There are many student groups on campus that make valuable contributions to the University and St. Louis communities—far more than we have space to praise in a short editorial. Still, we would like to commend two groups in particular that have been extremely active in the past week, beneficial to the campus and which often go without recognition: Filmboard and the team responsible for organizing Homelessness Awareness Week (HAW).
Recently, Filmboard was able to obtain 350 tickets to the new James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace,” which were distributed to students outside of the Danforth University Center on Thursday. Obtaining these tickets, for a movie that opened the next day and would likely sell out, was no small feat; distributing these tickets to students in an efficient manner was a commendable feat as well. In the past, Filmboard has also screened many free films on campus, providing a fun and valuable on-campus social experience for students; this year the group experienced a rough start with a small membership and little funding, but was still able to match their past successes. Events like these are easy to take for granted, but they require the effort of other students in order to function, and these students deserve our gratitude.
On a more serious note, we would also like to congratulate another group of students. Homelessness Awareness Week, led by the Alliance of Students Against Poverty (ASAP), is part of a nationwide effort to increase awareness about the issues of homelessness, poverty and hunger that many in the world face today.
The groups that contributed to this effort spent the week collecting canned food and holding cardboard signs that described shocking statistics about poverty in visible campus locations. They also held many speaking engagements and events designed to appeal to a broad range of audiences, such as those interested in medicine or education. Their activities concluded with service trips to locations in St. Louis.
Everyone who contributed to HAW on campus deserves to be recognized for drawing attention to this persistently important issue. Poverty and homelessness are not particularly exciting to confront. Endemic to our society and often lacking any clear culprits to blame, these issues often lack the appeal of protesting other injustices that are more short-lived and affect us more directly. By standing up for those who are most vulnerable among us and least able to communicate their grievances, the organizers of HAW have performed an admirable service.
These student groups have shown how important it is for students to participate in groups like Filmboard and ASAP. They provide an invaluable service to our campus and community, and they should be commended.
In praise of student groups’ contribution to community
Published: Monday, November 17, 2008
Updated: Monday, November 17, 2008
2 comments
Local
Wait, so giving away tickets to an ultra-violent movie which promotes the treatment of women as objects is serving the community? Some community you've got there. I agree with Mike -- are you sure you didn't mean to write a contrast, instead of a compare?
Mike C.
The comparison of Filmboard to ASAP (as if the two have any relation or even "contribute to the community" in a similar way) shows how little faith should be placed in StudLife editorials.
