Rome's Not Dull

Editor's Box

Bookstore Woes

Don't take Rome for granted; it's not as dull as most students think

"There's nothing to do in Rome!" is the cry that is so often echoed from the mouths of our city's livelier residents. And while we've all suffered in the throes of boredom and repeated this mantra ourselves, perhaps the malcontent and the jaded of us should take a minute to ask ourselves what, exactly, we're all looking for.

What's the majority opinion of a pastime? Is it a business-funded institution where we spend our money to in return be given back some form of generic entertainment? If that's the case, then we already have a mall, bowling alleys, clubs and certainly anything else any of our immediate neighbors have.

Soon, we'll have a minor-league baseball team, a Starbucks, a Barnes & Noble and loads of other corporate dandies moving in.

So what's the dilemma here? Perhaps our perpetual state of boredom stems not from the fact that there's "nothing to do," but because we're not making an effort to occupy ourselves in a fulfilling way. Are we really this empty, this powerless to create, this afraid of ourselves?

Of course we aren't.

So, if you aren't happy with your environment, make an effort to change it and support others that do the same.

We simply have to be more active! More creative! We're no Athens, but we have a relatively active music and arts scene.

It's obvious that the potential is here, but places like Rikki Moon's and Down to Earth have lived and died in the blink of an eye. If we don't want culture to die in Rome, then we have to make an effort to support it.