Students may bitch and moan about Eastern for a number of reasons.

Whether it is because there is not enough parking, not enough to do in town, the Charleston police are too tough or because the opposite sex is only allowed in dorms until a certain time.

I attended a journalism conference with students all over the country last week in Louisville, and found out that all in all we do have it very good.

I learned plenty of things only journalism students would care about including the restrictions on student media, but I won’t bore you with that.

At Eastern, students get lots of liberty and lots of trust.

The students for the most part are very liberal and are accepting of people from all walks of life.

One student I talked to said their student newspaper had trouble writing stories about gay and lesbian students because the campus was so anti-homosexual.

At the university, they did not have a Gay, Lesbian, Transsexual and Queer Club because students are afraid to come out.

I am sure there are students who do not approve of homosexuality at Eastern, but at the same time I feel we are in an environment where students feel free to be themselves.

A professor giving a presentation talked about how the university president shut down production on a play because he thought it was too risqué.

Apparently at this university, the president of the school must approve scripts for the drama department before they can perform a play.

Imagine at Eastern if someone not even involved in the program made the decision on the creative process behind parts of the art department.

The story that struck me the hardest was a student talking about how the administration in a university was trying to cover up a student suicide and brush it under the rug like it did not happen.

According to suicide.org, suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students.

While I’m sure the university does not want bad press, this is a perfect opportunity to educate students and make sure a tragedy like suicide never happens again on campus.

I will try not to get too much into the restrictions on journalists at other colleges, but I will say Eastern allows all student media to do our jobs covering matters on campus.

This may not seem important to all, but it helps keep a check of balance to make sure everyone is doing their jobs correctly.

So while we may bitch about various matters on campus, just think we could have it worse.

Eastern is not perfect, but remember it is better than most.

Dan Cusack is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at

[email protected].