We used to say that Letters to the Editor were only written by “morons or crackpots with agendas.” I don’t want to seem like either of those things. But I have to express my disappointment with the quality of writing in the Campus Times thus far this year.
I’m not talking about sentence structure or misplaced modifiers or adherence to AP style – those kinds of errors are to be expected from a student newspaper.
I’m talking about language and subject matter that seems designed to shock and titillate rather than enlighten and entertain. The bulk of your news reporting is sound and your editorials suggest a thoughtfulness that is admirable, but too often your non-traditional material shows a regrettable lack of editorial judgment.
For example, the “Sex and the CT” column, once merely a cheeky parody, has devolved into the kind of shameless raunch unfit for Maxim Magazine.
Similarly, the September 15 article-column “Delinquent girl confesses dirty thoughts” reeks of self-indulgent braggadocio, and is probably best restricted to the author’s private blog rather than the UR community’s newspaper.
I don’t know, maybe I’m out-of-touch. Perhaps “cum coasters are so last season” and “Donny Osmond shits?” accurately represents the current level of discourse at UR. This is hard to believe, but even if it is so, shouldn’t the CT be aiming a little bit higher?
Please try harder to live up to the standards of the academic institution you represent and the legacy of the newspaper you are charged with publishing.
-Jason Hammersla
Class of 1999
CT Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
==
I find often that I am in a unique position when it comes to experience with September 11 – while a number of us were in close proximity when it happened, I have generally been one of an extremely small number who actually witnessed the events firsthand as they happened. As such, I’ve often been found to have a unique perspective I’m not all too proud of having – it made me unique in a way I felt no fifteen-year-old deserved.
This past week, Emily Paret wrote an editorial regarding her feelings about “The Flight that Fought Back” and noted that most people don’t feel the effects of tragedy for years after, and further documented her change in perspective and ability to find personal relation with those depicted in the film.
I find this commendable and warm-hearted but at this point, trite, and even pyrrhic.
Perhaps I am jaded by my self-proclaimed unique perspective. However, September 11, 2001, happened in 2001.
We are now very strongly situated in 2005, and the recent passing of this date marks the four-year anniversary of the attacks.
Nobody remembers the date of the Oklahoma City bombing offhand. They don’t remember the first time the World Trade Center was bombed. Nor will they, I expect, remember the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunamis, an event far more catastrophic – especially in terms of loss of human life – than the September 11 attacks.
There are reasons we don’t think of these things every time they come to pass, and honestly, if we did, we’d be paralyzed with fear and sadness. Remembering is important, but things are getting ridiculous.
I reiterate, I am not trying to say that we should forget. I still get the post-traumatic stress shakes every time I get seriously into this – I have them now as I type – and I will for the rest of my life. But I have also learned the importance of letting a subject die.
Keep the memories in your hearts, but don’t make them more than they are. It is in the past – it is over.
-Jay Miller
Class of 2008
