> Ocroner 12, 2005

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The Cadre — 550 Universit Charlottetown PE

THE CADRE © 2

But I digress...

Ray Keating Managing Editor *Ap-a-thy (p’-tha) n. 1. Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal;

2. Lack of emotion or feeling; impassiveness.

* www.dictionary.com

Kurt Cobain said, “My generation’s apathy. I’m disgusted with it. I’m disgusted with my own apathy too, for being spineless and not always standing up against racism, sexism and all those other - isms the counterculture has been whining about for years.”

I have been sitting here for a few minutes reading this quote and thinking about where I stand in its light. Have I been spineless and not stood up when I should have? To some degree we all have. There are a few things I am passionate about, but for the most part I have stayed on the sidelines and out of other issues.

I think the point I’d like to make here is that you can have passions and causes that you support, and you can be very active in a few things, but that’s not enough. We all know that there are not enough hours in the day to play an active role in everything, but what’s important is to figure out where we stand on things. I am not suggesting that everyone should hold the same point of view as I do. Your point of view may be diametrically opposed to mine. That’s fine. The important thing is not to be a “wishy-washy” person. :

This past week there was an election on campus. Overall voter

turnout was just over 15%. In my opinion that’s pathetic. Our biggest opportunity to speak our minds in any democracy comes at the voting booth. Sure, we can make noise and write blogs and share our opinions with anyone who’ ll listen, but if we don’t get out and vote when it counts we might as well not say anything at all. If you don’t vote, you have essentially given up your right to complain. If you don’t care enough to do something about a situation when it counts, why should anyone listen to you any other time? - Next month, there will be a plebiscite on a proposed new system of voting for Islanders. How many of us students will actually go out and vote on that issue? Ill be there. This is something I take very seriously; I have never failed in my civic duty to vote when called upon. Some of you reading this are at the point in your lives where you’ re in a position to vote for the first time. Take it seriously, make it count. Voting is just the start. Pick an issue... any one at all: legalization of marijuana? same sex marriage?

abortion? gun control? racism?... any |

of the other “—isms” that Kurt Cobain spoke about? Where do you stand on them? This is important... because if you don’t care, no one will.

This past week I saw signs on campus talking about the situation in Haiti. This is not something I am involved in, but I applaud whoever is leading the charge here for not just sitting there complaining about it. I also heard about anew umbrella organization for student activism shaping up on campus. They are proposing to pool resources and share tips and best practices. This is a

fantastic idea. They aren’t assembling a group of people who all think the same... but they do have one thing in common, they are passionate about their beliefs. As I said earlier, you needn’t get involved with every social action group out there, but if someone asks you, or the opportunity presents itself to share your opinion, it’s important that you actually have one. Who knows, your sharing may win someone else over to your way of

I think that Jimmy Buffett sums it up best when he says: “Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don’t know and I don’t care.”

if 1.2 million Canadians were murdered

would the worid community notice’?

Way don’t we notice 1.2 million

Tivetans’

Ae sftpel@gmall.com