You Know You're at Southeastern When... (or, "Don't Make Me Angry. You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry".)

OH MY GOSH!!! I am so freaking excited, I can hardly stand it. Ok, so far we have Stef and Steph, Amy B., Jamie, and I'm not even sure who else. Mamy will be in Ardmore Saturday night, but I'll see her (and Junior) before I leave. I'M SO EXCITED!!

As excited as I am, I'm also fighting a melancholy heart, too. This will be the first time I've been down there since Lauren's been gone. Last night, Jamie told me this hysterical story about Randy and I laughed til I cried. Then, completely out of the blue, I really did start crying. I realized that the last time I'd laughed like that was with Lauren. Moreover, I haven't laughed like that at all since she's been gone. When Jamie told me the story, it was like a reminder that she really has been gone -- and so has my laughter. So, this weekend will be bittersweet. I can't wait to see the girls, but I'm not looking forward to enduring Durant without Lauren. Durant is where I know her; the school, the field, the rec. I just don't know what it will be like without her there, too.


(Drastic subject change...)
So, Jamie tells me that the cheerleaders practice in the rec the same time as the guard. And they practice their cheers every day, too. As a result, the guard can't hear Jamie's instruction and they can't even hear the music. (Gawh, this frustrates me SO MUCH! I can hardly even keep my thoughts straight long enough to write about the whole stupid thing.) So she goes to Mr. Christy to inform him there seems to be a bit of a problem. And you know what his response is?! "The cheerleaders have priority. It's their facility before it is the guard's." OK! AND?! How exactly is that supposed to problem solve in this particular situation? I don't think she was asking who has more "right" to the rec, nor was she determining whether or not they must share the facility. Talk about not addressing the issue. (Now, now, now, guys...Yawnt, yawnt, yawnt...)

OK, just to sum up, let's review:

1. The SOSU Color Guard has consistently been a top-performing section of the largest spirit organization on campus.

2. The SOSU Color Guard has consistently retained students for the university.

3. The SOSU Color Guard has maintained the same practice schedule for a number of years, without fail.

4. The SOSU Color Guard has never once (to my knowledge) received a single complaint about their treatment of any campus facility used for practice, i.e, Morrison, the gym, the choral room, or the rec.

Now, the issue in question has nothing to do with whether the cheerleaders should get the rec or the color guard. Everyone knows I am HUGELY in favor of supportive cooperation between ALL on-campus spirit organizations, especially those whose predominant membership is female. So, Jamie, being like-minded in the whole "let's work together" attitude, went to Charlie (head cheerleader, I'm guessing) and asked if there was any way they could practice their cheers a little bit softer so that (at least) the guard could hear the music. Jamie said that at the next practice, not only were the cheerleaders not any softer, but Charlie was yelling louder than everybody else!

Fine, obviously a compromise between the two organizations without outside help is simply out of the question. Fine. Moving on...

Point: The members of the SOSU color guard PAID MONEY to take this class. It is my opinion they are NOT able to receive quality instruction due to the conflict with practice facility scheduling. The university has a responsibility to the students in this class and should either, A. provide adequate practice facilities for all students, or B. DON'T OFFER THE CLASS! If the university and it's faculty/staff are not prepared to make the necessary arrangements to support the very students who support them, then get rid of the class. It is unacceptable to offer a class for which the supervising facutly knows there will be no chance of providing a rewarding educational experience. This is UNACCEPTABLE.

(And can I just mention that the color guard was still using the rec at the exact same scheduled time as always, even when SOSU was without a cheerleading squad! So, I'm not going to debate who has "official" priority in the rec, but, isn't it safe to say that they figuratively "lost their place in line"? Oh, and...Charlie has already made it abundantly clear to Jamie that as soon as the new gym is ready, the cheerleaders will be practicing in there. But, I'll need to stop right there with that one before I get myself on another tangent about respecting the work ethics and talents of ALL student athletes and performers.)

SOLUTION? GET THESE GIRLS A PLACE TO PRACTICE!! Would any other campus organizations be expected to co-habitate in one "classroom" at the same time? Would the football team and marching band be expected to practice on the same field at the same time? Would the French department and Spanish department be expected to share a language lab at the same time? Would this happen on a regular basis with any other student groups? NO! I'm not saying we deserve any better treatment than any other group on campus...But I certainly will say we DO NOT deserve any worse. These girls put in upwards of 25+ hours per week in practice and time committments. And while they are awarded a scholarship, it in NO WAY pays for itself, hours vs. scholarship dollars. They pay tuition and paid for this class. Take care of them!

I advised Jamie to go back to Mr. Christy and revise her statement. Make sure he understands the real issue and is given possible solutions that she thinks are reasonable. If he will not help, go to someone else who will: Dr. Miles, Liz McGraw, VP Barrish, Miss Camille, SOMEBODY! And if she manages to go through every possible contact and still can't get anywhere (which, of course, will not require any huge time committments on her part, or anything like that -- since she has all the time in the world to be screwing around with this), then walk. Yank the whole program, or at least remove yourself from the situation. Yes, I understand that is a drastic and unwanted outcome. However, if the circumstances do not improve, which would be worse? Quitting or living with the crap?

Ok...I've had my tangent for the day. I believe my feelings about this situation are now quite obvious. It's just really hard to listen to everything that's going on down there and be completely helpless through it all. I mean, would all of this be happening to the girls if there was a sponsor? That's hard to say one way or the other. But, at least a sponsor would be able to shoulder the situation, and (ideally) have more clout that a student...and it would relieve Jamie from having to add this to everything else that is going on -- during this, her senior year.

Anyway...I am really excited about this weekend. We are going to have such a great time. I'll be sure and post pictures as soon as I can.

I LOVE YOU GIRLS!!

katy : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : )