To the Editor,

   In four-plus years at WestConn, I have noticed a few things.

   Mainly, I noticed that WestConn works as a micro-replication of the outside world. At WestConn, the same stupid, malicious bureaucracies exist to keep people out-of-the-know and make everything, from signing up for classes to trying to graduate on time, a huge fucking pointless hassle. These bureaucracies, which exist on an administrative level in many departments, including the leviathan called the Registrar’s office, also exist within student clubs, and members perpetuating this red tape will one day work for BUSINESSES LIKE WESTCONN.

   The figureheads of WestConn – who I will not mention by name – work on the same level as the bullshit politicians that run your towns, states, and countries. These figureheads know very little but are always full of hot air, which they will gladly share with you. Ask about why they don’t have a proper recycling program, they will tell you about the flushless toilets in Berkshire; ask about why they reneged on their promise to have a bar on campus, they will tell you about the Westside cafeteria’s personal pizzas.

   There have been a few teachers – who I will also not mention by name, in case I forget someone – who made this uphill trek worthwhile; teachers that encouraged and actually believed in me and my path. These teachers (I hope you know who you are) made my time here worth enduring the shitstorm that is WestConn.

   I was going to write an editorial about how the split in the English department was a disaster, almost costing many students a diploma, but I think that is a well-known fact. The main issue here is inefficiency. There is little to no communication between administrative departments and educational departments, and in the end, it is the students who suffer.

   I have had fun at my time at WestConn. I drank enough Keystone Light for a lifetime, sunk a few glorious beer pong shots, and made a few genuine friends that I hope to keep for a lifetime.

   For those friends, and the teachers that believed in me, I am very appreciative and forever in debt. Thank you.

   For those who hide behind policy, live to deceive, and treat students as dollar signs; you do not belong at a learning institution, and, on a smaller level, you are everything that is wrong with this world. I hope you rot in hell.

   For the rest of you – open your eyes. Get involved.

   That’s it for me. Sayonara.

 Jared Sturges
News Editor

To the Editor,

   On April 29, The Echo published an editorial trumpeting their boycott of the Leadership Banquet, all because The Echo e-board feels that “student leaders can be more appropriately celebrated than by throwing yet another one of the University’s excessive, wasteful, self-aggrandizing award ceremonies.” Though there is some truth in this claim, it completely bypasses the key reason why these students should be honored with a banquet, even if it is funded by students.

  The Leadership Banquet honors students who not only “go above and beyond their academic roles to enhance WestConn’s student life,” but are also consistently given little to no thanks for their hard work and efforts. The WestConn student body routinely participates in events put on by student organizations, yet they fail to recognize those students who invest their time and energy into creating successful events. I am involved in two clubs which regularly host free events for the student population, and not once has a student ever come up to me afterwards to give thanks for my service in making the event happen. The crowd will just file out of the location, feeling that it is their given right to enjoy these functions, most of which are entirely free of charge.

   The members of LASO, BSA, PAC, IRHA and other highly established organizations basically work a part time job to make WestConn a better place, and are not necessarily given any payment for their services. Sure, they may earn stipends at the end of the semester, but those are not always a flat salary, often they are merely a small amount of money determined by how much work they really put into their job (i.e. ticket sales). “The Echo” E-Board by comparison, receives a flat salary no matter what, while the staff writers do not even get paid. The students in the earlier mentioned organizations are not concerned about money, but are actually interested in making WestConn a better school for all.

  Of course, I would not expect The Echo’s E-Board to understand this. Sure, The Echo, on paper at least, exists to inform and voice the student body. But let’s be realistic, the E-Board has taken their positions because they want money, experience or both. If no one ever picked up an issue of The Echo, they would still get paid and be able site the publication as experience on a resume. They are not there to better the school or community, they are there to better themselves.

   The claim that “the University does not strive to be a leader in or stalwart of the surrounding community” is incredibly asinine. More often than not, events and activities organized by those being honored at the Leadership Banquet are open to the public, either for free or at a small cost. That alone contributes to the community by providing entertainment and/or education to the general public. Plus, the staff is not writing for the students, they are writing for themselves. Ask yourself, just when was the last time The Echo provided something to better the community?   

 The Leadership Banquet is not merely an honors ceremony, but the one time a year in which underappreciated students, who constantly host events for others, finally have an event to acknowledge their dedication. Considering the dedication that us leaders (yes, leaders) contribute everyday, we deserve to have at least one night where we are allowed to party and celebrate ourselves. So what if the WestConn students pay for the banquet themselves, it’s only proper that the honorees get long-deserved thanks from their peers. It is only right that the students, who immensely enjoy the activities on campus, fork over a small portion of their activities fee as a mere “thank you.”

   Last week’s editorial claimed “these events make great PR opportunities.” Sure they do, but then so does “The Echo’s” boycott of the Leadership Banquet; it’s nothing more than an attention grabbing ploy. I can just picture The News-Times headline right now: “College newspaper selflessly donates extra revenue to charity.”

