Associated Student Government is like an old, toothless dog that keeps yapping. Even though it’s been a best friend a long time, you just want to take it out into the backyard and put it out of its misery.
Last week, a battle was waged in The Daily’s Forum section. In response to an Oct. 1 editorial criticizing ASG President Jordan Heinz’s failure to put on the first wet tailgate of the year and asserting that senators drank at their annual retreat, ASG senators flooded Forum with letters attacking The Daily’s position. Heinz and Senate Speaker Bassel Korkor also wrote a guest column, which spent one paragraph denying the allegations and 11 paragraphs personally attacking Daily Editor in Chief Casey Newton and The Daily editorial board.
As a former Daily reporter and a Medill student, I am insulted by ASG’s unfounded attack on journalistic standards about which they know nothing. The ASG column did not explain why the tailgate was canceled. The Daily had quotes taken from interviews with administrators. ASG should be calling them liars, not The Daily’s editors.
The Daily bases its editorials on reporter interviews and research, not on personal attacks. It forms an opinion based on factual information. You see, an editorial is an opinion, not a statement of fact. That’s why it’s in Forum and not on the front page.
The letter also stated: “We do not expect The Daily to know everything about how ASG works for tailgates, what a senator learns about at a Senate retreat, or anything else really.”
Well, guess what? The Daily may not know, but I do. I was The Daily’s ASG reporter, a senator for the Polish Club, and a member of the committee Heinz headed when he was executive vice president, before he became president. I went on a Senate retreat, too. I’m an insider, so here’s the dirt:
Heinz had nothing to do with tailgates as executive vice president. He worked with student groups, taking care of meeting space, multimedia resources and permission to bring Doritos into Norris University Center. Wet tailgates were former President Adam Humann’s baby, not Heinz’s. The nearly completed project fell into his lap from his predecessor. Too bad he was incompetent enough to blow it.
As for Senate retreats, maybe there was no alcohol this year, but there sure as hell was last year. I still remember having to jump across a pile of puke in the main cabin after a peaceful night’s rest in bunk beds on rubber sheets. And then there are the infamous Rock’n’Bowl trips. I may have been an underage senator back then, but I was downing amaretto sours and Miller Lites with everyone else (I have photographic evidence). Small wonder, then, that The Daily assumed alcohol would be present at the retreat. It seemed like an ASG tradition.
Am I bitter senator who lost an election last year? Yes, yes I am. But I’m also a journalist who reports the truth and what he sees.
Is Heinz a bad politician for not fulfilling his campaign promise? Perhaps, although students are busy with other things, like attending classes, studying and getting wasted at frat parties. But don’t make promises you can’t keep. You broke your promise, Heinz, and then scolded The Daily for pointedly addressing your blunder.
So stop yapping already, and do something useful for students, such as taking us off the ridiculous meal plans or getting rid of those library printing fees. The Daily has been providing accurate information to students since 1881. Heinz can pour it on thick, but I prefer it on my hamburger.
