Miami Student

Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Editorials

Gay tolerance needs emphasis in news

"Quality control" was a phrase that came to mind after I read the article about the destruction of Spectrum's table tents. I understand that journalistic reporting is by no means an easy undertaking, but I feel that the April 17 article "Employee's alleged action creates conflict" was written haphazardly and somewhat apathetically due to its inconsistent focus and aversion of the real issue at hand, which is awareness and acceptance of the LGBTQ community and related issues/events. First, I would like to correct the misnomer that the ripping, "misplacing" or intentional removal of Spectrum's Awareness Week table tents was "alleged." It did, in fact, occur. Regardless of the perpetrator or the means by which these tents were harmed, it cannot be disputed that the tents were not widely present on dining hall tables as they were intended to be. By omitting the factual scarcity of table tents, The Student seems to also be approaching the issue with skepticism and relative apathy, as if it may not have happened or that it is unimportant. Much of the details surrounding the tents themselves were completely unmentioned and it was never clearly outlined what was being opposed on the table tents. The article mentions that the tents advertised the events of Spectrum's Awareness Week, but it failed to mention that the real issue some had with those tents was the photographs on them. The table tents featured two versions: one in which two men's faces were close together (but were not kissing) and another in which two women were embracing. What the article did not include was that it was the tents featuring two men that were destroyed or displaced and not the tents featuring women. It is the voyeuristic double standard of same sex attraction that was the real issue behind the removal of the tents and not the "unreliability" of dining hall distribution, as the second half of the article describes. This article moves from skirting the problems Spectrum experienced with their table tents to the inconsistency of placing table tents on a more general note. The difference between the forgetfulness of displaying other organization's table tents and the removal of Spectrum's tents is that the latter occurred to due intolerance and a lack of understanding. It is clear to me that even in the journalistic world, such concerns of the LGBTQ community are regarded with less consideration and importance than other issues at hand. I believe that The Miami Student should focus more attention on this already underrepresented and misrepresented student population, devoting the time and attention to the reporting of these stories that they deserve. After reading this article, I am uncertain whether it is intolerance for LGBTQ issues or indifferent attitudes toward reporting them that is worse.


audrey lehr
Lehram@muohio.edu



Tuzcu's op-ed strays into war hyperbole

I am writing in response to John Tuzcu's April 24 article. I find it appalling that Tuzcu picks a time of tragedy for not only Virginia Polytechnic Institute, but for the country, to ramble incoherently about the war in Iraq. He make such grandiose statements such as, and I quote, "The United States has permanently destroyed and ended the lives if millions of Iraqis, though they remain numbers to most of us," yet doesn't back his numbers up with credible sources.

It seems to me that this Tuzcu guy hasn't taken a basic journalism class. Sir, you can ramble all the statistics off that you like, but without evidence and concrete sources behind them, they mean nothing. How do I know you didn't make the number of dead in Iraq up in your head? Better yet, have you been to Iraq? If not, how do you know that "Iraqi citizens are citing stress and anxiety levels that are untenable?" I know this is a liberal campus and that's fine with me.

Everyone has a right to their opinions, but when someone begins to spout nonsense and fails to tell the other side of the story, such as Iraqi's cheering in the streets with the execution of Saddam, Americans building schools and restoring electricity in Iraq, and women no longer having to wear a burka nor having to fear oppression, I begin to get a little angry. Please, before printing another liberal, left-wing bashing of the war or President Bush, make sure the facts are straight. You owe that to the student population.


audrey lehr
Lehram@muohio.edu


Oxford police feel train tragedy as well

As a Miamian and long time member of the Oxford community, I am saddened beyond words over the tragic loss of Beth Speidel. Truly, there is no way that we can fully understand the depths of grief that Beth's family and close friends are now experiencing. However, I must respectfully refute the letter printed April 24, that characterized Sgt. Jim Squance as cold and callous toward this sad accident. It is all too common to paint those in law enforcement as non-feeling, inhuman beings who simply have a job to do. Knowing Jim Squance personally, I know that he has had more than a few sleepless nights having to process the very sad circumstances of the accident.

I am sure that Sgt. Squance had great difficulty forcing his emotional feelings aside when investigating the tragic circumstances of the accident to carry out his duties as a law enforcement officer in an objective way. In this day and age, when our police professionals are second-guessed at every turn, I stand and applaud the Jim Squances of the world who care so much about our young people and their safety that they would remain in the profession.


darcy shriver
shrived@muohio.edu

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