Resident proposes odd idea to purge Athens, OU of litter
You better grab your capes, grab your tights and grab your masks because it’s time to clean up Athens.
At least, that is what Jim Murray, an Athens resident and member of Clear Litter Everywhere in Athens Now, proposed during Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting. He suggested creating a group of students he deemed, “The Guardians of Bobcatland.”
“The sole mission of The Guardians is to protect the beauty of Athens but also to protect the reputation and integrity of Ohio University,” Murray said.
While cleaning up the city and restoring the university’s prestige, Murray suggested The Guardians could dress in costumes and devise songs about their crusades against “the infantiles” who are destroying OU’s image.
Murray’s heart is in the right place, but his method might be a little mad. It is rather ridiculous to think students would volunteer to clothe themselves in comedic costumes and gallivant about with guitars singing songs about cleaning up Athens.
There is no need to form a student group to sanitize this city. City Council formed CLEAN about six years ago at the urging of neighborhood leaders for just such a purpose. Instead of creating a separate student-led movement, CLEAN should focus on active student involvement in its membership. Even just educating student residents on the fines they might face could lead to the outcome Murray desires.
Should Student Senate decide to create this cavalcade of caped crusaders, Murray said he would not be involved because The Guardians would be more effective as a student-led movement. But for Murray to suggest such a strange, outlandish idea and not foster it along just makes his words empty.
It is hard to imagine students actively getting involved in costumed quests to clean up Athens, but it is not hard to imagine as a comic book.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
