This thread, and just about every other one in the Daily Texan, is political. The mods just pick and choose which they tolerate.
I once got into it with Immamac on posting a foreign relations/international news thread here. He justified its relocation to the Cloak Room based on the broadest definition possible for politics: relating to the government or the public affairs of a country (you could substitute in any level of jurisdiction, e.g., city, county, state, etc., though).
The point being, any thread that discusses local policies is inherently political in nature, but we (the Surly collective) or they (the mods) arbitrarily choose whatβs deemed political or news, based on shifting rules or definitions that have confounded everyone.
It, of course, doesnβt help that peopleβs own implicit political biases at the national level can significantly influence stances at the local level, often with a subtle nod or wink, while pretending not to be "political."