A Column from Gus

As I enter my second year here at Yeshiva University, people have begun to notice that I work for The Commentator. To me personally, this means giving up one night of sleep every two weeks to put together a colossal product for the student body. I am, however, learning that there may be more to my position than I had originally calculated. Recently, a bunch of my fellow students have been approaching me with their observations on life, and more importantly, on the school, with the expectation that I can do something to positively express across their astute findings.

As I started to become a collection agency for students thoughts, I began to think to myself : "Am I a voice for the people? I don't believe that this was in my job description. I am not a voted member of student council; I am merely the layout editor for the school's sometimes bi-weekly newspaper. Surely there is another voice that the people should go to." As I came to this realization, I began to refer my friends, new and old, to the appropriate members of the student council, the appropriate club members, and the appropriate administration members to hound them mercilessly and make their opinions known. I also encouraged my peers to send letters to the editor in an attempt to allow the students to effectively say their piece. It seemed to be an efficient plan, but for some unexplainable reason, it simply has not been that incredibly effective.

So I went back into a state of rumination, and then suddenly it hit me (like my roommate when I don't wake up to my own blasting alarm in the morning). "Maybe I can be a little more than a referral service for the students. After all, I have not been taking any sort of percentage on my referrals, (to this moment I am not sure why), so as long as I am working for free, maybe I should attempt to be slightly more productive."

Now, I still understand that I am not an elected student representative; I have not worked my way up to an editorship of this paper; and I am not even a president of one of the school's numerous (some may say too numerous) clubs, but maybe I can do something. And its effectiveness is totally up to you, my fellow students.

So here is my idea: I am going to sit outside. Yes, outside. I will not sit there permanently like some (see dictionary under 'facilities management'), but I will occasionally sit in the newly and constantly refurbished pedestrian mall.

"How will this help?" you ask. That's a very good question. Well, I am not quite sure that it will. I intend to sit outside in the afternoons (unless it rains-as it is beginning to get a wee bit nippy for my blood) with a poster that says: GRIPE TO GUS. (My friends call me Gus, and now you can too.) While I am sitting outside, it will be as if I am conducting open office hours. Here you can talk to me (Gus) and sound off about the good or bad aspects of the school, hopefully with some sort of hypothesized plan on how to properly thank those who have done well, or aid those that might be in need a good suggestion.

I know that this may totally flop, as many sociological experiments do. This is a good possibility, but hopefully I can get a couple of valid observations a week. My intent is to write about them here in The Commentator. All this will be in an attempt to help your voice become an active one on this campus. Whether you are already an active voice, you would like to become an active voice, or simply want to remain another student in the crowd; I want to hear from you. Come sit and talk with me in our lovely, but frequently underused (at least by us) pedestrian mall. If you would like, you can try to set me up with the beautiful, smart and witty girl of your choice, or you can even bring me food or money like the others that take to sitting outside on a regular basis.

Let me help you get your voice across. I will do all that I possibly can to aid you. I will use your names, or allow you to remain anonymous, or simply dismiss your observation altogether. Hopefully, I can even spawn some responses to your thoughts by guest columnists. If not, you can see that I am bored and will do almost anything for a little attention. Yes, it is an experiment, but in any event, it should be a great deal of fun. I look forward to speaking with as many of you as possible. Who knows, it may be a little risky, but it just might work!

Gripe to Gus online! Send email to gus@yucommentator.com.