CxPJ Collective

The issue you’re holding is the first edition of the third year of the Counter Point Journal. There have been some good issues and some bad issues, more or less corresponding to how things were going on in our collective. Since we’re off to a fresh start this year, we thought we’d share some of what’s been going on in the CxPJ collective and explain why we feel like the project slid downhill last year.

In a meeting scheduled to occur as this issue goes to press, members of the faculty are due to debate and vote on a resolution affirming the College’s commitment to “civility” and condemning the “threatening speech or action[s]” that have supposedly occurred “in recent months.” Reasoning that “uncivil” or “threatening” words and actions have a tendency to silence debate and chill public speech, the administration has asked that faculty members reaffirm their commitment to the civility called for in the Social Contract.

Here or there, at the virtual offices of the Counter Point Journal (which are often someone’s living room, a study room in the Library, a lounge area on campus, or whenever we run into one another), your humble CxPJ collective propounds stories to report on. As our mandate is to seek out stories of injustice, investigate the agendas of those in power, and to root out the hidden stories that would shock the public if they knew, we find that we never lack potential stories.

Injustice is everywhere. All sorts of parties are engaged in foul play and power plays. Everywhere you look, kindly, upright folk are getting screwed over.

When the Counter Point Journal (CxPJ) began publication in spring 2009, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. However, we did get some negative responses. Some people thought we shouldn’t criticize the Cooper Point Journal (CPJ). Some questioned whether the college needed another newspaper. Some people demanded we justify ourselves. One pedant scolded us that “Counter Point” is one word. (Sure, and “Newsweek” is really two words. The point is?)

On Wednesday May 13th, 2009 a group of Evergreen students engaged in a street theater production that simulated an Israeli Defense Force (henceforth called the Israeli Occupation Force, or IOF) check point in Red Square. The demonstration was an attempt to raise awareness about the daily harassment that Palestinians are subjected to living under the Israeli government.