Remember, ‘united we stand, divided we fall’

Remember, ‘united we stand, divided we fall’

By Maita Schuster

"Drowning, in a sea of fears/

Hatred, trying to hide your fears/Living, only for yourself/
Hating everybody else/

‘Cause they don’t look like you."

­ Hootie and the Blowfish

Well, for one of the few times in my life I am not quite sure
what to say (and for those of you who know me this is a pretty hard
thing to do.) For three years I have been reading the Daily Bruin,
especially the Viewpoint section, and I am so overcome with anger I
feel compelled to write, to jump on the bandwagon and voice my
opinion on this whole USAC election/runoff controversy.

I was recently listening to the Hootie and the Blowfish CD,
where the above lyrics come from. If you have not heard Cracked
Rear View yet, just listen to track seven, entitled "Drowning."

"Why must we hate one another/When all that matters is we gotta
live together." Does anyone else see any truth in these words? Why
must every campaign be based on why the other candidate is no good,
rather than why this candidate is the best? Tell me what you have
done previously and what you intend to do, not what that "other
side’s" candidate does or does not do, why they are not a qualified
candidate or a moral person or whatever.

No wonder students here are so apathetic and we have such a low
voter turnout. I can only speak for myself, but personally, all the
mudslinging and name-calling makes me not want to get involved at
all and to avoid Bruin Walk at all costs.

One year ago last week, I was waiting on the steps of Kerckhoff
Hall to hear the election results. I was also there last week
waiting in front of Wooden. I heard the cheers from one side last
year, and this year, I heard something that I probably was not
supposed to hear.

Members of the Students First! slate gathered in a circle while
people gave pep talks. I guess I was standing a little closer than
I should have been, but it was not until I heard someone use the
words "right-wing fascists" to describe the group I was standing
among that I began to realize the absurdity of this whole "our
side" vs. "your side" that has taken over our campus.

Now, call me crazy, but I personally do not consider myself a
fascist, and hopefully, those of you who know me can back me up on
that. Think what you will, but I must say that I was offended by
that comment. "Fascist" is not a term to be used lightly and I took
the comment to heart and was deeply hurt, because many of my
relatives died in Europe living in a fascist regime because of a
well known fascist leader named Adolf Hitler. Ring a bell?

What also boggles my mind is the fact that, as John Du and Dan
Ryu put it in a May 9 viewpoint entitled "Overturn of election
results violates democracy," "Although some have characterized
these elections as ‘greeks against nongreeks,’ that distinction no
longer seems relevant."

I am sorry to say I would have to disagree. It saddens me to
think that the only thing that truly separates this campus is the
greek system, and it makes one wonder how much power the greek
system actually has, but I think it has become more of a reality
than most would like to admit.

Everyone cares that registration fees are increasing, while
grants and financial aid are being cut. I believe that every
student here is affected by the rising deficit, the cutting of
classes, housing shortages, affirmative action, construction, the
lack of resources and every other topic that ANY of the candidates
have addressed. (Yes, I know that was a run-on sentence. I did it
on purpose.)

So, what separates one group from the other? Take away the whole
greek issue and you are left with NO DIFFERENCE. How do you like
them apples?

So quit griping about who said what to whom, who endorsed whom
and who paid for what. For those of us not wise in the ways of
Kerckhoff Hall lingo, tell me in layman’s terms why I should vote
for you. Don’t bother to tell me why I should not vote for
them.

I also wholeheartedly agreed with Du and Ryu when they wrote
"’Does this sound patently ridiculous to anyone else?’" in regards
to the recent turmoil surrounding the J-board in deciding whether
or not certain offices are going into a runoff.

MAKE UP YOUR MINDS AND STICK TO YOUR GUNS!!! There is too much
riding on this election than most people realize. I know how scary
it can be to realize that four people can have that much power. But
it just doesn’t seem fair, and I’m wondering how I can get a job
like that. But then again, I never did too well in any political
science classes here. Guess that’s why I choose to study the past
…

Schuster, a junior history student, just wants to remind
everyone that we all go to school together and that regardless of
what happens in the runoffs, as Honest Abe put it, "United we
stand, divided we fall."