Disturbed over coverage

I have to say that I am very disturbed and annoyed at the Technician‘s lack of coverage and willingness to do independent research on current world and nation events. At present, I find the Technician to otherwise be a good source of information about the campus and the surrounding area. However, it does not present enough of the broader issues facing the nation and its citizens (of which most N.C. State students comprise) that affect our lives on a daily basis.

Further, the Technician lacks a willingness to present more of a consensus argument with regard to some of the articles in the Viewpoint section of the paper. One particular example as of late is the unsigned editorial regarding the opinion of the homeless situation on Hillsborough Street. I find it appalling that the student newspaper advocates such a callous solution to a social problem on Hillsborough Street; the article proposed what I see as a direct assault on our civil liberties that permit us to travel without excessive paperwork. In a broader social perspective, such measures are essentially a criminalization of homelessness, economic shortcomings, and criminal labeling. Any safety issues should be addressed with a similarly open-minded approach: perhaps, if more students took advantage of existing safety programs, such as the Campus Escort vans, and considered the sort of precautions required when students travel with groups to other cities (the University Scholar’s Program and their fall and spring break trips come to mind) that advocate traveling in groups, leaving the iPods off while walking in dangerous areas, and promptly reporting suspicious behavior to the local authorities, the problem would lessen. The only good point this article makes is with regard to walking away from situations one wishes to avoid.

It is this lack of broad coverage and open-minded perspective that serves to annoy people such as myself and potentially prevent the majority of the student population from falling into overly rigid patterns of thought.

Paul McCauleySophomore, Nuclear Engineering/Sociology