Letter to the Editor: A call for passport system revisions
I would like to voice my disgust concerning the passport system at the Uganda panel in Wilson Hall during Uganda week. While the panelists were sharing their stories of what they had done to make peace in Uganda and even how they had been abducted and forced into child soldiery, JMU students behind me were whispering and giggling. They seemed like they couldn’t care less about the plight of Ugandan children. One might wonder why they were in attendance at all. They were there, it seems, only to get their passports stamped for class.
My disgust continued, however, after the second speaker finished talking when herds of students dove for the doors to get out. But, of course, before they would leave they had to get their passports stamped, causing even more commotion — and all of this while the people on stage were trying to speak. Throughout the entire night students decided that they had heard enough, and got up to leave in the middle of someone’s talk, whispering and digging through their backpacks and, of course, getting their passports stamped loudly on the way out.
What I witnessed during the panel was some of the rudest behavior I have ever seen. I was embarrassed to be a part of the JMU student body. Mostly I blame thoughtless students, but partially I blame the passport system. I propose, at least, that passports not be stamped until the end of an event.
The fact that this might upset a few students who will now be late for their tanning appointments is hopefully outweighed by the need for JMU students to be little bit classier, a little bit more thoughtful, and maybe a tiny bit more interested in the lives of someone besides themselves.
Amanda Glover
sophomore English major
