2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 3/28/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Dear Editor,
Enjoyed the Collegian View very much this week (3/21/06)...you recognized Tony Vala-Haynes controversial work, but you welcomed the differing viewpoints of your readers. This is as it should be in journalism. Kudos to you.
And once again, I give praise to Tony for his moving article of yesterday's edition. I've stated it before and I'll state it again, he is one fine journalist and how I hope and pray he moves forward into journalism as a career someday. His gift and ability to write is of great value, and reaches the mind, heart and soul of those who are really listening...
Sincerely,
Peggie Davis,
Saint Mary's Staff Member
Dear Editor,
I once opined that, when it comes to the student newspaper, the best a college administrator can hope for is that as few copies leave the campus as possible. Now that The Collegian has gone on-line, the responsibility bar must be raised almost to the adult level. If other alumni have indeed called for Tony Vala-Haynes' ouster, please add me to the list.
The most offensive racism in his angry screed wasn't the repetitive assault on whiteness, but rather his insult to women of color. Given the abortion industry's oxymoronic use of the term "pro-choice," it may come as a surprise to some that the act that causes pregnancy has not happened accidentally in all of recorded human history. So, in arguing that abortion is essentially the exclusive domain of minority and poor women, indeed, so foreign to the white experience that whites, even elected officials, have no right to take a position on the matter, Vala-Haynes implies that non-white women have neither the intelligence nor the self-control to keep themselves from becoming pregnant. Now that's racism. Just trying to get the conversation started, Tony? Come on! Today's political dialogue seems interested in little else. I am not so naive as to expect that exposure to Catholic education will always result in acceptance of Catholic doctrine, but I think it's at least fair that students know what the Catholic church actually teaches before holding forth on it from the bully pulpit of Collegian editorship. From his article on capital punishment, in which he again takes a swipe at the Church, it seems that Tony is unfamiliar with the Church's position on capital punishment. Danny Acosta also reveals an incomplete education on his favorite subject, the Catholic church, but seems unable to switch to another topic. Danny, for theological insight, try Aquinas instead of MTV. For sheer dialectic depth, Alana Weinroth's article seems to have been ghost written by one of the Hilton sisters.
Offensive and poorly argued opinion pieces hurt the College's academic reputation and its ability to recruit and fundraise, which is harmful to your fellow students. Please learn to disagree respectfully.
John Neudecker '72
Enjoyed the Collegian View very much this week (3/21/06)...you recognized Tony Vala-Haynes controversial work, but you welcomed the differing viewpoints of your readers. This is as it should be in journalism. Kudos to you.
And once again, I give praise to Tony for his moving article of yesterday's edition. I've stated it before and I'll state it again, he is one fine journalist and how I hope and pray he moves forward into journalism as a career someday. His gift and ability to write is of great value, and reaches the mind, heart and soul of those who are really listening...
Sincerely,
Peggie Davis,
Saint Mary's Staff Member
Dear Editor,
I once opined that, when it comes to the student newspaper, the best a college administrator can hope for is that as few copies leave the campus as possible. Now that The Collegian has gone on-line, the responsibility bar must be raised almost to the adult level. If other alumni have indeed called for Tony Vala-Haynes' ouster, please add me to the list.
The most offensive racism in his angry screed wasn't the repetitive assault on whiteness, but rather his insult to women of color. Given the abortion industry's oxymoronic use of the term "pro-choice," it may come as a surprise to some that the act that causes pregnancy has not happened accidentally in all of recorded human history. So, in arguing that abortion is essentially the exclusive domain of minority and poor women, indeed, so foreign to the white experience that whites, even elected officials, have no right to take a position on the matter, Vala-Haynes implies that non-white women have neither the intelligence nor the self-control to keep themselves from becoming pregnant. Now that's racism. Just trying to get the conversation started, Tony? Come on! Today's political dialogue seems interested in little else. I am not so naive as to expect that exposure to Catholic education will always result in acceptance of Catholic doctrine, but I think it's at least fair that students know what the Catholic church actually teaches before holding forth on it from the bully pulpit of Collegian editorship. From his article on capital punishment, in which he again takes a swipe at the Church, it seems that Tony is unfamiliar with the Church's position on capital punishment. Danny Acosta also reveals an incomplete education on his favorite subject, the Catholic church, but seems unable to switch to another topic. Danny, for theological insight, try Aquinas instead of MTV. For sheer dialectic depth, Alana Weinroth's article seems to have been ghost written by one of the Hilton sisters.
Offensive and poorly argued opinion pieces hurt the College's academic reputation and its ability to recruit and fundraise, which is harmful to your fellow students. Please learn to disagree respectfully.
John Neudecker '72