Friday, August 12, 2005
Getting to know me, your columnist.
I have a burgeoning dilemma that assuredly plenty of readers can relate to: I want to specialize in everything.
The more stimulating books I read, the more compelling classes I take, the more friends I add to my eclectic circle, the more theoretical frameworks I become familiar with, the greater my difficulty in deciding— well, anything.
I continue to accrue more interests, majors, opinions, travel plans, and sentence length; most of which have a regrettably positive correlation to my student loan debts.
I approached this column with an eagerness to jot down my numerous thoughts, but my dilemma quickly surfaced in the form of writer’s block. This impediment manifested before beginning to write the column itself. I figured choosing an applicable title would help in my struggle to find a suitable focus.
“Musings of a Muckraker,” I mulled over. “No, that would limit me only to muckraking.”
“Perspicacious Perceptions of a Progressive Polemic,” I pondered. The name allows a broad array of subject matters, but my editor fittingly denied my suggestion on the grounds that it would not attract readers.
The names only got worse. I once again gave in to my penchant for alliteration and briefly considered “Seditious Sentiments”. Now, I may have concerns over the inequalities of the current system, but I entertain no delusions of grandeur that my little Kansan column will foment revolution. However, just to be safe, I think we should run a disclaimer: Sarah Stacy is not responsible for any treason as a result of her column.
Primarily, I desire to bring attention to issues that need intelligent discourse on campus. I want to assail the practices and thoughts that are so deeply ingrained in our society that many people forget to reflect upon them. To be specific, I want to focus in on what cynics might call an oxymoron: American culture.
To be less ethnocentric and to exhibit fairness to the other countries of the Western Hemisphere, I settled on United-Statesian culture.
And before you could say “Perspicacious Perceptions of a Progressive Polemic,” Presto! I thought of a name for my column: Culture Shock.
I will bestow my views on topics ranging from sports to religion, mass consumerism to my travel experiences, politics to reality TV, and gender relations to local attitudes.
I intend for my writing to be anything but banal. I will include my own personal pizzazz in my pieces to amuse, provoke, and captivate you. Dissimilar to a textbook that takes an enthralling subject, such as philosophy, and makes it utterly drab, I think learning should be filled with enthusiasm (I am a nerd, I embrace it). I will inject (my attempted) humor, presuming that my meticulous word choices will not be carelessly butchered in editing.
As I do not always float with the currents of the mainstream, my ideas will not be popular at times, and I encourage my readers to write letters to the editor to present a different way to look at an issue or add to my argument. However, I request that all disagreements remain civil and enlightening. My aim is to identify and examine perceived irrationality or injustices in our culture and then provide a voice of reason.
I think this experience will allow me to discard or alter some of my beliefs while influencing the beliefs of others.
With this introduction out of the way, expect less future tense in the future, and the addition of a topical focal point. So the journey begins.
Stacy is a Germantown, Md. senior in international studies, political science and Spanish.
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