Unbalanced coverage of rally on Iraq
I was concerned by your coverage (October 6) of last Saturday's rally in Palmer Square, regarding the possibility of war with Iraq. I do not dispute what was written about the antiwar demonstrators. I was there, and what was written about their speeches, chants, etc was quite accurate.
What disturbed me was the disproportionate nature of the coverage. While you did acknowledge the presence of counter-demonstrators in the form of the Princeton Committee Against Terrorism, the article seemed to paint their presence in a comparatively negative light, inappropriate for an article that is not an editorial. Though the article, painstakingly quoted many of the antiwar protesters, there were no quotes from the opposition.
The P.C.A.T. demonstrators were afforded a single paragraph, which very roughly summarized their role in the rally. It would be one thing if the article merely disproportionately represented the two sides, but the article also contains a quotation, which I find personally offensive and downright inaccurate.
Immediately following the lone paragraph on the counter-demonstrators, there is a quote by a Keita Atkinson '06 who said: "It's funny, because most of these opponents are rich boys from Princeton who will never get drafted into this war if it happens." First of all, currently there is no draft, and if there was, distinctions in the draft based on economic status and even educational status are illegal. This is a simple matter of the law. Something that might also be pointed out to Ms. Atkinson is that several of the "rich boys from Princeton" (myself included) are enrolled in R.O.T.C. One of them, Pete Hegseth '03, will be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 9 months. Many of us were not there pushing for war with Iraq, but were there to express support for our servicemen and women and general patriotism.
I realize that the aforementioned quote was Ms. Atkinson's quote, and not that of your newspaper. However, I would have hoped that if you were going to include such a quote, you, as journalists, would explain any blatant inaccuracies in it. The presence of Ms. Atkinson's quote, without any suitable disclaimer regarding the aforementioned inaccuracies, implies your paper's acceptance of it as truth to the reader. I sincerely hope that this is not the case. Peter B. White '06
First indicator: The oped page response to the Love-in
The intangible homophobia that has always existed at Princeton is resurfacing now that the heterosexual norms — those of many powerfully invested people here — have been challenged. It makes me wonder what else is glossed over.
Dare we continue? Shall we challenge the legitimacy of White supremacy and of patriarchal oppression here at Princeton? Shall we question the resulting imposition of a tainted form of Judeo-Christian morality?! Or, as a capitalist and vulnerable human, am I (they, we) just too scared for my own survival? Virgilio Sklar '03
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Guest Contributors"As policy students, we are appalled by the blatant hypocrisy of the University administration, which has relied on fear-mongering and false narratives to discredit student protestors. We are increasingly disillusioned with the dissonance of what we are taught in our classrooms and the University’s actions."
"As policy students, we are appalled by the blatant hypocrisy of the University administration, which has relied on fear-mongering and false narratives to discredit student protestors. We are increasingly disillusioned with the dissonance of what we are taught in our classrooms and the University’s actions."
Faculty call on the Board of Trustees to act in face of hunger strike
Guest Contributors“The Princeton University administration should understand that the law loses its moral force when it becomes so detached from ethics and basic human decency. The administration is sacrificing its moral sense and its purported affiliation to human decency in the name of upholding arbitrarily designed and implemented campus rules and regulations.”
“The Princeton University administration should understand that the law loses its moral force when it becomes so detached from ethics and basic human decency. The administration is sacrificing its moral sense and its purported affiliation to human decency in the name of upholding arbitrarily designed and implemented campus rules and regulations.”
Letter to the Editor: The gross manufacturing of narrative
Sarah Sakha"The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a space we have created together, is an unwavering testament to community and care in the face of apathy, keeping each other safe by growing large, impenetrable, and powerful. And we have done so in spite of a larger apparatus working against students."
"The Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a space we have created together, is an unwavering testament to community and care in the face of apathy, keeping each other safe by growing large, impenetrable, and powerful. And we have done so in spite of a larger apparatus working against students."
