Editorial—Colorful Shirts

Truth and Reconciliation Day approaches once again.  We’re supposed to wear orange shirts.  It doesn’t seem like it’s an action that would mean that much, but when you consider some of the motives behind it, the importance of this symbol becomes clear.

What does wearing an orange shirt really do?  Quite simply, it tells others that you’re aware of this.  That you agree it is enough of an issue that you feel you should, at the very least, make it known that you are a part of this.  And it also does something else, because it means when people who don’t know drive by a field or walk through a shopping mall that is filled with people wearing orange shirts, they will likely feel compelled to try to figure out what is going on, and that will bring them to Truth and Reconciliation Day with the understanding that many people are already on board with the concept.  At least enough to make them take notice.

A shirt, of course, does not even start to cover all that needs to be done, with many of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation committee still going unfulfilled, even at AU.  But we’ve at least started.  And the more people that get involved, that allow themselves to be seen as being involved, the more it is likely that our leaders will take notice and move forward with those recommendations.

I’ll admit, I don’t know enough about either the problems or the proposed solutions to be able to comment in any substantive fashion on either, but I know it’s part of our history that we need to address if we truly want to be a society that cares, and I believe it’s required if we hope to survive over the long term.  Only by acknowledging the past mistakes can we hope to avoid them.

This is something that the Fly on the Wall examines this week, as one of our feature articles.  Where he considers our responsibilities as humans, and as students of AU, toward something like Truth and Reconciliation.

Also this week, Lucy D’jorno has chosen to show off a bit, creating an acrostic story that’s also a good read.  If you don’t know what an acrostic story is, see if you can figure it out before the end of the tale, where she explains what a tricky bit of writing it is, then go back and see how she did it.

As our third feature this week, I bring you our latest Council Connection.  The September meeting was notable both in style and that it was the first reading of the upcoming AUSU fee increase.  I should also point out that I have am still looking for a student willing to take on the reporting of AUSU Council meetings.  It’s a job that takes around two or three hours each month, some of that simply spent listening in the council meeting, and for which The Voice will provide a reasonable fee.  So if you’ve got the third Thursday of each month free and want to make a few bucks, consider contacting me at karl@voicemagazine.org.  Enjoy the read!