The Class of 2008 is packing its bags. The graduates are moving out and pressing ahead to start careers. But as is usual when one checks out of a hotel room, they’ve inevitably left some things behind. That’s what we’re doing at The Temple News. We are leaving behind some thoughts that we’d like the remaining students to remember. Like all memories, not all are positive. But every thought contributes to a better understanding and enables change.
We are leaving behind student apathy. The Temple community is greatly inactive in campus activities, and it reflects poorly on school spirit and passion for Temple. In last month’s Temple Student Government elections, the Owl V.O.I.C.E.S. slate received 897 votes, while Temple Reloaded received 588. After the run-off election, Owl V.O.I.C.E.S. only received 464 votes, with Temple Reloaded receiving 365. In the first election, only 2,098 students voted – out of all of Temple’s Main Campus. Such a low number is embarrassing.
We are sadly leaving behind the TECH Center. This magnificent computer lab has been our work haven for those 10-page papers and massive projects ever since it debuted in January 2006. We hate to say goodbye to it, because it sports software that some of us might never be able to afford. We are well aware that our hands might never guide another mouse through Photoshop, Final Cut Pro or Dreamweaver ever again. If only Temple offered a 12-step program for quitting the TECH Center instead of making us go cold turkey.
We are leaving behind violence. Despite all the good times we’ve had at Temple, it is an issue that has plagued our minds since we arrived. One of the most depressing incidents was the shooting outside the Pearl Theatre at Avenue North, just two nights after it opened in December 2006. The opening of the cinema was surrounded by great hope, that bringing a movie theater to the area would make it more family-friendly. But that hope was received by a smack in the face when the shooting occurred. As Temple students, we have been no stranger to frightening stories of violence. But if remaining and future students keep active in the area and participate in community service activities, making North Philadelphia safer will be a much less daunting task.
Finally, we are leaving behind Temple University, but as an ever-growing institution of improvement. While we were here, we saw it named the No. 1 most diverse student body in the country by the Princeton Review. We welcomed Ann Weaver Hart, our first female university president, who has well established herself and her goals since her arrival in July 2006. Temple is the kind of place you come not just to learn about your decided major, but to learn about life. And we know that it’s only getting better.
We look forward to seeing what you will leave behind.
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