
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