UConn Only Sucks If You Make It Suck

By: Maxwell Heiber

Posted: 10/4/06

F our students were given space in HuskyTalk to say what they thought of the new system for purchasing basketball tickets. Not one of the students said anything positive, and one even went so far to say that UConn has ruined everything that once was fun. I laughed at that comment, but then I was saddened by what I see as a trend at UConn. Too many students complain and not enough students work to make things better.

For example, the new ticket-purchasing system makes sense. The wristbands allowed groups of friends to stay together and the old system was no longer an option. Did anyone honestly think there would be tents of people camping out for tickets at a university that has recently been in the news for multiple stabbings? Especially when last year's ticket line was plagued with drinking and fighting. Expecting the school to invite phone calls from concerned parents and pay for police overtime is unrealistic. Of all the students that complained about the ticket-buying system, how many sent e-mails with constructive suggestions for next year's system? Is it really that much fun to just whine all the time? And seriously, what would administrators gain from treating students badly on purpose? Many of them have children of their own, work hard and do their best to make choices for the students' benefit.

The complaining about the ticket-buying system is just one small example. The expression "UConn sucks" really upsets me. UConn is my home right now, and it's probably yours, too. That doesn't mean that I like every little thing about it, but I maintain a generally positive attitude, appreciate the good things and do my part to try to make it better. Complaining doesn't count.

It's not just ignorant, mean-spirited or lame to say, "UConn sucks." It's dumb. UConn is so big that it doesn't usually make sense to talk about it as one thing, rather than a collection of many parts. If you get an unfair parking ticket as I have … let's take a moment to talk about that instead. If you've gotten a parking ticket, that doesn't mean that UConn sucks. It doesn't mean that you've never had a good teacher, made good friends or chased geese by Mirror Lake. Most of the parts of UConn have nothing to do with each other.

Many events at UConn happen thanks to volunteers. A small percentage of students at UConn are these volunteers. So if you go to an event and don't have a good time or find part of it deficient, you are probably complaining about work your fellow students did for you for free. I was once one of those volunteers. Kanye West performed at Gampel and I volunteered with the Student Union Board of Governors (SUBOG) concert committee. I felt a sense of duty and pride in UConn, and even though I don't really enjoy West's music, I still gave up my weekend, along with several others, to set up the stage and equipment. UConn students set up the speakers the audience heard, while West's roadies set up the monitors, which are the speakers a performer hears during a concert. His monitors sounded terrible, so he threw a hissy-fit, explained that he "kept it real," and threatened to walk out if the sound wasn't fixed pronto. The excited students cheered "UConn sucks" at the tops of their lungs. I worked for those jerks for free. SUBOG has Spring Weekend concerts to try to cut down on injuries and property damage for the students' good. West is a pugnacious, talentless, irresponsible buffoon and at one comment from him, thousands of students sold out their school.

The UConn "Great Pick" commercial is terrible. It was a bad move to film a hyper-lame guy strumming a guitar who hadn't even completed his first semester at UConn. However, the "UConn, it's amazing!" commercial was really good and an interview with smiling 4.0 athlete Emeka Okafor made me proud. People were silent about the "amazing" commercial, but really obnoxious in their condemnation of the "Great Pick" commercial. Many administrators care about students and didn't deserve the abusive uproar over the "Great Pick" commercial. I believe their reason for having the next UConn commercial be done by students is to avoid the negative response the last commercial got. If the next commercial is lame it will be our fault.

You are part of UConn. If all of UConn sucks, you suck too. Keep that in mind and do something other than whine when you see problems.

The Daily Campus has been continually published for 111 years and is run by students. These students all have classes and many have other jobs as well. Somehow, between their other commitments, they find the time to work on the newspaper for almost no money. I've looked at several other college papers and find The Daily Campus to be among the best. Stories by UConn students are consistently picked up by U-Wire and run in the newspapers of other schools. No one at The Daily Campus has a journalism degree and most have very little training in their jobs. I don't think anyone at The Daily Campus has had even four years to perfect their craft. If you think you can do a better job, I wholeheartedly suggest you try. Anyone can write an article, so have a try.

Not everything is great at UConn. Overzealous ticketing for parking violations, the closing of Ryan Dining hall (and departure of Chef Ed), rampant construction corruption and dismissal of good, high-salaried professors to save money all suck. That many of the students are required to give money to Dining Services, a for-profit company, also sucks. But UConn doesn't suck. And, more importantly, a big part of making UConn a good place is up to the students. Join committees, let administrators know what you want, plan and work at events and try not to break too much stuff. Have respect for yourself, your school and the other students. And do something about "Dining Disservices."

Staff Columnist Max Heiber is a 7th-semester philosophy and athropology double major.