Author: [no author name found]
To the Editor:
After reading last week's front page article on the debate over the College smoking ban, I found myself agreeing with Reference and Instruction Librarian Brenda Ellis' claim that she would be satisfied if the results of the dialogue did nothing more then raise smokers' awareness.
After all, it was a front page article, The Middlebury Campus is a well-read publication, and we like to think of ourselves, I hope, as a tolerant, compassionate, understanding community that respects the difference of opinion and difference of choice amongst our student body.
Ideally, that would extend to respecting a person's choice not to do something and, I imagine, an effort not to force the effects of one's actions on another. I was surprised, then, yesterday evening when I arrived at Proctor Dining Hall to find a group of smokers blocking the entrance on that beautiful balmy evening.
I had no choice but to walk through the cloud of smoke that Director of Parton Health Center Mark Peluso had deemed "unacceptable." I was even more shocked to hear them complaining of the proposed ban.
Clearly, awareness of the issue has been raised-the respect for nonsmokers, however, has not been engaged.
I am not advocating a complete ban because I believe that would violate a person's right to choose to smoke. What I do strongly support is a measure that will allow one person's decision to be kept from affecting others, since awareness of the issue has unfortunately not made a difference.
Sincerely,
Chrissy Fulton '08
Concord, N.H.
To the Editor:
The March 2 opinion piece by Michael Jou entitled "Think about it, global warming does not exist" can be summed up in one word: paradoxical.
Jou claims that he wrote this article "to incite the reader to question global warming, to not accept science at face value and to become informed." However, he presents his argument in such a way as to immediately alienate any reader at all concerned with global warming.
His first line reeks of a tirade in the making - "environmental scientists are off their rockers" - and his subsequent assemblage of less than reputable "facts" bodes poorly for any sort of reasoned argument. It is only after this laundry list that the reader is informed that this is not a clear case of anti-environmental propaganda, but a teaching model, aimed at getting Middlebury students to question their "liberal" beliefs. The environment is not a liberal issue, it is a world issue. Just ask Senator John McCain. It is important to question, it is important to consider.
Perhaps Jou had an opportunity to inspire thoughtful debate. Instead, he tossed his hat into the ring with Crichtons and crackpots - and what good does that do anyone?
Sincerely,
Max Nardini '08
New York, N.Y.
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