Letter to the Editor

Author: [no author name found]

In the recent article by Madison Kahn entitled "Homelessness issue hits home in Midd dorm," the descriptions of the homeless couple as they left the dorm were particularly insensitive. In reference to the two leaving, the phrases "He quickly scurried away" and "scampered away as quickly as possible" are used. People do not scurry. People do not scamper. I am uncertain why such a term would be used to describe a homeless couple. If you were to describe a student or robber in a dorm would you use the term scurry or scamper? I doubt it. The use of such terms implies a sort of sub-human quality to such actions. It almost conveys a sense of superiority, as if these individuals are lesser people or have less value. Such terms immediately bring to mind and are often used in conjunction with rodents and insects. To further illustrate this point: without referencing the article, I asked a high school senior English class to tell me the first thing that came to mind when they heard the word "scurry." Here are a few of their responses: rats, cockroaches, running through dirt, creatures, bugs. These students are the type of demographic that a newspaper should be able to convey a clear message to, and if those are the sorts of connotations a quote like that implies, there is a problem. There are a myriad of other terms that more aptly (and often) apply to humans first that could have been used in these cases: left, rushed, departed, fled, ran away. The use of the given terms is baffling and offensive. I hope that future articles will be more mindful of semantics.

- Michael Stefanik '09