"Omit Needless Words! Omit Needless Words! Omit Needless Word!"*

Posters cover the walls in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Professionals in the College's media and public relations wing create some. Others are designed by students. Very few follow Strunk and White's "omit needless words" rule. They have little to say but fill up the poster. Many have pretty pictures but say nothing.

The biggest problem I have with the posters is they assume entitlement. One poster advertises a company which helps business get government subsidies. Other posters champion government agriculture programs. Whether these explicit or implicit subsides should exist is never questioned. Neither the College nor the College's students question the College's existence. The college and agricultural rural subsidies exist, therefore they must be right. Stopthink rules the College.

There is a scene in Sophie Scholl where the judge calls the three student protesters ingrates. NAZI Germany paid for their education but they still tried to destroy NAZI Germany. People can say the same about me.

The three student protesters were right, and so am I.

*adapted from Strunk and White's The Elements of Style