I hate to be one who is constantly nagging; however Arthur has once again raised my ire. I am referencing the front cover of Issue 16; further I do have some conflict which I will acknowledge.
I contacted Arthur, past the submission deadline, seeking to have the front page to be a poster for the Student National Day of Action February 1. In my ideal Arthur, it would have said “reduce fees, drop debt, raise funding, increase access” in fancy Helvetica font.
I was told, in more or less words: “Too late to rearrange the front page. So sad.”
Here I find, on this Monday afternoon, that Arthur chose to use the front page not as tool of student organising but instead as a tool for a really bad, and in poor taste, joke about how seventeen people died, while referencing popular concepts about Arthur’s demise. Important to note, the joke in question was regarding the Costa Concordia, which hit a reef 17 days ago (date of when Arthur hit the streets), or in Arthur-time two Issues ago.
This is not the first issue, of this volume, where this type of humour is a central theme.
Arthur needs to stop the negative-self talk, figure out their role in the Trent community, and finally figure out if they are fulfilling said-role. At which point, I suppose, the negative criticism will drop or be centered around debates of perspectives and content, in other words: healthy debate.
Brea Hutchinson