   For a change of pace, “The Echo” should try getting attention, not by being controversial, but by making actually attempting to improve WestConn, and the surrounding community.

  Hopefully the student body did the sane thing by NOT supporting The Echo’s boycott of the Leadership Banquet, and actually allows WestConn leaders to receive the honors which they clearly deserve. And yes, we deserve more than just having our names printed in a publication that most of the school doesn’t read. It is, however, rather ironic that one of the most self-absorbed clubs on campus is blasting the clubs which actually make a difference by creating a better community for all. I support The Echo, as both a reader and writer, but this time they have picked the wrong battle.                             

Grant Mcguire
Staff Writer

Editorial: Maybe it’s just you

   College isn’t what it’s cracked up to be for some people. Many come to further their education to start a good job, plan a career, and work for the future. Of course, there are always students who are completely apathetic but still expect a degree. WestConn students have it hard enough, given that this University is largely a commuter school. Students leave the dorms on the weekends to go home and take care of personal things. People are rushing back and forth from the classroom to their cars with little time to talk. Events go largely unattended. It is definitely disheartening at times, especially for students aching to get involved on campus and get the most out of their college experience, which goes much farther than graduating with straight A’s.

   Then there are those who are so misanthropic and disenfranchised with themselves that they immediately reflect their own inadequacies onto this University and those around them. The Echo would like to say this to those people:

   You’re only fooling yourself.

   WestConn is actually not a haven for losers, dropouts, and morons, as the author of a recent excessively negative letter to the editor implies. People have graduated from this University and have grown up to be successful with careers and families. It’s an old, trite-but-true saying: your education is what you make of it, and you only get out as much as you put in. Smoking cigarettes and looking gloomy in the corner may have given you points in high school, but now it’s just stupid. And the gall of someone who would finger-jab at everyone but themselves with blame and accusatory tones is appalling.

   Many students here work at least one job, some work two, and they do so while carrying a full load of courses. They don’t have time to complain: They do their work and they continue on with their careers—this means we are more apt to not see them outside of the classroom, which is a shame. However it does not mean nor imply that this campus is full of empty-headed socialites. Nor does it mean that everyone who attended here had terrible grades and test scores in high school. People have come here for a number of different reasons, and some have chosen it over other, more well-known schools—to castigate the entire student body with random, possibly self-referential remarks is not only wrong, but embarrassingly obtuse. Bemoaning this University as some mothering, coddling entity that will bend over backwards to get any student to graduate is a slap in the face to the faculty and to every single student who has put his or her effort into maintaining a good GPA, a job and his or her sanity. Anyone worth their salt knows this, and we don’t see the campus littered in doctor’s notes, but we do expect to see a healthy line of graduates—even if one or two undeserving peoples are set to receive their degrees as well.

   Of course, given the nature of the article at hand, we aren’t surprised. We also aren’t surprised that this letter came in during the last week The Echo will run this semester. It’s very easy to swear and curse this university to hell when the end is only two weeks away—it’s a whole other issue to attempt to deal with those issues in the thick of the school year, face-to-face, with courage and tact.

--The Echo

Dear Echo Readers,

    I am writing to you on a very important matter: the very culture of WestConn. The philosophy and humanity majors here at WestConn will no longer be an option for students, because the University only offers them as minors. At one time, WestConn offered philosophy as major and a minor. I personally can not imagine a so called University without a full-fledged philosophy and humanities department. I went to Norwalk Community College for about five years as part time student because I was unable to pay the cost of WestConn. I have taken many courses that were boring to me and just did not seem to serve a purpose for me. By chance I took a philosophy class and it changed my life forever. I like how there were more questions then answers just like in life, and philosophy imitated life, unlike any other courses.

   I do not want our future students here at WestConn to not have a chance to learn about philosophy as I did. There has not been a newly hired full time professor for this department since 1994. It is long overdue for this to be corrected. New professors should be hired. I am a deeply religious person and I love taking courses on medieval philosophy, because it talks about a higher power. None of the professors at this point in time are willing to do so, and the voice of the spiritual ones is being forgotten. Dr. James Munz has been the philosophy chairman for over 22 years and there is no one else who wants to do it. Normally a chairperson at WestConn only does it for five years or so.  Dr. Rolf Johnson, a great philosophy professor, is going to leave WestConn to enjoy a well deserved retirement.

   This is one student of many who does not wish to have such a powerful subject be forgotten by a so called great university. I know money is an issue, but if money can be wasted on sports, then this University should be able to have a philosophy and humanities department fully staffed to meet the future demands of WestConn’s prospective students. In the town I grew up in, it was a joke to go to WestConn by many students from nearby high schools; please do not prove them right. I want people from all over the state of Connecticut to want to attend our university and for people to speak proudly about how we have such a great university among the greater Danbury area. Maybe I am overhyping this, but I am type of person who gives it all or nothing. I want to make clear that I can only speak for myself, but if there are other students out there who agree with me, please voice your opinions.

Yours truly,

Daniel L. M. Smith