April 28 , 2006

Captain’s Log: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

By CAPT. JON MOFFETT
jrm001@marietta.edu

Disclaimer: The following views are solely those of the highly opinionated Jon Moffett and are not necessarily shared by the other staff of the Marcolian. These views are not intended to insult or offend anyone, but are merely intended to spark debate and/or discussion among the student body.

Welcome to the final edition of the Captain's Log for the semester. For seniors, I know you're all very upset that you may never again read another of my pieces, and I apologize for that. For the rest of us, I know the summer will be hard, but we'll make it through somehow. I trust that by now most everyone has found some sort of summer plans, whether they are internships, summer jobs, vacations, mooching off parents, or just being lazy.

Before I begin my usual banter, I'd like to stop and take the time to recognize an individual who is not often credited for much. This gentleman works behind the scenes of the Marcolian and rarely is given any type of acclaim for what he does. That man is Paul Rutter.

For the past two years, Mr. Rutter has been the Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious Marcolian. However, this will be Paul's final semester, as he graduates on to bigger and better things. He will be attending law school at the University of Toledo in the fall, with the hopes of becoming a lawyer. Along with Paul, we as a student body will be losing more than just an editor-in-chief. Paul, I wish you the best of luck in everything you do, and I hope that everything works out for the best.

Now that all the sentimental jargon is out of the way, I'll do my thing. This issue however, I'm going to do something a tad different. Instead of simply mercilessly bashing something that I find irrelevant or wrong, I'm going to support something. If I were to poll the student body about how many students actually read the Marcolian, which is what you're reading right now, I'm saddened to say that the number would be fairly low. This bothers me.

Now I know it's hard to believe, but Marietta, Ohio isn't the most action-packed area in the country. What this means is that news within the community, let alone on campus, is rather hard to come by. I really don't think people understand how incredibly difficult, not to mention stressful, it is to create this thing. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people pull the Marcolian out of their mailbox, after a staff member had just stuffed it in there, and simply throw it away. This bothers me too.

Actions like these show me that not many people respect what we do, and that is sad. The Marcolian is supposed to be the voice of the student body. When you don't respect that voice, it becomes silenced. Recently, there was a debacle over the student senate. Without the newspaper, I doubt many people would've heard, or dare I say even cared, about the issue. I view not only this as my privilege, but my responsibility as a journalist.

Now I do however, realize that there is a group of readers out there who truly and deeply care about the Marcolian, and I thank you. For the rest of you, I strongly suggest that you reconsider your apathy when it comes to the newspaper, because without it…you're mute. Hey, at least we're not senate.