I am an Ole and I have opinions to share

Sex. Violence. Choir music. These are all subjects we are unafraid to talk about here at St. Olaf. Yet, there are other taboo subjects lurking in the underbelly of the St. Olaf campus. Some of us are too afraid to mention the topics, let alone write about them in the Manitou Messenger or the BORSC report. I am an Ole and I have an opinion on alcohol and diversity.

Like any Ole, when I hear someone has a 24-pack of "Natty Light" (a colloquial term for the Anheuser-Busch beer Natural Light), I instinctively quiver with excitement. Maybe this will be a time when we can begin to talk about St. Olaf's alcohol policy! Many people may not know this, but St. Olaf has a strict alcohol policy: it is not to be consumed or stored anywhere on campus.

I, unlike many of my peers, have an opinion on the matter. Despite the lack of dialogue about the "dry campus," I have formed a well-constructed and balanced opinion on the alcohol policy throughout my three years here at Olaf. Students do not talk enough about alcohol.

Where are the forums? Where are the panels? Where are the dinner discussions on the alcohol policy? Are we all too satisfied with our modestly priced education that we refuse to cause a stir? I am an Ole and I want to talk.

This is not the only topic on campus I want to talk about. Within the last 10 years there have been changes on campus: growing economic, religious and ethnic diversity. Isn't anyone curious about these remarkable transformations? I am upset by the lack of discussion about diversity on campus. Why is it we can have a comment board outside Stav Hall, yet there are no places for me to write about my thoughts?

Why can't all students participate in a dialogue about the alcohol poisoning on campus or the difference between microbrews? Is there anyone willing to put up a poster about increasing diversity on campus? Or is this silence on the alcohol policy or multicultural issues complacency? I am an Ole, I have an opinion and I want to talk.

Julia Aaker ‘11 (aakerj@stolaf.edu) is from Teaneck, N.J. She majors in English and sociology/anthropology with a concentration in navel gazing. 

"Editor's note: this article appeared in the April 30, 2010 satire issue of the Messenger."