SF! should re-evaluate how it relates to the student body

Just when I think the social architects of this university
can’t get any more absurd, they keep on surprising me. I
really regret that I couldn’t get this piece in before the
elections, but then again I don’t flatter myself to think
that my brief testimonial could have turned the tides of such a
perfect storm.

That said, I have never been so floored by the hypocrisy of my
fellow students as I was on May 13. I was heading into Royce Hall
for a philosophy midterm worth 50 percent of my grade when I
noticed Students First! activists in red shirts bellyaching about
student fees, war and “the establishment.”
They’re standing on the front steps decked out with the
works: sound system, microphones and huge posters reading,
“Prioritize OUR education, UC REGENTS!”

When I got into the midterm, I tried in vain to concentrate with
the protest carrying on directly below. Finally, I left class to go
downstairs and inform the protesters of the situation. I figured
they’d be sympathetic enough to keep it down or postpone
their rants for an hour, but I was mistaken. As I stood inches from
the “Prioritize OUR education” poster, I asked the guy
at the sound controls if he would lower the volume. I informed him
that there was a midterm going on upstairs and that it was
impossible to concentrate with people yelling on microphones
directly below.

Everybody stared at me like I was being completely ridiculous,
and one guy said mockingly, “Why don’t you go take your
midterm?” I was pretty peeved by this student. He looked at
me like he was almost enjoying the situation ““ no, I’m
actually pretty certain he was enjoying it. They all were. I knew
this because I had seen these looks before: They read like,
“little girl, you don’t even know the social barriers
we’re breaking down.”

Try me. Your rhetoric is lofty, but your issues aren’t
really that complicated. You’d rather not pay more money than
you’re already paying ““ did I pretty much get the idea?
Selfishness disguised with democratic fervor. Check.

I’m submitting this piece because I think I have a
responsibility to let my classmates know the character of the slate
we elected. Some of you will undoubtedly write in to dispute my
facts, call me “close-minded,” or just plain call me a
whiner. I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter if
I’m all of these things ““ I could be a whiny, racist,
myopic political moron, and it still wouldn’t change the fact
that when I politely asked SF! members to keep it down, they
ignored me.

I tried to reason with SF!, my fellow students, face to face.
SF! told me, “Why don’t you go talk to the vice
chancellor of Student Affairs who approved the event?”

The fact is, when it really came down to the nuts and bolts of
how SF! relates to the student body, it dropped the ball. The
students cared more about the appearance of prioritizing education
than the real substance of their words. They chose to play dress up
““ little Dick and Jane activists heading up to the
regent’s meeting to save the day, paying no mind to what they
were really fighting for, because they clearly aren’t
fighting for me or anyone I know, and, the truth be told, they
aren’t fighting for you either.

Education should not become just another vehicle for certain
students to drive home their own political agendas. Do these
students want to prioritize education? Go to class. Spend a little
more time in the direct presence of this education, the right to
which you seem to hold very sacred.

Is everyone ready for the kicker? I almost forgot to tell you
what my midterm was about.

The subject was belief: namely, the conditions under which it
becomes absurd to maintain a belief. The idea is that our beliefs
are a product of experience, not choice: we believe certain things
about our world based on experiences. Moreover, we must let go of
certain beliefs if our net experiences run contrary to them.

If your beliefs are so central to your ego that to give them up
(even when there are overwhelming reasons to do so) would be
earth-shattering to your worldview, you will try to hold onto them
at all costs. You’ll keep lowering the bar, e.g. we must be
the voice of the people. But what if you aren’t?.

What if you’re just loud? If there are no circumstances
under which you’d stop believing you are crusaders for the
students, what is the real value of your belief? Any time you
receive evidence to the contrary, you simply file it under
“closed-mindedness” or “ignorance.” You
think that anyone who doesn’t share your agenda just
doesn’t “get it.” Are there any circumstances
under which you might give up this belief?

What if one of your classmates begs for you to not interfere
with a testing situation, and you flat out refuse? Can you really
continue to maintain the belief that you put students first?

Emily Currin is a fourth-year political science and philosophy
student.