OPINION: Take action, be passionate, be involved
By David Gomez Jr.
Editor-in-Chief
Published Wednesday, March 16, 2022
My dog sleeps in her kennel, the breeze setting is set on the tower fan and a powered on 55-inch TV casts a glow in my room late at night. It airs Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations.” I sit in what yoga enthusiasts call “the easy pose” while typing away at my Macbook Pro.
That is all you need to know to understand where I may go with this opinion piece. Yes, I should probably be informing the student body, or the handful of people who read my column–I’ve seen the online views and it’s sad–that they should be more involved with the University.
Bourdain is eating street tacos and my mouth is watering now. Geez.
I have many issues regarding the ignorance that takes place on campus. It is not a political thing at all. In the three and a half years I’ve been here, so many students are dumbfounded upon finding any news regarding their tuition, fees, etc. To be honest, I don’t blame them.
There’s a commercial about joint pain. Do they really think the elderly are up at this hour watching this? Then again, the actor in it does not look old. She looks middle aged. I guess I can see a middle aged individual contemplating life choices while daydreaming they were Bourdain for a day instead of being stuck behind their counter, desk or grill.
For the longest time, I had no idea how a community runs. I still don’t think I do. I consider myself an ignorant person. I am currently an intern at “The Laredo Morning Times” and my experiences, running around the city and interviewing average Joes and civil servants, is showing me the cogs inside the machine that run like clockwork.
A Ghirardelli commercial runs while the show’s set in San Francisco. Birth of the Ghirardelli chocolate factory. That’s funny. If you didn’t know, now you do. Its headquarters lie in San Leandro.
Back to the point, and again to whomever may be reading this, I strongly think you should be involved at the University’s meetings. Join the Student Government Association. Ask what may be coming up soon. Heck, follow their Facebook or Instagram page.
Guy Fieri’s doing an ad for King’s Hawaiian bread. A SPAM COMMERCIAL! I want to go to Hawaii.
The point of all this simply comes down to me being selfish. So selfish that I would appreciate it if more students were involved in the Texas A&M International University community. Because honestly, it is a great way to start finding out about those gears in the machine. The machine that will go in one direction if it is not cared for. Don’t be surprised when things don’t go your way because public officials can’t read your mind.
Did ya know, Laredo’s voters barely turned up this past primary election? Since 2020, Webb County registered voters number 137,000–from Laredo’s 255,205 population, according to the 2020 Census Bureau–and only 23,731 ballots were cast this past 2022 primaries.
The ideas you may have in your head should be heard–no matter how absurd–especially if they’re absurd. Another idea grows in its intention. TAMIU is a great place to attempt, and fail if you must, to experiment with your ideas or those you care to hear at those meetings. You may have reservations about these ideas. Express those concerns too. And it all starts with trying. You might surprise yourself. You might even find your voice.
I’ll end with this National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger quote from June 27, 1970, about Chile: “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.”
