I was at class while this was all going on, jerk.

Not so open if you have to moderate comments, eh?

Har har! Bout time someone said it.

Did I just get yelled at by my newspaper? This sounds more like something a cranky idiot would yell at me than what I'd expect in a well-respected daily.

I care about my school quite a bit, as do thousands of my classmates and probably anyone who bothers to read the cantankerous editorials this paper publishes. If the board meeting was as boring as your article makes it sound, it seems as if everyone had the right idea not going. (The main headline on the webpage right now is the far more gripping "International students still flocking to UI", and neither this piece nor the news article mentions when the next meeting is.)

There is no reason to address the large portion of the "ignorant student body" that seeks to learn about campus goings-on so disrespectfully. The last few lines of this letter read like they were written by a psychopath:

"Maybe you don’t [deserve better]; because if you did, you would have been at the meeting yesterday. You would have been there, but you weren’t. Surprising and disappointing."

With warm regards,

A stupid moron that hates UI as much as everyone else except the editorial board

P.S. If all people cared about was drinking tickets or KAM's, wouldn't the Booze News be more popular than this moralistic and self-righteous paper?

What surprises me is that while this meeting was going on, I had an education to tend to - notes to take, concepts to review, and information to absorb so I can earn my degree and leave what you have touted as a hotbed of corruption as quickly as possible. The less money I have to give to these people, the better, so I'm making a hasty retreat by attending class, taking tests, and earning good grades. Had there been a more convenient time, I would have attended.

What disappoints me is the lack of common sense in this editorial. The small window of public discourse time was allotted not because students wouldn't show up, but because a majority of them - like me - had class. Anyone privileged enough to drop by the meeting and say a few words was likely on a tight schedule as it was. As much as anyone would've liked to be there, priorities such as class, not Kam's, took issue first.

I don't deny that the majority of the student body couldn't care less about this issue, but when the pot calls the kettle black it sets a bad precedent. By ignoring the fact that all of us are here to learn and tend to that learning, you set yourself up in the rank and file of ignorant people you so spectacularly ridicule. That, to me, is not surprising and always disappointing.

p0wned students...p0wned! lmfao. stfu. rtfm. lol

Students don't care because their voice doesn't matter. It won't bring back the chief or the things that made the university great. Who cares anymore if the university becomes a ****hole. More likely than not, the reason why my best friend didn’t get in here with his perfect ACT score is because of the high percentage of international students. Hey I have got an idea, let's raise tuition again and again!

Was this during football? That game was hot!

In all seriousness, I've since moved to the Kansas City suburbs after graduating, and if UIUC is the academic laughing stock in Kansas (the laughing stock of Union states), there's a problem.

So am I to understand that no one from the DI attended as a student with student interests? Isn't that like getting audited but refusing to hand over evidence that your taxes were actually in order because you're too busy reporting about how you were getting audited? At what point did the amount of passion in this article deem itself not important enough to hold yourself to that standard as a student? I mean, hell, draw straws for who gets to take their press pass off that day if it is that important to each and every of you. But I may be wrong in breezing through this article, and perhaps some (or all) of you did speak out as students. I guess it sort of seems like hiding behind some sort of blanketed journalist integrity to unitedly not take time to comment at "at one of the most important Board of Trustee meetings that will ever occur during [your] time here" is... silly? I guess I'll go with silly.

While I agree that more students should care, I also agree that there is a general feeling that the student voice does not have much strength. I was there, and I found Chris Kennedy's comments about the number of students who cared disheartening (though he seemed to think it normal that no students cared).

In addition, something to consider when the editorial board is dismounting its rather high horse, is whether YOU would have been there had it not been your job. If you had never been invited to join the DI, if you had no journalistic interest in the meeting, would you really have sat there all day? Or waited over an hour after the scheduled public comment time? I don't know any of you individually, but I remain unconvinced.

Barry:

You beat me to the punch in a way. I can tell you for a fact that not one student spoke during the public comment session. In fact, only one person did, and it was some nutjob rambling on about Ayers, Obama, Socialist Army, yadda yadda

"It won't bring back the chief or the things that made the university great." - Thank you for acknowledging these as 2 separate things. At least I'll keep telling myself that was your intent here.

Unfortunately, as I learned in the one journ class I took at UI, it's impossible for journalists to ever take off the badge or else they fear losing their credibility and reputation as unbiased.

really? all 35,000 students were at class during this time. none of you were nursing hangovers, ditching class or just plain old weren't scheduled for a class at this time. previous generations of college students would be disgusted by the lack of efficacy demonstrated by the current state of our campuses. where is the cry for social change? where is the care for our university? i attended u of i for four years and the majority of students cared more about drinking and getting their degree with as little resistance possible than really learning or fighting for a voice.

Personally, I think this whole "scandal" has been way overblown. It really surprised me that there were people that thought this kind of thing was NOT going on with admissions. I mean, seriously, that's just the way it works. Anyone who would believe otherwise are the true naïve ones.

I applaud the editoral board of the Daily Illini for the article. Apparently U of I students are only concerned about the Board of Trustees when they try and intervene in their leisure time activities. Any idiot who attends a college or university should be up to date on the current events, good and bad about their school.

This editorial makes me ashamed to be a former Illini Media Company employee. I understand the difficulty of working at the Daily Illini and feeling that no one takes note of the hard work you do, but this editorial is completely out of line.

You have a legitimate point that not enough people on this campus care about University politics, but this editorial was caustic and mean spirited without being constructive. The quality of the editorials has gone down drastically since the last opinions editor left.

