You Don't Know Clique COMMENTARY

MIKE "SO'S" BUTLER

was gi. en e c ance o ran a u an ng my little heart desired,I found the task to be quite difficult. Everyone has opinions about anything, and it takes a lot of thought to decide which is something important to rant on, and which is just plain irrelevant. Luckily for you, gentle reader, I chose something important.

• I attended the Leadership Conference here· at Cabrini about three weeks ago as a representative of Cabrini's Im.prov Troupe. From that three day workshop, I remember a certain phrase spoken by a wise man (Okay, it was Chris Nielsen). When talking about what problems Cabrini should attend to, this wise man said "the breakdown of social cliques."

Out of all the problems with Cabrini that were brought up, this was the one that grabbed my attention the most. Most of the other problems brought up, such as adequate lighting and a better theater to perform in, could be solved by monetary meam, but this was one problem that the almighty dollar could not solve. All of the telephone drives and donations from the Dixon family could erect more lights and erect a new theater, but they could not even begin to touch1bcsocial cliques.

I am going iDlo my third year here at Cabrini and I am quite aware of 1bcsocial cliques that dominate the campus. Am I an expert in analyzing social cliques? You're damn right I'm not. Cao I observe and take mental notes on the world around me? You're damn right I can. (Hey, this is the opinion section.) So excuse the base descriptions, but political correctness can go do something unprintable.

Basically, the social clique with the most people in it are the athletes (a.k.a. jocks). The school spends a lot of money on their sports and on the scholarships that brought them here 1be jocks are brought together by team unity and a common interest. The importance that the school and society puts on sports gives a good number of jocks (which ruin it for the rest) a sort of "I'm better than you" air in dealing with those who are not jocks or associated with jocks. Hell, if I was getting compensation to play a sport I would have a lot of pride about it too, but there is a difference between being proud, being arrogant and being an ass. This is more apparent among the male athletes than the female athletes. They are immediately thrust to the height of popularity. They are the "it" people of the campus. Want to be popular and hang with the fast crowd? They are your people. Want to go to a kick-ass party? More than likely someone from a sports team is having a monster bash. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against athletes. I know some athletes on this campus and they are some of the better people I know, but, as a whole, athletes in general do have a unfavorable stigma attached to them just because they are athletes for the college. Do some of them deserve this label? Hell, yes. Do all of them deserve it? Hell, no.

The rest of the school has smaller cliques, ranging from organizations ( such as the theater and Campus Ministry), to clubs (Latinos and Friends and the different honor societies on campus), to people who just like to have a good time. There is a lot more interaction between these smaller cliques because a lot of these people are involved with many different clubs. Occasionally, there is the interaction between the jock class and one of the smaller cliques, but generally a lot of people stay on their own side of the playground with their own kind. Normally, those involved with the jocks and the more popular social cliques look down on these groups (more often using the terms "freaks" and "dorks" to describe them). And because they get looked down upon, these groups have much animosity toward the jocks and those associated with them.

This makes their cliques just as tight as the sports teams. Much of this animosity has no firm ground for some of these people as no shots in this imaginary war were ever fired directly at them. It is almost expected that these cliques should not get along.

Does this sound like your high school? More than likely it does. Does it sound generalized? Possibly, but there is truth in it. There is a massive rift separating jocks and the smaller cliques, and even smaller cliques from other smaller cliques. Where have we seen this before? Survey says.

.. COLUMBINE!

Oooooh, I said the "C" word, and it's not the •c• word that will get you killed the Lilith Fair either. The shootings at Columbine showed the world that social cliques, when deeply divided from each other, are not healthy for a community, especially when one clique dominates all the others. It was not about trench coats. What if the shooters wore Birkenstocks, Adidas pants, and tie-dyed t-shirts? Would we scorn the shooters any less? It was not about outcasts. What if the shooters were on a sports team? Would the blame be put on sports, claiming that they breed killers?

It was about power, both social and personal. It ~as a tragedy, but it proved a solid point: No one is better than anyone. It does not matter if you wear a basketball jersey or a long black coat (like I do), we all do important things on this campus. We all contribute in some way to, if not the Cabrini community, then to each other.

So how do we solve the problem of social cliques then? Person by person. Start in your own hallway on campus. Talk to the people in it. Half of my hallway is athletes and I get along fine with them, and I'm as freaky as they come. Am I their drinking buddies? No, but I do not fear them beating me up and they do not fear that I will open fire on them. The point of getting to know your neighbor is to at least understand them, and this is the first step in breaking down the barriers between social cliques on campus. After that, you are on your own I will leave you with three pieces of knowledge to kick around: Treat others the way you want to be treated; be more open to what other people do on campus; and remember that no one is better than anyone.

Mike ''80s" Butler is a guest writer for the Loquitur. Let the unholy partnership begin.