The mantra any self-respecting U.S. postal delivery person must accept is that regardless of wind, rain, sleet or snow, the mail will be delivered.
ASU President Michael Crow would make one heck of a mailman.
Last week, when asked about ASU's reasoning for not canceling classes for the Oct. 13 presidential debate, Crow said if there was a "blizzard you go to school, buildings are falling down, you go to school, the president of the United States is on campus, you go to school."
Hmm. Let's take a look at each one of those scenarios, shall we? Growing up outside Boulder, Colorado I believe I know a little something about blizzards. And guess what Mr. President -- no school during a blizzard. I know nothing about buildings suddenly falling down around campus, but I can honestly say that if I'm sitting in class and I see through the window that the next building over suddenly collapses, I'm outta there.
Now, I understand that one could choose to see Mr. Crow's overt dramatization less literally. Then again, maybe school officials made him go to class when he was in a student in spite of blizzard conditions and buildings falling at the same time. Tough school.
But the thing that he's really serious about is that we should be in class in spite of the fact President Bush and his challenger Sen. Kerry will be on campus.
I got news for you Mr. Crow: I ain't the mailman. And I ain't going to be anywhere near campus Oct. 13. And to take things one step further, I don't think anyone should go to class that day.
Yes, I propose a "Ditch Day". I'm not trying to be Al Pacino in the classic film, "Dog Day Afternoon". (Attica! Attica!) But I fail to see any logic in conducting business as usual on the day of the debate.
First of all: parking. ASU says about 2,500 parking spots will be affected. In other words, don't even think of parking here. According to information taken from ASU's Web site, Tempe Transit authorities say Apache Boulevard will be closed from College Avenue to Tenth Street Oct. 12-14. Gammage Parkway and Forest Avenue will be closed those same days. What a disaster.
As if it isn't difficult enough to find a spot on the best days, now we have even fewer options. Students are encouraged to take mass transit, car pool or walk to class those days. Easy enough. That is, if you live near campus. Tough luck if you have to travel from Phoenix or Glendale or any other town for that matter.
Officials also say that thousands of media are expected the day before the debate and, of course, the day of. MSNBC, CNN, FOX News and others will no doubt set up live programming from campus the day of the debate. Every print reporter and television talking head will converge.
Great.
The fact that campus will be full of the likes of Pat Buchanan or Brit Hume should justify any decision to stay home.
Before any of you slackers get the idea that I'm proposing a night out at your respective favorite watering holes, think again. The real reason to ditch school Oct. 13 is that we all have a civic duty to actually watch the debate.
Presidential elections occur every four years. Debates are few and far between over the course of the campaign. Cities should feel fortunate when two men who wish to be the leader of the free world actually visit -- much less hold a debate. For students, and all Americans, this is quite possibly the most important election you have ever had the opportunity to vote in --maybe ever again.
Be proud that your school is hosting the final debate of the campaign. But most of all, be engaged.
Mr. Crow said, "faculty members have discretion as to whatever they want to do relative to their classes." In other words, he wants us to be in school, but is leaving it up to those who teach. This sort of sounds like an argument for civil unions but against gay marriage. Doesn't make much sense to me. I understand many classes will probably be cancelled anyway. But that's not the point. It's the principle.
Mr. Crow should send a message that he respects the intelligence of the students enough to allow them the opportunity to stay home by announcing a campus holiday.
But maybe that's not it at all. Perhaps with all the major networks' television cameras taking pretty pictures of campus, he'd rather not have ASU look like a ghost town. Politics. Politics. Politics.
Parking issues. Media hordes. Civic duty. What more do I need to offer, Mr. Crow? In the words of Bob Dylan, "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
Vic Vela is a journalism graduate student. Reach him at vic.vela@asu.edu.
