I am writing as a concerned student, a graduating senior and an active participant within Associated Students. I am concerned with the direction the A.S. executive officers are headed and more specifically, President Cervin Morris. His arrest and court hearings are turning into a media spectacle, perpetuated through this printed source. Although Morris represents the majority of students who voted, he is an inappropriate representative of the entire undergraduate student body. His title is being used to gain media coverage, and is creating a negative perspective of the students of UCSB. This campaign is working against the efforts of the administration to dispel the image of our campus and I.V. as being a “party school.”

Within this newspaper, I would rather read about the positive efforts of undergrad and graduate students. There is a great amount of activity, both political and social, that is neglected. As a student organizer and activist, I am appalled by the T-shirts being sold to support Morris, which copy the shirts created to spread awareness of political prisoners, such as Mumia Abu-Jamal and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche. Morris is not a prisoner; he is a criminal with a court hearing. There are young political activists with court cases occurring alongside the Morris case, but are not publicized in such a commercialized form, which only increases this consumer nation. We are all adults and we must be responsible for all of our actions, regardless of our backgrounds, positions or titles.

There is a great amount of activity and global consciousness present on campus. It is continually ignored by this paper and therefore ignored by the student population. One example is the lack of coverage of both World AIDS Day and the Students for a Free Tibet 24-hour fast, which took place Dec. 4.

I ask, does Curve represent you?

Shanna Maschmeier is a senior English and Asian American studies major.

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