DES MOINES, Iowa — The most controversial season of the reality show “Survivor” premieres Thursday night.

“Survivor: Cook Islands” divides its teams along racial and ethnic lines. That’s upsetting to many people, including some students at Drake University, who are calling for people to boycott the show and its sponsors.

“Survivor: Cook Islands” divides tribes into African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and whites. Ronda Menke , an associate professor at Drake, and some of her public relations students said they don’t like the show’s premise this season.

“I really don’t think that’s appropriate, especially with what (is) going on in the world right now,” said MacKenzie Roebuck-Walsh, a Drake student.

They said their goal is not to censor the program, but to boycott companies that sponsor it.

“We think it’s an advertisers responsibility to step in and say, ‘This is not really good content. We don’t want our products associated with it,’” Roebuck-Walsh said.

“Think about the message you’re sending. Think about the public you want to reach,” Menke said.

Excuse me MacKenzie Roebuck-Walsh, but the new season of Survivor has nothing to do with the “what’s going on in the world.” It’s simply a television show that is using a casting stunt in order to rank in ratings. That’s all.

I’ve done a little bit of digging and found that MacKenzie Roebuck-Walsh is part of Drake’s PRSSA, Drake Public Relations Student Society of America. I’m afraid creating a ‘grassroots’ campaign against Survivor is probably just part of the Drake press relations curriculum. Unfortunately they don’t teach current events and common sense.

The NAACP has even waited until the show aired before passing judgement. What gives the students of Ronda Menke the authority on the issue?