Do you really think so poorly of your fellow students while holding yourselves in such high regard? Also, if you want students to attend perhaps you should put something in your paper about what time the open forum is held during this marathon meeting- you know inform the public like newspapers are supposed to do instead of over generalizing and judging over 40,000 people. Students have already been hurt by this scandal. Skipping out on academic responsibilities to go point fingers at the Board of Trustees makes students pay an even greater price. . Journalists should seek to understand and explain the complexity of situations and anyone so quick to make the broad assumptions that are present in this editorial is not doing that. It is fine for editorials to stir up controversy and even offend, but this editorial is simply not good journalism. The editorial board should give serious consideration to apologizing. If not, I am interested in hearing the justification for this editorial, maybe there is one and I failed to see it.

You sound like an Obama over. Hysterical. Racist. Ignorant. I'd rather spend my time reading my bible than gonig to your socialist garbage ranting sessions. Quit supporting obama (osama) hussien. he's going to kill us with health care.

So uh, what's the average GPA of everyone at the DI again?

It's great that you guys have your little journalistic ambition, but some of us have ambition to graduate with a number that's a bit higher than yours. I know you guys are all busy running around all the time and that somethin' has got to give, but the majority of us actually DO attend class and attempt good grades. We don't have time to go to a meeting about something that is likely happening at all the other Big 10 schools.

Se seriously, what's the average GPA?

I can understand your point to a certain extent, it's as if we have a bit of voter apathy here on campus. But, aren't we beating a dead horse? I mean, this has been going on for months and the matter is being resolved: the governor's inquiry, resignation of trustees, appointment of new trustees, etc. etc. etc. Sure I'd like to see BJ White go, but that's not my decision to make. If I did go to voice my concern, would I really be telling the trustees anything they don't already know? They have the facts, they know it made a lot of people upset, they know it was unjust, they know White and Herman screwed up royally, they know they tarnished reputation of beloved Alma--so, do they really need us to keep beating a dead horse?

Frankly, if I did speak my mind to the trusttess I would talk about drinking tickets at KAM's and how this university has become a police state, I would complaign about my fraternity brother's who got arrested by our idiot cops who spent 2 whole semesters and hundreds of man hours (costing us tens of thousands of dollars) only to confiscate a bag of weed. I bet our new board chairman has smoked a little in his day, at least we know the president has. Wouldn't he be upset that the university has now ruined their lives?

I'd also raise the issue about state funding and budget cuts and how nervous I am about finding a decent job when I leave this prestigious university as half my friends who graduated last year are working at Starbucks and Kinkos. The list goes on and on....

Though this editorial is thought provoking, I highly doubt that every single one of you would feel this passionately about the issue if you did not work for Illini Media. By working for the media, you have a responsibility to report what is happening on this campus because you are employed to do so. Of course the biggest story at the moment is the admissions scandal. If the school paper did not cover the biggest story in CU, then that would be scandalous and disappointing. Without this responsibility, though, I am certain that many of you would not have skimped on you academic responsibilities and have attended the Board of Trustees meeting. Many of the students here are not following the admissions scandal because they have already been accepted to the university, so what does it matter to them what's happening? They're already here and they'll be gone in four years. What's done is done. Our money has been spent, the scandal is over, and all that is left is to clean-up the mess.

Uhh, is it generalizing if all 40,000 people don't attend? I'd say that's called an accurate assessment. Generalizing is when I say "every student at U of I got in because they had good grades and worked hard in high school." That would be generalizing.

Wow, talk about demonizing your readers. Our whole society revolves around preferential treatment. U of I students are smart enough to realize that this is the way of the world and chose to spend their evening doing something more productive. Meanwhile, you bunch of idiots sat around with an undeserved sense of self righteousness thinking that you were somehow going to change things... must be sociology minors.

I very much agree with Ann's sentiment. With all of the harsh judgements and sweeping generalizations, you've managed to peg and perfectly characterize about 2 people in our student body, give or take a couple. Other than that, you guys really just went for the jugular. I can see how this editorial was supposed to be a "get angry, get offended, get passionate, do something" sort of article, but I think it failed in that sense. I don't think people respond well to being chided by their own peers, especially when those peers have an inflated sense of importance, so much so that you'd think they were on the clout list themselves.

Don't tell me who I am and how I think.

Brutal. I'd be pretty pissed if my school newspaper attacked me like this. Being someone apparently as uneducated about the goings on of the scandal as the majority of your students I didn't really gain any new knowledge about it from reading the article. All I know now is that I am a terrible person for not attending the meeting and the editorial ... Read Moreboard hates me.

If you want to make me care, come to me as a fellow student, not some high-and-mighty journalistic entity. Inform me. Tell me what I can do to make my voice heard. Don't insult me and expect me to be receptive in the future.

Editorial Board:

Your job is to print the news, not criticize, put down, or act like someone's mom saying "shame on you". The students can speak all they want, but the decision isn't up to them. And as InjuredIndignant said above, the people who probably do care the most, most likely are involved in other activities and have other things going on. As a former engineering student, I can tell you that even if I had not graduated yet, I most likely would not have been at that meeting. I personally gave the university thousands of dollars so that I could earn my degree, not play politics and pretend I have an effect on them. For most people, U of I is their home for about 4-6 years...just enough time to get tired of the politics and the bs and leave. To have an effect, go to Springfield. At U of I, you're just a student. I would recommend to the Daily Illini, that the Editorial Board stop with these columns. You have opinion columnists to share opinions. I think the Daily Illini as a whole, should remain an "objective" media source.

With warm regards...