Re: Picture of the Day, ‘A mile in her shoes’
This letter is in response to the article in today’s paper about the NITE event Wednesday, Walk A Mile In Her Shoes. As the adviser to the organization and as a concerned citizen, I must express how deeply offended I am by your newspaper’s coverage of the event. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a consciousness-raising event that focuses on the effort men can make to prevent sexual violence. By reducing the event to a game for people to play — by matching up shoes to people — not only diminishes the impact of such an important march, but it also hurts many people who have been victims of sexual violence.

Additionally, the typos in the tiny section where the event is actually described shows how little attention was given to such an important student endeavor. As the editor of a school newspaper you should be embarrassed by the lack of coverage given to such a momentous occasion and the complete lack of respect such coverage offers the victims of sexual abuse.

Rachel Silverman is a communications graduate student and a graduate teaching assistant.

Re: Frivolous shopping spree raises ethical concerns
Regarding the “shopping spree” taken by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, someone didn’t do his or her homework before writing the article.

The clothing bought by the Republican National Committee for Palin is not personal property of Palin and everything is donated to charity after being worn. The clothing in question was purchased by an assistant, meaning Palin never went on this so-called spree.

Palin ran for office in Alaska wearing fleece and snow pants, so to assume she suddenly acquired a taste for high-end retailers is absurd. Anyone who bothered to do more research than reading The New York Times would have found that the majority of her clothing purchases are made from a consignment shop called “Out of the Closet” and her “favorite shoe store” is also a second-hand store.

The only frivolous acts taking place are the ridiculous attacks being made on Palin and her family. Last weekend, a photo of her youngest daughter carrying a purse “graced” Web pages. One headline read, “Palin’s Daughter Carries Obnoxious Handbag.” I am no handbag connoisseur, but I can spot a fake Louis Vuitton from a mile away, and the purse was a $20 knockoff. The article attacked the Palin family for “spending an outrageous amount of money on a custom handbag for their child” and painted them as elite, wealthy snobs.

Another attack was recently made regarding the size of the Palins’ home. An online article posted a photo of the Palins’ house alongside a zoomed-in photo of a portion of Sen. Joe Biden’s home, claiming that Palin’s home is much larger than Biden’s and possibly larger than Sen. Barack Obama’s. The problem with this article is that the Palin family home was built by Todd Palin. With his own two hands, this man built a home for his family, and the media are attacking them for it.

Can we stick to factual, relevant, non-frivolous issues in the editorial section? How about discussing how each candidate’s policies will affect us as students? How about discussing Obama’s plan to cut subsidies on federal student loans, which would cost students thousands of dollars, or McCain’s plans to initiate more programs that forgive student debt, enabling students to work in public service to erase their student loans?

Aron Lemon is a senior majoring in biomedical science.