Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

Enough is enough.

I am dismayed and shocked at the outright attacks on the four professors who decided to take a stand for women and minorities on March 26. They have been associated with Nazism, having elitist attitudes and attempting censorship. These accusations are unjust and completely disrespectful. Since no one, especially their fellow colleagues, will come to their defense, I will.

Ralph Donald, thanks for taking us down Nazi memory lane, but I fail to see the correlation. What the Nazis did was burn all literature en masse. The instructors burned their copies of the paper. Students weren't denied access to the paper. If I told you that I used my copy for liner in my cat's litter box, would you be equally offended?

Furthermore, your need to "gently chastise" them is degrading and condescending. These women worked hard to get to the position they have and should be treated with due respect, not chastised like bad little girls. You imply Nazism because you think burning a few newspapers is heresy of free speech.

Cynthia Cooper, were you there to witness this "display of elitism?" These women did something others have been praised for: civil disobedience. Their protest was nonviolent. One of them is a professor of mine and has never displayed an elitist attitude in the classroom. She encourages students to express their opinions. It saddens me that she cannot do the same. Incidentally, above the pornography link is the newspaper's name. Isn't that condoning pornography? You said burning the paper and the students burning the petitions is "destruction of property." Give me a break. They were their copies to burn.

Brian Wallheimer, why don't you call off this witch hunt? You claim to "applaud the efforts of the professors who protested," yet the April 5 issue seems pretty hostile while hiding under the guise of harmless comedy. "Stickman" depicts uninformed women shoving petitions in people's faces without consulting the newspaper.

Please don't insult my intelligence and tell me these professors didn't contact you or anyone at the paper before March 26. This isn't funny, and as a student, even if you are editor in chief, you should show some respect and stop burning these women at the stake. I also have a problem with the survey results about The Satyr link where you said, "the campus has spoken."

Please explain how 167 students represent the opinions of more than 12,000 students? Also, in the Jan. 11 edition you did an editorial titled "Staff and faculty are people too." Apparently, that is only true as long as they don't disagree with you. I wonder if it had been an ethnic minority group, instead of women, would there be all of this name calling going around? Just food for thought.

Gabriele Goodbrake

Geography Major

Dear Editor:

We would like to respond to a letter in your April 10 issue about ineffective management at Cougar Village.

We had a situation similar to Jasmine Thapar's problem with her roommate. We felt as though University Housing didn't take our matter seriously enough, and we felt that we had to take matters into our own hands. Our roommate refused to participate in the household chores and she was rude to our guests, as well as not giving us our phone messages.

The biggest problem was that she wouldn't even speak to us. She kept to herself a lot. We didn't mind that she was a private person, but it's hard to live with someone who will not communicate at all.

What made us get outside help was a confrontation with her that turned ugly. When we felt as if we could not resolve the matter, we went to outside assistance. Getting the outside assistance didn't really help us much because the problems were still there. The counselor said we should talk to the other roommate, but the whole problem was that we couldn't communicate with her. That's why we went to the counselor for help.

We felt as if housing should have put someone who was compatible with us instead of trying to fill occupancy. I know when I applied for housing, they made me fill out a survey about my study habits and lifestyle. It would have been better for them to put a person in with us in the fall semester instead of the second semester. That way we could have established a bond and the last person coming in wouldn't feel like an outsider. Overall, we don't like how they assign the roommates and also how they handle roommate problems.

Tamara Johnson

LaToya Lytle

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the Belleville News-Democrat's editorial of April 4, "Free speech under fire," which incorrectly stated that some faculty at SIUE had called for censorship of the Alestle.

The call is for the Alestle to forego ads and links to Web sites, such as The Satyr, which makes jokes by reference to gender and contains pictures of partially clothed women. Much of The Satyr's material, although intended as satire, exemplifies disrespect. Everyone is free to read such sites, and the paper is free to include them, but having our university's name at the top of an Alestle page with a photo of a young woman wearing a lace bra and underwear, with legs spread, is inappropriate for a university-sponsored publication and disrespectful to the women in our university community.

On March 26 some faculty members gathered outside the Morris University Center to provide information about the situation. The flier they distributed, titled P.A.C.T., "Pledge Allegiance to Civility Today," suggested that concerned persons write to Alestle advertisers and express their objections. This was a peaceful informational protest, calling attention to concerns that thus far had not been resolved.

Eight copies of the Alestle were burned in a barbecue grill. Burning printed material can constitute oppression of people and destruction of knowledge. However, documents have also been burned symbolically in efforts to combat injustice, for example, Gandhi's leading South African citizens to publicly burn identification cards without which they could not freely travel in their own country. Burning the Alestle was a symbolic act calling for resolution of problems that might otherwise remain unaddressed.

Rather than making snap judgments about The Satyr or the protest, I hope that we continue dialogue to fulfill the aims expressed in the SIUE Statement on Diversity:

"... the university is dedicated to a harmonious, open and hospitable climate which facilitates learning and work. Each member of the university bears the responsibility for creating a community typified by tolerance and civility, and that welcomes the exchange of differing opinions and ideas."

At stake is a campus that rejects exploitation in forms such as suggesting that people may be regarded as mere sex objects, or that it is appropriate to get a laugh by reference to a person's gender, as in The Sartyr article "Angry woman must be having her period."

Exercise of democratic freedoms does not imply that courtesy and civility are expendable. Along with free speech and free press are democratic values such as the right to dignity. Freedom includes freedom from degradation and exploitation. Defending The Satyr as mere entertainment, or on grounds of free speech, overlooks the fact that it compromises the rights of all individuals to be free from degradation and exploitation.

Gregory P. Fields

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Dear Editor:

After the storm last week I began to realize something. Students do not know where to go in case of a tornado.

I have lived in Cougar Village for nearly a year and do not recall being told what to do in the event of an emergency such as the one last week.

When the sirens went off, my roommates and I decided not to stay in our second floor apartment so we proceeded to the bottom floor to take cover, if someone would share their apartment with us. As we were leaving, we ran into several others who did not know where to go or what to do. One student commented that she thought we should go to the Commons building, but with hail coming down, it was going to be nearly impossible.

I think now that spring is upon us and dangerous weather is ahead, students need to be notified of where safe areas are located. I know it is impossible to have a meeting with all residents, however bulletins could be placed on doors to let us know where to go. As for myself, I will call and find out what to do the next time the weather is bad. However, others that do not call need to find out.

Bridget Hudson

Elementary Education Major