The last few weeks have been full of fascinating news. Pakistani teen Malala Yousafazi, who is a strong contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, is being threatened by the Taliban if she continues to work on exposing the plight of schoolgirls in Pakistan. The United States is halting military aid to Egypt following the July coup against President Mohamed Morsy. And, in the wake of the federal government shutdown, the Community Violence Intervention Center (CVIC) here in Grand Forks might be shutting down.

But rather than focusing on how these issues affect us as young adults, the conversation on campus these last few weeks has centered around a column in the Dakota Student about “partying exceptionally.” I believe that the Dakota Student and its staff have the freedom to write about whatever topics they deem to be relevant to students at UND. I also believe that readers of the Dakota Student have the right to disagree with what is printed in the paper. I do not believe, however, that a column about something so commonplace here at UND should be dominating the conversation on campus.

This weekend is Homecoming Weekend, and I’m sure there will be students who “party exceptionally” and students who go to church. Maybe some will be the same students. But is this really the issue on which we should be focusing? Why don’t we talk about what makes UND great what makes our alumni great, and what makes the current student body great? Why don’t we talk about local, national, and global issues that significantly impact us?

Maybe if we spent less time learning how to party, debating if we should party, and defending — our partying — (or not partying) our world would be a better place. Maybe students would be more informed about the issues that truly matter. Maybe we would have more to celebrate and less to criticize. Maybe we would gain new perspective, become more accepting of others’ views, and learn to work together to truly improve our campus, community, nation and world.

Jennifer Vetter

human resource 

management major