We learned from Tuesday's "Here's to you" column that Milwaukee is the drunkest, most segregated city in America, has the highest incarceration rates of black citizens, ranks second for police brutality and teenage pregnancies and has a higher infant mortality rate than [several] other countries.

What we didn't hear was a point. There was no punch line to this celebration of all that is wrong with Milwaukee. There were no suggestions of how we might address these very troubling problems.

It is good to talk about our city's shortcomings. But if our only response to this is to criticize without improving, to shake our heads in disgust without asking what can be done, we become as culpable as those that perpetuated these problems in the first place.

There are many causes for concern in Milwaukee, but there are also many reasons to hope. A 2007 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article reported that an average of 34.4 percent of metro Milwaukee residents volunteered at least once a year from 2004 to 2006, compared with a national average of 28.1 percent. Another report said Wisconsin ranked 11th in the nation for volunteerism.

Marquette students seem to take their call to service seriously. According to Laura Skaife, assistant dean for Community Service Programs, about 84 percent of Marquette students take part in community service and roughly 5,000 students engage in at least 20 hours of service per semester.

Volunteerism alone surely will not remove Milwaukee's high poverty and segregation rates. But, just as many small actions, words and injustices over the years contributed to the inequality our city faces today, so will many small actions, words and changes advance us to the place we need to be. We must be sure to follow every discussion we have about what is wrong with Milwaukee with a conversation about what we can do to make these wrongs right.

Brian Harper is a sophomore in the College of Communication.