By TINA IYER
Features Editor
 

This is clearly an issue that I as an editor for "The Bates Student" contend with every week, and it is difficult to recognize that in an editorial position I am accountable for some of the information and ideas that are givenent issue, but it seemed to me that these students and the events in the community were worthy of bigger press. In the past few weeks, both the "Lew ston Sun-Journal" and Channel 8 news have covered some of the issues, but I sug ested to Rachel Simons that the Associated Press (AP) in Portland be informed. Using my limited contacts, I had an AP staff writer in Boston speak with someone at the Portland bureau. My contact was able to speak with someone in Portland, who explained that no one would be able to be at the Thursday night forum, but that they would keep an eye on the Lewiston news and try to get in touch with Ms. Simons.

Ms. Simons, having a few minutes to spare, decided to take the initiative and contact the AP herself. She was told that the bureau was understaffed (a legitimate point for a lack of coverage) but also that the AP had bigger fish to fry.

Bigger fish to fry. Certainly important news happens in Maine all of the time; I do not deny this. But it seems to me that the problem of institutionalized homophobia and student activism to try to engender real and lasting change is not inconsequential.

Perhaps all of this does seem to be a minor incident to those outside of our bubble. Hell, perhaps it seems a minor incident to a great deal of the bubble itself (and this is clearly part of the problem). But social action isn't merely about trying to save one segment of any community, nor is it merely about self-preservation. Social action is about working for others, and working for a society that we are all in some a way a part of. This, in and of itself, deserves to be recognized. If homophobia is a problem at Bates, then it is a problem for Lewiston, for Maine, and for the outside world. If change can be made (and has been made) at Bates, than it can be done in the larger community. When Bates finally is able to institute a queer studies program will Bowdoin and Colby be much longer in following suit? Will it be news then?

Will the Associated Press ever be willing to recognize the big fish that is homophobia, that is the fight for queer rights? Or does it merely pass Bates by because this is a campus issue? Does the Associated Press understand that issues of concern to college students continue to be of concern once these students graduate and are members of the "real world"?

Perhaps Bates isn't big news because we are labeled and dismissed as too politically correct, and because Bates is known for not being on the forefront of progressive issues. Or perhaps it has nothing to do with Bates itself, but with college students who are melodramatic, overzealous, and whiny. So what happens when Bates isn't quiet anymore? What happens when students work together with organization and discipline to force the administration to listen and change? Is that still only a medium-sized fish?

Maybe it has been a long time since the days of radical action and protest on college campuses; in fact, maybe those days seem a worn-out cliche. Nonetheless, both in the United States and abroad, universities and colleges have historically been the instigators of a great deal of social change, and there is no reason to believe that this Bates fish isn't going to get bigger. These Bates students who care will go on into a greater society WHICH they will also be working hard to change; activism and concern do not dissipate after graduation. One way to keep people active and concerned and willing to be frustrated, upset, and angry enough to the point of wanting to change is to acknowledge their efforts and the results of these efforts.

Journalism is not and should not be about patting people on the back for their efforts. But it should concern itself with recognizing the efforts if they come to fruition and with recognizing that effort in itself is fruition ....

Bates College is going to institute a queer studies program because of student activism. That is a momentous change, given how rare such a program is nationwide. That sounds like a big fish to me.