Letter presents anti-Alma values

Editor -

Like most of the campus community, I was outraged to hear about the anti-Semitic death threat Dr. Gilbert received on 2 March. Unfortunately, I was not particularly surprised. The sociopolitical atmosphere has become charged, on the national scale, with the recent controversies over homosexual marriage and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, and more locally, by the recent fervor over Thaddeus Hopkins’s letter regarding the Chapel.

While some have speculated that it was he who penned the death threat, I dismiss that immediately. Hopkins stated his opinions publicly, in contrast to the cowardly manner in which the letter-writer threatened Gilbert; likewise, Hopkins has never advocated violence in any of his public statements.

I wonder, though, if some have taken Hopkins’s sentiments as a permission slip for more virulent rhetoric, especially in the light of Gilbert’s strong opposition to Hopkins in The Almanian. I worry that this death threat might be indicative of deeper tendencies that have remained under our collective radar lately. Shortly after the tragedy of 9-11, I heard rumblings against “towel heads,” “camel jockeys,” and other epithets which I dare not submit for publication. Now I see that similar invectives have been hurled against another person of minority status. How successful has the College really been in “the liberation of people from ignorance, prejudice and parochialism”? (2003 Student Life Handbook, 2)

DAVID HENSLEY (04)

Concert review should have presented objective views

Dear Editor,

As a reader of The Almanian, I was insulted by Thad Hopkins’ article “ASO plays with power, accompanied by opera soloists.” First of all, examining great pieces of music like Intermezzo and Les Toreadors based solely on their association with video games is an insult to their talented composers and the musicians that performed them. His description of the concert made the music seem like merely a soundtrack to a video game or Disney movie, not great pieces of music in themselves.

Second, the subtle insult of opera singing was completely unnecessary and out of place. If the author feels this way about opera, that’s fine. It does not belong in a feature article. Feature articles are supposed to attempt objectivism. Opinion articles are where writers express their opinions freely. As a side note, the comment: “Why are we clapping when the conductor walks on the stage, having not yet performed?”, besides being unnecessary and drawing attention away from our accomplished orchestra, can easily be answered. The answer is the same to the question: why does the audience at a Red Hot Chile Peppers concert go crazy the second the band enters the stage? It shows excitement for the show and respect for the musicians.

A good example of an article that stays objective and is generally well written can also be found in this week’s paper: “Theatre entertains audience with Dancing in Lughnasa”, by Rachel Kingstrom. I would like to commend Rachel for remaining objective, but still keeping the article very interesting to read. I found the extra information about the hard work of the theatre company a pleasant addition to the article. I was also impressed by the apparent research that went into this article. If more feature articles where like this one, the Almanian would greatly benefit.

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