The Story
Quit While You're Behind
I respect your freedom of speech, but respect my right to not care. Tidewater Labor Support Committee, you have alienated all of the potential support you could have earned from uninformed faculty and students through your radical tactics.
By directly and repeatedly attacking President Reveley, you make it difficult for him to care or be favorably disposed towards your cause. In addition, by only offering that he take a pay cut to pay for increased salaries, you are devaluing his work. In the process of asking for help, you belittle and probably piss off the person with the most power to help you.
By not opening a dialogue to discuss facts and possible solutions, you make it difficult for anyone to take you seriously. The credibility of any lobbyist is dependent on their ability to bring reliable facts and sound solutions to the table. You have done neither. Many of the â€"facts†you present are anecdotes. Yes life is tough, and some people have it more rough than others, but does that mean that everyone else is living just dandy?
By shouting from a microphone on top of a soap box to people that just want to get to class, you make it difficult for anyone not already part of your group or friends with people in the group to say they support you or even a â€"living wage†because it might be associated with your cause. This isn’t the 1970’s. We aren’t discussing a draft or an issue that people will die over. Don’t shout at me as I try to focus for my Psychology midterm.
I’ve seen the flyers, I’ve talked with friends, and I’ve thought about your message. In regard to public attention, YOU HAVE IT. What you lack is support or favorable dispositions. You are akin to Britney Spears flashing the world on the front of Star Magazine. Yep, everyone knows it but does anyone respect her? No.
On that note, please, please, please try tact. Heaven knows you might turn heads by sounding sane for once. Maybe, just maybe when you’re designing the next poster to place around campus, include a viable solution that we can think about and wonder why the administration doesn’t accept it as opposed to being antagonistic to pretty much everyone at the school except the people that clean our buildings.
I support a living wage, but I disagree with what the Living Wage Campaign has said and done.
James Janopaul-Naylor is a staff columnist for the DSJ. His views do not necessarily represent those of the entire staff.