Students may or may not have noticed its absence from Dewick and Carmichael tables and the floors of campus restrooms. It has not been spotted in mass quantities in trash cans or in the laps of students in Cohen Auditorium. There is something missing so far at Tufts this semester - The Primary Source, with the exception of its Matriculation issue - appears to have gone on hiatus.
The absence of the Source, arguably the second-most influential campus magazine, behind the Observer, is disturbing. For conservative students, the lack of Source publications is clearly harmful. People in general draw comfort from seeing their own opinions reinforced in print, and when the echo chamber goes silent, the effect on the psyche of the average conservative student, oppressed and degraded as he already is, cannot be exaggerated.
The harm is not limited to conservative students. The Source is a fun and informative way to follow right-wing politics and ideology. Its awkward and obviously contrived attempts to shock readers with politically incorrect humor are sure to amuse. For instance, the cover of its first issue, equating campus ethnic populations with different types of fruit, was visually cute and humorous for its failure to deliver the obviously intended stifled laughter and musings at just how off-the-wall and refreshing right-wingers are. All the while, this stunt cover communicated a key point of the agenda of the Source editors: affirmative action and attempts to create a diverse student body are silly and indeed dangerous.
Tufts students are busy, and many do not have the time nor the stomach to watch the requisite amount of Fox News in order to be well-versed in the right-wing talking points du jour. To this end, the Source is a great way to ingest Ken Mehlman's latest memos over a lunch of soggy broccoli pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches and subtly flavored water at Dewick. Republican positions and responses to the latest nationally controversial issues are treated in the short, easy to read format of the five paragraph essay. With the Source evidently on vacation, this valuable service has been discontinued and many Tufts students are unaware of the GOP's latest spin on President Bush's management of meteorological disasters, or the mounting death toll in Iraq, or Bill Frist's apparent foray into the world of insider trading.
Another valuable service provided by the Source stems from its mission to monitor and publicize instances of Academic Tyranny, thus granting disgruntled students the opportunity to gain some measure of revenge for that C they received last semester by accusing the professor of liberal bias. This is a very important function performed by the Tufts journal of conservative thought, allowing students to protect their dignity and self-esteem.
The Source propagates the idea that the campus establishment would like to suppress or even ban the right-wing publication. This view could not be further from the truth. The Source is an amusing window into the conservative world which should give itself a pat on the back for being useful and mildly funny at the same time. Its next release is eagerly anticipated, and should not be further delayed.
