The SMU community is like a tasty fresh muffin: hot and stylish. However, just yesterday whilst walking to class, I came across something that was neither hot nor stylish.

You see, when heading to class, my trajectory requires that I traverse the immediate flagpole area. However, on Tuesday, my flight pattern was perfectly desiccated by a huge wooden blockade. Nobody was injured, but it definitely annoyed me, though what was written on its other side at turned out to be a huge pile of hot and steamy idiocy.

The term “Wall of Integrity” is only half correct. Being made of plywood and spanning the length of the flagpole area, it definitely falls under the category of “a wall.” Integrity, not so much. There’s a Web site and a shout out to a couple of the MWI crew, but otherwise, no integrity. It is also a poorly named wall.

A good example of a well-named wall was the Berlin Wall. Being a wall and conveniently located right in the middle of Berlin, it was, indeed, a Berlin Wall. Everything about it practically screamed Berlin and also Wall. There was synergy.

The Integrity of the SMU’s newest defensive fortification lies only in it’s physical description, in that it is both a wall, and has ‘integrity’ written on it. Of course, that is but scratching the surface of one of the most ridiculous groups on campus. That group? The Men with Integrity. I dislike them.

So what does the group do? Well, judging from their board, they are raising awareness for sexism and sexual assault. And since we all know the best way to do that is to lay down half a tree on the Quad, I’d say they are on the right track. Of course, they are dynamic and their controversial message stops not at the billboard.

Last week the MWI received Senate funding for the production of about a thousand little black bracelets to raise awareness for sexual assault.

Confession time, I see lots of bracelets and I have not once asked what they mean. However, being a serious journalist, I performed a six second Google search that yielded a massive database of official wristband colors. Way to steal the thunder from POWs and advanced melanoma, jerks. Of course, it could just as easily have been the colors of eye cancer or African Hamburger Fever Awareness. The point is, there were already at least two groups with this color, and you were aware of neither. Bracelets, good call.

So, whom are we trying to convince with these things? According to the group’s tag line, it’s rapists and sexual predators. Look, when you see a girl, passed out and covered in vomit, if your first thought is, “This is a good time for sex,” you are probably beyond the reach of anything short of a heavy lead pipe. A small plastic wristband is not going to send you slinking back into the murky depths of hell where you belong.

So, what’s the point of the group? As we discussed, it is a collection of people dead set against rapists. We all know college is a time to express your controversial and offensive ideas, but let’s at least keep a modicum of censorship present. You know, for the children. I mean, if word gets out that we gave the anti-rapists funding, who next?

In fact, why don’t we just start a “Hitler was Bad” Club. Then we could throw a $6 million dollar smear campaign over the man who for too long has dodged the criticism he so justly deserves. Groups are fun when they address a topic that’s not already widely accepted to 100 percent of its audience.

Finally, black. According to the Internet, black is assigned to POW/MIA’s and melanoma. These are serious issues which must be addressed and need all the awareness they can get. Sexism cannot hold a candle in terms of individual impact to either of these issues.

Moreover, these are problems that really need to reach a massive audience. Unchecked, Melanoma can develop into a fatal complex and take lives that could have been easily saved with awareness. Because they are missing, POWs have no voice and rely only on the country they swore to defend for support. Let’s not steal their thunder.

Unlike the Holocaust, sexism is not a big deal. Also, unlike the Holocaust, sexual discrimination, or whatever this broad term encompasses, does have a simple resolution. Discriminated? Call the NAACP and get a lawyer. Don’t like Nick Hartley’s titty jokes? Stop hanging out with him, I know I did.

But when you show up in front of the Senate, choose a message that they can actually vote “nay” on, instead of having them waste money for fear of being branded pro-rapist.

When we form an organization, it is to further a cause which on its own could not take flight. The “rape is bad” message has taken flight and left the furthest tendrils of the Van Allen belt long ago.

To me, sexism was effectively resolved sometime immediately following the Kinsey Report. If we’re going to spread a message, let’s choose one that isn’t just a widely held opinion, but a controversial topic that will spark curiosity.

Democracy is dissent, not this radical complacency that you shove down our collective throats in a farcical crusade to raise awareness about a topic for which we are already familiar and in universal agreement.

Austin Rucker is a junior advertising major. He may be contacted at [email protected].