I am currently on a bus, riding up to Boston to see some friends, and in order to kill time, I decided to check out the latest issue of The Maroon-News. It was quite an interesting read. When I saw the title of Mike Abrahamson’s article, I knew instantly it was going to be about Campus Safety, but I have to say, I was certainly surprised about the topic of his discussion.

I assumed it was going to be about how Campus Safety lacks consistent enforcement of its own rules, or possibly about the departure of former Campus Safety Director Gary Bean. But instead, Abrahamson decided to rant. He ranted about the fact that he decided to disregard the rules regarding on-campus parking, and the consequence is costing him money. I assume he racked up enough tickets to get his car towed as well.

It’s hard to react to an article like that. The first reaction I had was shock, then humor, followed by curiosity. I was shocked because I didn’t realize students admitted to Colgate possess such a degree of foolishness.

I was humored because it was kind of funny to think that Abrahamson kept getting those tickets by his own doing, even though Forrest Gump could have probably realized he was going to get ticketed by parking up the hill or at Cutten. I was curious because I wondered why he’s still at Colgate if he hates it so much.

There’s this new trend in education, where students transfer out of a school they don’t like, to a school they do like, since we’re not bound, legally, physically or any other way to the college we chose to go to.

Abrahamson’s article last week was a brilliant embodiment of a problem at Colgate, and among many other communities around the country. More often than not, especially in the Internet Age, people sound off and rant about things they don’t like, but they don’t do anything about it. What good did his article do? What change will it bring about?

Nothing, and I’m pissed I just wasted my time reading it. You want to rant about something? Start a blog or post it on your Facebook wall. If there is something that bothers you, and something that is happening that you don’t like, then you should do something about it.

If you are a member of the Colgate community, not only should you realize this, but you should also realize that you have the tools and ability to affect change on a large scale.

You have unparalleled access to the “powers that be” at Colgate, but they’re not going to seek you out. You have to be active and get their attention in a constructive and positive manner, and you will soon realize that they do want to work with you.

That article also goes to show that The Maroon-News is certainly lacking a proper editorial staff, but that’s a topic for another article.

Why be destructive and negative when you can be positive and constructive? It’s a waste of everybody’s time. I hope I don’t have to read an article like that again.