Smoking Ban: Student government is utilizing propaganda
Written by Adam Desautel Tuesday, 27 October 2009 08:00
Student government has been handing out literature to faculty members of NDSU regarding the smoking ban to try and persuade them on how to vote.
Just like racist, communist, terrorist, or totalitarian organizations, student government has now joined the propaganda distribution club.
The information they are pushing on teachers is nothing short of political spin, lies, and fluffy descriptive words and phrases.
Like this sentence: “The turnout of 3,872 set a historical record for student body elections, far surpassing even past elections for elected student leaders.”
Any idea why that is? Don’t worry if you don’t, because I’m going to tell you.
It’s because nobody cares about “elections for elected student leaders.” The only people who care about student government are people who are in student government, and they don’t count.
They are comparing their unscientific online poll they conducted to other unscientific polls that were about things that people probably didn’t know about, and wouldn’t have cared about even if they did.
The very next sentence is even worse on the yellow journalism scale. “This overwhelming display of student interest proved to the campus the seriousness of the issue and the definite call for a change.”
The facts: 3,872 students voted at all, 2,408 supported the smoking ban, and 1,465 opposed it, out of a total of around 13,000. A little less than 20 percent is not an “overwhelming display of student interest,” and I don’t consider that to be sufficient cause for removing civil rights for the other 80 percent of the student body.
This is like the House of Representatives producing an advertising campaign to try to convince the Senate on how they should vote. Only that analogy doesn’t really work, because comparing student government to politicians is an insult to politicians.
Barely anyone knows what student government’s actual function is, and I’m not even sure they exist.
The pamphlet goes on to talk about secondhand smoke. Want some examples of things it doesn’t say?
Secondhand smoke only hurts people indoors. We already ban smoking 50 feet from any building, so to make the argument that since this isn’t enforced enough, we need to ban smoking altogether, is like saying that if too many people are speeding, we should just ban the use of cars.
Scientists estimate Fargo to be windier than the planet Jupiter, and you’re worried about outdoor secondhand smoke? If it’s not about that, then I don’t understand the issue. Actually I do; that was rhetorical.
I think this is Student Government’s “pet project,” something they’re pushing to get passed so they can put something meaningful on their resume to say, “Oh look at me! I was involved in banning the use of tobacco at NDSU!”
I think they’re afraid of this whole thing failing, because then they won’t be able to tout it loudly on their soapbox as an accomplishment to whatever employers actually care that someone was in student government.
I think they want to be able to point to this as something that they did that mattered, whether it’s moral or immoral, conducted fairly or not.
Want to hear the other side of the argument? Check it out here.
Comments
IF they had good arguments, I would eagerly listen. I'm concerned with my own health, and if I thought I was being harmed by the relatively few smokers on campus, I would want change too. I have seen nothing that makes me think I'm danger.
This is a way to single out a certain group, smokers, and make them unwelcome without offering good evidence that the university should do so.
And yes smoking outdoors is extremely harmful.. just do a quick search on it. Heck, even our country's expert the Surgeon General states it is.
Smokers dont give a crap about anyone but themselves.
This is just an observation.
The reason we did not say "Secondhand smoke only hurts people indoors" in the brochures is that, unlike the Spectrum, we only put down things that have some sort factual basis.
I'm assuming nobody will come to Student Government to ask for funds for the Spectrum/BOSP this spring since approving funds is a function, and Student Government has no function.
People cannot voluntarily decide not to vote about something they didn't know was up for a vote. That's not voluntarily not voting, that's just inadequately informing the students that there is an issue to vote on.
But nice threats; that made you look good.
That comment was not as threat, I was merely trying to make a point that, contrary to what this article says, SG does serve a function, it approves the funds for the Spectrum/BOSP. I will not vote to cut BOSP's budget just because of this article.
Also, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure listserve messages were sent out, and email NDSU's primary mode of communication. That means you are responsible for any results of not knowing what was sent.
If you, an active member of the student government and body, cannot even explain how the students would have known about the vote, how can you think it's reasonable to say "students are responsible for the stuff they don't know about." You can't even tell us how we would have known!
If you didnt know about the ban/vote on it you were either hiding under a rock or didnt give a crap. 'Nuff said
So what might have been plenty for you, it turns out, was not plenty enough for all of the students. So maybe you live under a rock, the one with all the fliers and a listserv email?
No, that's shoddy logic. I won't be that base. You probably don't live under a rock.
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