2005-03-24 | Come out and play

Originally published by The University Register: Campus newspaper of the University of Minnesota, Morris

Thursday, March 24, 2005 - Volume 17, Issue 20

daniel j moore

Guest Editorialist

We all remember the days of our childhood when we got excited about a great new game we could play in the yard or on the playground, and I'm willing to bet that we were pretty disappointed if Johnny or Suzy couldn't come out and partake in our great new game. Not only could we not share our new game with them, but we also didn't get to bounce ideas off our friends that could make the game even better.

As UMM students we have at our disposal a great ball field on which we can play these games and ideas. When compared to other institutions, UMM has an incredible number of opportunities for students to make decisions for the campus and to be represented within University governance.

But we also have a responsibility to take advantage of these opportunities. Our campus is about to enter a period of critical decision-making. In the next couple of weeks the student body will choose our leadership for the next year. The Morris Campus Student Association, Consultative Committee, All-University Senate, Campus Assembly, and the Activity Fee Review Committee will all be seeking students who have ideas about how to bring about positive change on our campus in order to break away from the competition and secure UMM's reputation as America's best public liberal arts college.

In order to do this, you have to come out and play. Every student has some idea about what they would like to see change on our campus, and many of us feel that we cannot be satisfied here unless something is done. Well, here's your chance. We are fortunate to have so many opportunities to affect change in our environment, and we all owe it to ourselves and to our fellow students to participate.

With that being said, I'd like to leave you today with a story about all that is possible, if only Johnny or Suzy could come out to play.

Former US President John F. Kennedy received endless advice and criticism from the media concerning how he should run the country. Much of it he took good-naturedly. In fact, he often used a favorite story in response to the media's comments about how they thought he could do a better job.

He told about a legendary baseball player who always played flawlessly. He consistently hit when at bat, and was never thrown out at first. When on base he never failed to score. As a fielder, he never dropped a ball and he threw with unerring accuracy. He ran swiftly and played gracefully.

In fact, he would have been one of the all-time greats except for one thing - no one could ever persuade him to put down his beer and hotdog and come out of the press box to play!

And so, as the time comes to determine our campus leadership and their impact on our entire campus, I personally invite each of you to examine what you'd like to do for this campus and then step out of your box and come play!

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[Author's Note, 2012] The UR had a habit of taking longer, more thought provoking letters to the editor and calling them 'guest editorials.' That said, this was not solicited by the paper, just submitted by me the week before the petitions of reason were due for the 2005-2006 student government. At the time I wrote this, the four primary offices of the student government had only two hats in the ring. I wasn't keen on the idea of folks being elected without contest, so I wrote this hoping it might motivate a few folks on campus to quit opining and start leading. (Incidentally, as was always the case, the UR's editors took their own liberties when titling submissions. Come Out and Play was the intended title when I wrote in.)