Thank you, Jeff Thoman

In the last (Sept. 18) issue of the Weather Vane, Jeff Thoman wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the recent editions of our student newspaper. In his letter, he outlined a couple of points that he felt the editors were falling short on. He also accused our newspaper of being anti-EMU; this is the issue of his letter that I would like to respond to.

He reminded us that we ("students, faculty, and staff") are here by choice. We have the ability to choose our learning environments, and if we do not like how things are going here on campus, we are welcome to leave whenever we please. I have to wonder though, is leaving our environment really the best way to handle a situation that we do not find ideal? I feel it is not. It is true we are here by choice. Many reasons went into that decision and we still care about the place we chose to get our education. This is why we are not going to leave over issues we think we can change.

We want our education to be the best it can possibly be, and for that we need professors who aren’t afraid of being fired over taboo controversial issues. Leaving this campus is not what people should be doing. What people should be doing is following your example. That’s right. You, Jeff Thoman, are a perfect example of what people should be doing, and for that I thank you. Instead of leaving EMU and giving up on your environment, you stuck it out and tried to make a difference. You have expressed your feelings with the hope of changing EMU.

The issue you chose to address was the writing and editing in the Weather Vane. Hopefully your letter had an effect (it did on me). This is why I disagree very much with your accusation of an anti-EMU newspaper. I think it is the exact opposite. The reporters and editors of the Weather Vane are as pro-EMU as possible. They love EMU and want it to be the best university it can be for everyone ("students, faculty, and staff").

Recently, they have chosen to address the issues surrounding Dr. Arbaugh. They are reporting on what they see from their perspective. I highly doubt that anyone on the newspaper’s staff is purposefully trying to mislead our student body. If you feel that their perspective is way off from where the rest of the student body is, then I plead with you to provide a different perspective and contribute more. You claim to have the knowledge of experience from your time at Hesston, so continue to put it to good use.

I do hope, however, that you can see that what you were trying to accomplish in your letter is the same thing that everyone else who has had work published in the Weather Vane is trying to bring about: A better EMU.

Kurt Rosenberger’s e-mail address is kurt.rosenberger@emu.edu.