I want to discuss two very important things: freedom of the press, and Oppikoppi.
Let’s start with the less important one first: a little birdie told me that the big, bad student parliament recently passed a motion which would force Perdeby to provide a quarter page space every week for parliament to use, presumably as they see fit. The details still remain somewhat unclear. After I had stopped laughing, I began to wonder what would happen when I turned around and told them there is no way in hell I would ever let them have a space in the paper, space reserved for content that is actually important (unless, of course, they bought advertising space)?
Nothing, that’s what.
What are they going to do? Picket outside our offices? Throw eggs at my windows? I find it completely hilarious that they think they can achieve anything by putting their hands in the air and voting, like their play-play democracy is some magic wand they can wave to make unicorns appear out of thin air. Perdeby does not fall under the jurisdiction of student parliament and I will treat the idea that they think it does with the condescension it deserves.
No democratic government in the world has power over its free media, nor is there a daily broadsheet in any democratic country that gives up space for government to use as they see fit, without seriously comprising its credibility and betraying its audience. We do not even provide space for UP management to communicate with the students unless they have paid for it. And they think student parliament stands a chance? Insert laughter here.
But now, on to the main event: Oppikoppi. Oppikoppi is the greatest place on earth. I say this every year, and every year it remains true. If you’ve never been, your life is sad, and is missing a fundamental constituent: you cannot truly call yourself a student if you haven’t spent your weekend on the fields of Oppi, getting drunk, down and dirty; reveling in great music and great company; watching high hippies sway in the wind, rocking out like this is the last day of their lives. Oppi is a hedonist’s heaven, a place for people who like good tunes and good vibes, who just want to be happy, want to make friends with strangers, and dance like nobody is watching.
You will never party harder, you will never be happier, you will never be dirtier.
You’ll notice we’ve put an Oppi survival guide of sorts on the front page, as well as the full line-up and a map of the entertainment area inside, easy to pull out and use at Oppi, for your convenience. We also take a look at the new smoking laws currently under consideration by government (which will hopefully not affect Oppi) as well as the normal myriad of awesome content. We have a smaller edition this week, so no Fun & Games page, but the Top Ten and Pssst… will be back in the next edition, promise. We’ll be taking a week off, so no Perdeby next week, but we’ll make our triumphant return on 20 August.
As jy nie dans nie is jy f*kol.
Beyers
