Opinion

Throughout this year, we at the Weather Vane have called for greater student involvement in campus activities. Tyler Grove implored people to join Peace Fellowship. We called for the Opinion Board to be moved to Common Grounds. We also took great pains to publicize the Green Design class and accompanying campus sustainability movement. And we’ve seen change, despite our constant critiquing and examining every fault that we can find here on the EMU campus. We feel that the campus deserves praise for efforts that are truly above the norm. The students who have become involved with clubs and organizations have not only kept student life running on campus; we feel that what vibrancy does exist on campus is a result of these students being dedicated to their niche in the student life. Employees in Common Grounds have pressured the managers to explore greener options for their coffee cups, and better options are to be implemented next fall. Peace Fellowship has grown into a large, vocal organization on campus, and the Opinion Board, now located outside Common Grounds, if not vibrant, has considerably more dialogue on it than it has in the past two years. Continue Reading...

The following has not been approved by EMU Residence Life; the thoughts and opinions herein are those of the author and should not be considered a reflection of the EMU administration.

On Tuesday night, both of my intramural soccer teams lost in heartbreaking fashion to end what (at least to us) seemed to be promising seasons. I was disappointed and struggled to work on a paper that was due the next day because I kept replaying every goal I allowed over and over again in my head. I should have been focusing on the deadline that was quickly approaching but I couldn’t. Was I taking intramurals too seriously?

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After four years of college, am I prepared for life in the real world? After watching the premiere of MTV’s Real World, I’m not so sure I’ll make enough money to fit in. I went into thousands of dollars of debt, and for what? So that after twenty years paying off that debt I can make enough money to buy a nice car, or a big house, or provide for a beautiful wife? EMU has taught me that that’s not what’s important in life. I should be working for an NGO, or maybe doing Mennonite Voluntary Service next year. Money should be the least of my worries. But how many students are graduating from EMU with debts that will take 20 years to pay off? I could have taken a job straight out of high school and saved at least as much money in the last four years as I have borrowed going to college. If money doesn’t matter, why am I in so much debt right now? Oh wait, money does matter. And it matters a lot more than EMU would have you believe. How funny is that? Why do we always have to joke about everything we really care about? I laugh when politicians say they’re going to end the war in Iraq. But innocent people are still dying. We joke about our healthcare situation and how it’s cheaper to fly to Costa Rica to get surgery than to have it done in a hospital here. Yet most people can’t afford to do that. And it’s funny that the only candidates who have a shot at the presidency are the ones who raise the most money. What a way to prove you can balance a budget. Is this how our political system is supposed to work? Continue Reading...

Excuse me, James?

I’ve been thinking about writing in to you for some time now. I know how seriously you take your column, and I was worried that anything I had to say would not be adequate. It’s taken me a full year of reading and admiring your work to finally get up the courage to send you this letter. I hope that the note’s content reflects my intentions in writing it.

When I first came to Eastern Mennonite University this year, fitting in was difficult. I had little in common with the people I met, and no one seemed to truly understand me. It wasn’t until I first read your column that I felt at home. Your soft and tender tone wrapped me in its warmth and your way with words cut deep to my soul. I love the way you met each week’s question professionally, but with a light heart. Whether someone was afraid of campus-wide PMS or mourning over a girlfriend on cross-cultural, you knew exactly what to say to put their minds at ease. It’s not often guys have such characteristics as sensitivity and empathy.

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Greetings from Sudan,

I wanted to write a letter of thanks to the students and faculty of EMU for their enthusiastic and generous response to a service opportunity last semester. As many may recall, Emily Young and I (Sophie Beya) spent last semester attempting to raise $5000 to aid in education scholarships for children and youth living in temporary settlements due to war in Southern Sudan. EMU students received our efforts of outreach by attending hall activities, dorm meetings, Common Grounds events, and Celebration services. Both students and staff took the time to read the two Weather Vane articles that were released about the project and most of all, the EMU community allowed its heart to be touched and as a result, literal miracles happened.

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