You will notice that I have added Tinglez and Wolfgang to the blogroll.
The reasons are twofold:
- The blogroll wants fattening. I have given it these two juicy sirloin steaks. The blogroll is quite partial to steaks. In case, you know, you wanted to take it out on a date. Someplace classy.
2. While procrastinating from studying, I have finally had the opportunity to delve into this Imprint business. It seems that I am not the only one who dislikes a lot of what Imprint is doing lately. This is comforting. When a man is actually tempted to read The Iron Warrior to get away from Imprint, you know that it has fallen. Far.
Tinglez and Wolfgang are arguing a very valid point. On the matter of their initial argument, I agree with them entirely. Read Travis Myers’ article on losing your virginity and you should be able to notice the problem immediately.
We should not be writing (or reading) articles in the University of Waterloo newspaper that come off sounding like a Quentin Tarantino movie. Do not confuse this comment as opposition to the language in its entirety. I get that whole mentality. It is a matter of appropriateness. Of tact. When you and your wife are having a baby, do you meet with your in-laws and say:
a) We’re having a baby. Congratulations! You’re grandparents!
b) My seed has spawned life in your daughter’s belly. Soon, she will be the size of a house.
c) I fucked your daughter…and now there is a sex-spoiling little hellion inside of her.
Regardless of whether (b) or (c) is your opinion, why would you ever say something like that to your in-laws? In much the same way, Myers’ ability to talk about “fuckity fuck fucking fuck” all throughout his article was a little inappropriate.
Tinglez decided to tell Imprint that - as Binks so eloquently put it -Â they should be using “grown-up words”. I agree with that entirely. A publication like Imprint from an institution like the University of Waterloo owes more professionalism and courtesy to its readers. Imprint has been in a steady decline for some time now. I do not envy Maggie Clark and her new position as captain of a sinking ship. The previous “powers that be” have left her with an extremely large mess to clean up. I hope that she restores Imprint to a more professional status.
Unfortunately, the argument has been made that it was the newspapers Opinion section, and Travis Myers can say whatever the hell he wants. Glorious. I have no problem with the opinion he expressed. It is a serious issue. There is no doubt that some people can be left feeling hollow after an event has transpired. Again, this is a serious issue.
That being said, why did Travis Myers choose to trivialize the whole debacle with his poor choice of language. If his article was intended to be comforting, his message of “I feel your pain. There are others like you.” was poorly presented. If someone is about to jump from a rooftop, you would not give them a thirty minute lecture that starts with “Yeah. Your life does fucking suck. Let me count the ways…” If someone intends to tackle an issue such as this in a method intended to be therapeutic or comforting, you have to use the appropriate language. I hope that this young man will never become a therapist, psychiatrist, or counsellor.
That being said, the whole issue has spread across numerous blogs and has got a little out of hand. Even the comments have crossed the line from being relevant debate and have entered into the territory of - dare I say it - flame wars. When you use pwned in a comment (done by both sides), you lose immediate credibility. I am sorry. “Pwned” is not a word. I hope that people will never, ever use it when trying to debate with someone.
Ultimately, the bottom line appears to be this. Tinglez wants more accountability from Imprint, and hopes they will use “grown up words”. Imprint supporters want the Opinion section to remain liberal and uncensored so that a writer can voice his opinion as he chooses to voice it.
The problem is, everyone seems to be fighting largely as if what was said is the issue, when the issue - as I understand it - is how it was said. And how you say something tends to make all the difference in the world.
I hope that everyone will realize that Imprint is the University of Waterloo newspaper. As a result, it is expected to maintain a level of professionalism. That is not to say that articles need to be censored. It means that the newspaper presents a face of the University of Waterloo populace. Students read Imprint. Faculty reads Imprint. The Associate Dean of Math reads Imprint. Try to show a little professionalism in your newspaper…because you never know who might be reading.