Editor says: Intolerance is intolerable

Friday, September 12So…I’m sad that I missed the Gerta Weissman Klein visit. I got to the auditorium a few minutes after 11 with a can of beets in my hand, and I was told that the auditorium was full. I wasn’t allowed in. *Tear. But…I finished the book, All But My Life. It was awesome.Sunday, September 143:00 p.m.Listening to “Say” by John Mayer, I drove to school to visit the Writing Center. As I walked from the parking lot, I saw a copy of The Bridge thrown on the grass. Not cool. The sad thing was that a trash can was about five feet away…6:47 p.m.As I was putting this issue of The Bridge together, a thought kept popping into my head. What is it about us as human beings that feels comfortable with making assumptions about the unknown? In his interview with Bridge Staff Writer Mike Herrera IV, Student Government Senator-at-Large Matt Hall discussed feeling that international students were on the periphery of university life (see pg. 1). I thought to myself, “International students should feel welcomed here. What could be done to bridge the gap within the TAMIU community? Why do judgments prevent people from reaching out to others and accepting them?” I wondered. Bridge Staff Writer Cinthia Sierra wrote an article about the various complexities of interracial relationships (see pg. 13). Her personal experience in dealing with negative attitudes towards her relationship reminded me that intolerance is still alive and well. And with the passing of the 7th anniversary of 9/11, I remembered how after the attacks, a new patriotism arose across the nation; with it, a hidden hatred was allowed to flourish, leading to today’s global war. Speaking of hatred and war, I’m glad that Klein’s book has been implemented into the new University Seminar curriculum (see pg. 5). Becoming aware of intolerance and openly discussing and comfronting it is the first move toward seeing past our initial judgments about others. I don’t know if it’s nature, or culture, or how we’re brought up, but something in us creates a need to judge; it’s a human habit. Can we, for the better of student life, try to break that habit and accept-even embrace-differences in others?Monday, September 15Just finished the final touches on this issue. I’m excited! I hope you enjoy reading it. Now I’m off to LMT to drop it off for printing. Call, email, or stop by The Bridge office, and let me know what you think of the newspaper! Cheers!