Conservative Student News

Criminals are cowards. They prowl about in the dead of the night vandalizing, robbing, murdering – whatever their trade. They hide in the bushes. They disguise their voices. Criminals are afraid. They are afraid of the truth and afraid of being caught for taking the easy way out. The individuals who stole and vandalized numerous copies of the St. Thomas Standard at the end of December are no exception.

The second issue of the St. Thomas Standard came out on Friday, Dec. 12 – the last day of classes for the 2003 fall semester. However, don’t be surprised if you never saw it – your copy was probably lying torn up in a recycling bin before you even had a chance to grab it.

The University of St. Thomas is a diverse community that is comprised of individuals of a wide range of political and ideological beliefs. My experience at St. Thomas tells me that most students on this campus have the ability to set aside their world views and respectfully listen to those of their neighbor. The University itself promotes such diversity of ideas in its mission statement, which partially states: “We strive to create a vibrant diverse community in which, together, we work for a more just and inclusive society.” Unfortunately, however, there are almost always a few bad apples in every barrel.

Evidently, there are at least a few students on this campus who are violently opposed to tolerating diverse viewpoints. One such individual or group of individuals felt so threatened by the ideas presented in St. Thomas Standard that they took it upon themselves to vandalize and discard the second issue of the Paper before many students had a chance to read it.

Within two days after the second copy of the St. Thomas Standard was distributed, one of the St. Thomas janitors informed me that he had found a large pile of about 70 issues in the newspaper recycling bin at Campus Recycling in the Physical Plant building. I asked him if this discard could have been the result of an innocent mistake made by a custodial worker cleaning the area where the St. Thomas Standard had been placed. The janitor told me that this was a possibility, but highly unlikely because the St. Thomas janitors are generally quite careful to avoid discarding circulated material unless it is obviously a form of pure advertising.

Furthermore, on the same day that he found this large pile, this same janitor found a smaller pile of about 30 copies of the St. Thomas Standard in the newspaper recycling bin located on the 6th floor of Morrison Hall. Although many of the papers had been torn in half by the vandal(s), several others remained intact.

Just to see what would happen this janitor placed about a dozen of the unharmed copies in the skyway between Morrison and Koch Commons – a location where the Paper is normally placed for distribution. Apparently the vandal was so worried that students might read the second issue of the St. Thomas Standard that he or she took a half-dozen issues from this pile in half and discarded them in the 6th floor recycling bin in Morrison once more. Half-dazed with a rage by the thought of diverse ideas spreading throughout campus, the criminal(s) forgot to cover their tracks.

I realized that, whoever these perpetrators are, they have no tolerance for diversity. They are obviously narrow-minded individuals who think that they can stifle debate and discussion of important topics on campus by stuffing a few newspapers in a trash dispenser.

Well, good luck to them in their endeavor. Cowards that they are, it is highly improbable that they will conquer the world by hiding behind a recycling bin. The St. Thomas Standard will keep on publishing as usual. The Paper will continue to offer the St. Thomas community the same opinionated, high quality, thought provoking pieces.

In the end, tolerance and diversity will stand victorious.