Editorial Staff - The Auburn Plainsman

News

An ode to Spongebob from The Plainsman: What Spongebob has taught us

By Editorial Staff | October 19

For many, childhood can be defined by Lunchables, Beanie Babies and rectangular pizza. But, those whose parents didn't mind questionable humor, sat down on vibrant-leather beanbags and unbearable uncomfortable plastic princess and superhero chairs to watch a little yellow character live his life under the deep blue sea. Spongebob Squarepants and his crew have been making us laugh since 1999.

Opinion

OUR VIEW: Chizik and Company Give Hope for Future

By Editorial Staff | December 3

'Midst the frozen, corn-filled wastelands of Iowa, a man was charged with a series of Herculean tasks:Bring new life to a team desperate to return to what it once was.Find an offense capable of putting points on the board.Step into a void left by a coach beloved by many.Repair a fractured, confused Auburn family and give them hope for a renewed future.

News

OUR VIEW: Alabama's Got to Know When to Hold 'Em, Fold 'Em

By Editorial Staff | December 3

With the Governor's latest railings against the video slot machine racket and Ron Sparks' borrowing of the Don Seigelman playbook for yet another education lottery program, the gambling debate has returned to Alabama once again.Gambling already exists in this state.Victoryland and Wind Creek Casino are becoming tourist destinations, and you can't throw a stone in Walker County without hitting a few slot machines.Finally throwing open the floodgates of gambling legalization could add much-needed funds to state education coffers and bring regulation and the rule of law to an industry in need of reining in.Part of us want to live in a state with legalized gaming and a state lottery.

Opinion

Our View: Drug Testing in Fraternity Houses Becoming Norm?

By Editorial Staff | November 19

The young men of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity could be seen as a controlled group study for a policy that could soon affect almost every Greek organization on campus.Since last month, the officers, pledges and brothers of SAE who live in the SAE house have been drug tested.No members have tested positive thus far, and the penalties for having drugs in their system are severe, ranging from housing expulsion to being removed from the fraternity.We applaud the actions being taken to try and help clean up an aspect of college life that is largely swept under the rug: drug abuse.By testing its members, SAE is taking the lead and being proactive in trying to end that problem.The fraternity has the added benefit of trying to clean up its alleged less-than-stellar reputation on such matters, so it's a win-win situation.The idea for the testing came from SAE's adviser and are mandated by the independent company that owns the fraternity's residence, not the University.We hope other Greek organizations will take note of what SAE is doing and soon follow suit.By holding members accountable for their actions, Auburn's Greek life is bound to improve, as fewer members will be out in the community at large serving as public embarrassments.After all, because of the close-knit nature of the Greek community, when one student is seen as a public embarrassment, all other Greeks tend to get painted with the same brush.In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to worry about such things, but in the world we live in, public perception and opinion changes on a daily basis, and members seen in the community as drug users and abusers could certainly hurt recruitment numbers and organizations' pocketbooks.Since the Greek organizations seem to exist as a class of students set apart from the general population and since, as a group, those organizations receive special perks and privileges like block seating at football games, we think it is perfectly fair to demand members of those groups should be held to a higher standard.If the Greek organizations see themselves as leaders on Auburn's campus (and considering many of our campus leaders are Greeks), they should challenge themselves to be held to high standards.By raising the bar, you'll be assuring the men and women who represent your organizations are on the up and up.And that's a good thing.

News

Our View: Insurance Benefits Must Be Extended to Same-sex Couples

By Editorial Staff | November 19

When we heard the Universities of Alabama at Birmingham and Huntsville were extending insurance benefits to homosexual members of their faculties, we became excited and filled with hope.Finally, we are beginning to see equal recognition of same-sex couples even here in Alabama, the buckle of the Bible Belt.Sadly, we live in a state where colleges and universities have to take initiative on issues like this, as we all know full well the state of Alabama would not likely endorse such policies if left to its own devices.In fact, UAB and UAH are among the only universities within the state that offer such benefits.The main campus of the University of Alabama is currently studying adopting such a policy.Auburn, on the other hand, appears to be happy to stand pat on this particular issue, as it does not seem to be a priority concern to the powers that be here.Are we actually letting Alabama get ahead of us on something?

Opinion

OUR VIEW: Alabama PACT Payments Must Continue to be Paid Out

By Editorial Staff | November 12

Well, we got trouble, friends, trouble right here in Alabama.If you've read a newspaper or watched the local news, you should be aware of the current $345 million deficit faced by the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) account system.

News

OUR VIEW: Cable Company Competition Could Comfort Citizen Concerns

By Editorial Staff | November 12

Charter's malevolent monopoly o'er The Plains could soon be coming to an end.Recent events in both Auburn and Opelika, as well as news from the financial sector, may help to finally bring down the cable kingpin and end its tyrannical oppression.The city of Auburn granted Knology a non-exclusive cable franchise Nov.

Opinion

Our View: Is Auburn Failing on Sexual Health Issues?

By Editorial Staff | November 5

We always look forward to receiving our annual package in the mail from Trojan, and not just for the free condoms.Included with a sampling of the company's products is the annual Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, a ranking system comprised of 13 different categories including sections on HIV Testing and Separate Sexual Awareness Programs as well as a Student Survey Portion.Auburn's ranking on the report card was a 2.14 GPA, putting us at 119 out of 141 colleges and universities.To make matters worse, the University of Alabama was No.

News

Our View: State Becoming More Open and Accessible on School Spending

By Editorial Staff | November 5

Throughout most of Alabama's history, the state has not been known as a bastion of truth and openness with regards to governmental actions and spending.The smoke-filled back room deals and spoils system have always plagued Alabama and still continue to be a problem even as we move into the 21st Century.When we hear Montgomery start to throw around words like "openness" and "accountability," we can't help but chuckle a bit.Can we really trust these folks?Honestly, we're starting to see more reasons to believe we can.There have been great strides made to try to reform the two-year college system and how lawmakers can interact with that system.With Governor Riley's new measures involving pass-through pork now being implemented, Alabama is finally starting to make its way into the light.Schools in Alabama have to fight for every cent they get from Montgomery, so legislators using their influence to steer education money to other venues should be seen as reprehensible.If our lawmakers are trying to do this, they should be called out and made to defend their actions and motives in the public sphere.Auburn is a land grant institution.This means the taxpayers in this state actually pay a large portion of the bills that go to make this campus the great university it is.Our tuition payments only cover a small portion of this university's costs, and Alabama's taxpayers certainly deserve to know how their money is being used.Especially in these difficult economic times, Auburn and other universities will need whatever they can get to help make up shortfalls and rising costs.We're entering some dark times for Alabama education, as we find new ways to increase the tax revenues funding our educational system.We can all agree pork barrel projects aren't going to help get us a better education.We applaud the governor's office for taking the lead on this issue and wish them well in hunting out corruption.Truthfully, this is a small step for Alabama, but it makes us hopeful for an Alabama that may one day come.

Opinion

Our View: Celebrate Gay Pride Week and Stop Second-Class Citizenship

By Editorial Staff | October 29

We'd like to begin by congratulating the Auburn Gay-Straight Alliance on a successful first-ever Pride Week here on The Plains.We hope this is the start of a long standing tradition to help highlight the issues and problems facing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and will help to bring more knowledge and good will to this campus.