The Orbis

Imagine the possibility of a less conservative campus

Vanderbilt is a very different place than it was when I came here four years ago. I like to think the growing group of liberal and progressive people, including us here at Orbis, have had something to do with that.

The efforts of these passionate and inspiring people have made Vanderbilt a more accepting and open-minded campus, where students march against rape on Greek Row and where the drag show on Wilson Lawn is one of the most anticipated events of the year.

I am continuously amazed by the changes that have taken place in the past few years and by the strength and courage shown by the people working for those changes. However, as a cynical senior, I have a few suggestions for those of you that will still be here next year -- a wish list of sorts.

I wish the university administration would keep going with its efforts to make this campus a safer place for women. Funding Project Safe is a start, but I don't ever want to hear about another sexual assault at a frat party or another poster in Tolman.

I wish the Housing Office would realize that restricting student's living choices is not the way to promote diversity.

I wish students were more aware of the dangerous Gestapo tactics of our current president -- and what we can do to fight them.

I wish I didn't have to pay out the ass for washers and dryers that don't work so that I can have four more channels of HBO to help me procrastinate.I wish confidentiality were a bigger concern in the university's sexual assault policy and that a survivor could seek medical attention without her or his R.A., the director of housing, VUPD, the Metro police and the Office of Student Conduct being notified.

I wish the university would use my money to invest in some salt and snow shovels so students don't put their lives on the line walking to class when it snows, rather than painting Alumni Lawn green every year.

I wish the Student Health Center would be more sensitive to the needs of the students. Treating someone as morally depraved when they come in for STD testing, and then sending the itemized bill to that person's parents, is not only inappropriate and a violation of privacy, but discourages students from being tested at all, putting us all at risk.

I wish Vanderbilt paid its workers a living wage.

I wish that, after having a few drinks at a party, I didn't feel safer driving myself home than I do walking across campus.

I wish that the AcFee committee were more professional, consistent and open-minded in their allocation of funding.

I wish I could go more than a week without hearing someone's smart-ass comment about how Vanderbilt needs a "Men's Center" or a "Men's Studies Department." It's called every other segment of society, jackass.

I wish there were a channel that played "I Love the '80s" on a continuous loop.I wish the university alcohol policy didn't punish the Greek system by implementing "risk management" requirements that won't make a damn bit of difference. And you know what? I think beer should be sold in the Munchi Marts, too, so that beer runs don't require already drunk people to stumble across West End to Eckerd.

I wish I didn't always have to park between two big-ass SUVs that not only crowd the lines on both sides so I can't get out of my car, but also drive everyone's gas prices up and will probably make it impossible for me to take a deep breath when I'm 30. I wish that I had four more years to help make change and meet more of the most amazing people I have ever known.

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