By Josue Garcia

This letter is in response to Mr. George Gottschalk’s letter (“Student leader needs to learn to ‘suck it up,'” Oct. 20) that attempted to apply his rule of “sucking it up” to leadership at Northeastern. I think it’s rather amusing that he contradicts himself by telling people what to do, and yet doesn’t take his own advice. Taking cheap shots at the president of the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) and talking about his personal problems doesn’t sound to me like he’s really “sucking it up.” And comparing his personal problems with organizational problems sounds rather self-centered and naive. I understand he’s young and has a lot to learn, however, I would like to clarify and respond to the following:

Nadine [Yaver], the president of LASO, is a great example of a leader. She doesn’t just write letters to the editor, she takes action on anything that affects LASO and the NU community. It’s part of her responsibility to speak up and be the voice of LASO. So if you’re taking shots at the president of LASO, you might as well include the whole organization itself.

Additionally, the Student Government Association and the Council for University Programs are two organizations LASO should not even be compared with. Sure they may create some events (with their special budgets), but they are not the only organizations who make them. Obviously since he has only been here about a year, I understand that he can’t comprehend the many organizations that make all types of events on campus. But, he could have at least pretended he knew what he was talking about, at least go to a meeting or something.

I don’t know what his fascination with letters to the editor is, but it looks like he likes them a lot. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought if any newspaper commits an error, they take responsibility and correct the error through, I don’t know, maybe an editorial? (What a concept!) Again, if the LASO president sees a problem in The News’ coverage of a LASO event, of course she’s going to write the letter and get it corrected.

Lastly, “sucking it up” is a poor attitude to have, especially if you’re a student leader. I encourage any student with a problem to talk about it, find people you can relate to and organize together to create a solution to your problem.

If I were Mr. Gottschalk, instead of lashing out at other people and talking nonsense, I would get 16 of my friends and create an anti-snitch student group. Then maybe he can take action to solve his problems. Or maybe create a snitch awareness forum, where you can track down and name snitches around your [residence hall] area. Or maybe I’d party with people I trusted, or not go out drinking if I knew I was underage. Regardless, I’m sure he’ll be happy reading three more years worth of editorials while at NU. So enjoy.

— Josue Garcia is a senior computer science major and a member of LASO.