Protesters, go home
Dear Editor:
Re: SWA protesters
Enough is enough. It is apparent to many of us that you are protesting because you have romanticized the idea that this will somehow add some meaning to your lives and you want desperately to “do something” to make a name for yourselves. What a pathetic sham it is that you are doing all this in the name of helping others.
Anyone who is willing to throw away a $20K per semester to flippantly protest about a living wage (an area where few, if any of you, have experience) is clearly too self-indulgent to actually make a difference. I certainly haven’t heard any solutions being offered up as to how to earn the extra income that it’s going to take to pay the extra wages for these workers. Were you just planning on adding another tuition hike so that your mommies and daddies can support your idealistic views?ÿ
Cut it out, kids. Go away and stop bothering people who actually have jobs to do. There are plenty of people willing to work for less than $9.16 an hour-a few Washington University grads included.
Your continued antics are not going to help your cause, and you are annoying the rest of us. I, for one, am tired of reading about the trouble you are causing on campus, and I am not any more inclined to support a living wage now than I was before this ordeal.
Clearly, your youth and inexperience have confused you into thinking that you can bully your way into making the University submit-hopefully starving yourselves will give you an idea of what it’s like to be poor, so you’ll realize why people actually get up and go to work.
I will be in town this weekend for the alumni reunion, and I hope that Thurtene is the only circus on campus at that point. It’s got to be embarrassing for those alumni who have $200K educations to be antagonized by protestors who want more pay for Bear’s Den workers than WU LA grads make working at a Quizno’s.
Franklin Boyer
Olin School of Business, Class of 2004
Hong Kong article was offensive
Dear Editor:
Re: “Notes From Abroad: Hong Kong”
This is my first time reading your paper, and I am sorry to say that I am very disappointed. To be honest, I wouldn’t have picked up a copy if numerous other people didn’t frown and inform me about an inaccurate and offensive article written about my hometown. I don’t mind the article’s inaccurate impression of the culture of Hong Kong, but calling the language “jibberish” and saying things like “I think they feel bad for having so many people in China, so they hire people to do everything” is just an insult to the intelligence of the readers. At least in Hong Kong, if I wrote something like that, the article wouldn’t even be considered for publication in my high school paper. I am not happy to read immature comments made towards other countries and cultures, and I am sure other readers will feel the same. Please review your content for the sake of your reputation.
(Excuse my English. Jibberish, I mean Cantonese, is my first language.)
Kenneth Lee
Class of 2008
Living wage a goal since 2003
Dear Editor:
Re: “Did we miss the meeting?”
Yes, Mr. Martin and Mr. Wiseman, you did miss the meeting. Actually, you missed three years of meetings and hard work on the part of the dedicated members of the SWA. A living wage has been a goal of SWA since 2003, and to claim that the requests of the protesters are “out of nowhere” demonstrates either a gross misunderstanding or a major lack of research. I respect your attempt to think critically about social justice from any direction, but next time try to do some background checks before putting anything into print.
Rachel Meltzer
Class of 2008
Bookstore rape cartoon inappropriate
Dear Editor:
Re: “The Adventures of the Bookstore” editorial cartoon
We were deeply concerned by the inclusion of such a cartoon in this newspaper. We were disappointed that the editors of Student Life felt it appropriate to joke about sexual assault in such a hurtful manner. Equating sexual assault with overpriced textbooks delegitimizes the experiences of the many survivors and their friends and family within the Washington University community. Such minimization of the effects of sexual assault breeds an atmosphere of disrespect.
Although our primary role is to serve as a resource for our callers, we feel it is important to cultivate a supportive environment on campus. We hope that in the future, this newspaper will, as it has in the past, be a forum for constructive and educational discussion of these important issues.
Sexual Assault and Rape Action Hotline (SARAH)
Washington University
Thurtene more of a nuisance than SWA
Dear Editor:
I am terribly disappointed. I saw a letter in my inbox from the chancellor saying that he intends to enforce the “University’s Judicial Code, which prohibits ‘interfering with the rights of other members of the University community and visitors to the University to engage in educational, recreational, residential, administrative, professional, business and ceremonial activities or other functions.'”
I was excited about that. Then I read closer. It seems that he intends to enforce this against the SWA, who seem quiet, respectful and relatively unobtrusive. I’d hoped that he was planning to do something about Thurtene, which consists of loud, obnoxious people who have physically blocked much of the access to the building I take classes in. Given a choice between a sit-in and a carnival, I’d take the nice sit-in any day-at least they are quiet.
Melissa Hall
School of Law