2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor: Well done weekly
Max Lux
Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: Op/Ed
- Page 1 of 1
To the Editor:
As a student who now has no affiliations with The Weekly (I had previously held two editorial positions in the staff), I thought it might be interesting to provide some non-biased insight into the College's only published (in print) newspaper.
Let me first start by saying that the paper is produced by some of the most exceptional individuals I have had the pleasure to meet at this college. This dedicated group of individuals burns the midnight oil every Tuesday Night (Production Night), braving insomnia, then eight-o'clock Wednesday classes and deadline-slacking writers to create a paper that is, more or less, quite good.
However, picking up the paper every week, I have noticed some disturbing trends. Letters to the Editor are no longer the portals of scholarly insight they once were, merely a place to express shock and horror at the 'terrible' and 'appalling' nature of articles contained within, or in the case of the Jan. 27 piece "An Ode to Jason Klein," glorified fan mail masquerading as a piece of reader opinion. How about suggestions for topics? A discussion of Real World events, and their effect on students at our college would be quite beneficial, in place of the seemingly endless arguments of Republicans vs. Democrats (A note to Democrats: Kerry lost, get over it. A note to Republicans: President Bush is most likely the harbinger of the apocalypse, stop gloating). We are, by far, an intelligent and creative Student Body, proud attendees of a prominent liberal arts college; it is simply atrocious that the extent of our argumentative thought should be limited to a remedial rambling on AOL Instant Messenger and Facebook (Jason Klein again, Dec. 2).
Most disturbing, and the main catalyst for this letter, is the outrage, both printed and public about Christina Liciaga's sex column. Just about every week there is a Letter to the Editor wailing about the perversion or distaste The Weekly is showing by publishing this column. Shocking, yes. A student-run publication is printing an article on sex. Now, if the thought of masturbation offends you, there is no reason to read the article. If you see something entitled 'In The Nude', pass it up for one of the myriad comedian or band reviews seen every week within the fine pages of the Life! section. Those who fear the wrath of their grandmother, an avid subscriber, over the word 'penis', may do well to remember that their parents came from somewhere, and Grandma Flo is not totally in the dark in regards to the entire concept of intercourse. And for anyone out there who thinks God might not approve, remember this: one of the few things God and Darwin agreed on was that sex or the reproductive act is necessary for the propagation of the species.
Apologies if this went on a sort of rant, but I need to get a few things off my chest. So Weekly, you keep up the good work, and students, get it in gear. Make yourselves heard, you lackadaisical slackers.
--Max Lux
Class of '07
As a student who now has no affiliations with The Weekly (I had previously held two editorial positions in the staff), I thought it might be interesting to provide some non-biased insight into the College's only published (in print) newspaper.
Let me first start by saying that the paper is produced by some of the most exceptional individuals I have had the pleasure to meet at this college. This dedicated group of individuals burns the midnight oil every Tuesday Night (Production Night), braving insomnia, then eight-o'clock Wednesday classes and deadline-slacking writers to create a paper that is, more or less, quite good.
However, picking up the paper every week, I have noticed some disturbing trends. Letters to the Editor are no longer the portals of scholarly insight they once were, merely a place to express shock and horror at the 'terrible' and 'appalling' nature of articles contained within, or in the case of the Jan. 27 piece "An Ode to Jason Klein," glorified fan mail masquerading as a piece of reader opinion. How about suggestions for topics? A discussion of Real World events, and their effect on students at our college would be quite beneficial, in place of the seemingly endless arguments of Republicans vs. Democrats (A note to Democrats: Kerry lost, get over it. A note to Republicans: President Bush is most likely the harbinger of the apocalypse, stop gloating). We are, by far, an intelligent and creative Student Body, proud attendees of a prominent liberal arts college; it is simply atrocious that the extent of our argumentative thought should be limited to a remedial rambling on AOL Instant Messenger and Facebook (Jason Klein again, Dec. 2).
Most disturbing, and the main catalyst for this letter, is the outrage, both printed and public about Christina Liciaga's sex column. Just about every week there is a Letter to the Editor wailing about the perversion or distaste The Weekly is showing by publishing this column. Shocking, yes. A student-run publication is printing an article on sex. Now, if the thought of masturbation offends you, there is no reason to read the article. If you see something entitled 'In The Nude', pass it up for one of the myriad comedian or band reviews seen every week within the fine pages of the Life! section. Those who fear the wrath of their grandmother, an avid subscriber, over the word 'penis', may do well to remember that their parents came from somewhere, and Grandma Flo is not totally in the dark in regards to the entire concept of intercourse. And for anyone out there who thinks God might not approve, remember this: one of the few things God and Darwin agreed on was that sex or the reproductive act is necessary for the propagation of the species.
Apologies if this went on a sort of rant, but I need to get a few things off my chest. So Weekly, you keep up the good work, and students, get it in gear. Make yourselves heard, you lackadaisical slackers.
--Max Lux
Class of '07