Author: Michelle DeLateur
Dear Editor,
As usual on an afternoon around 5:45, I read the digest to see the events on campus and what is occurring at Occidental. However, on Tuesday the 17th, I was disgusted to find a letter by Nicholas Keune that apparently summarized how I, a student at Occidental, feel about the “monsters under our bed bureaucracy.” Unfortunately, sir, that is not how I feel. I am livid by the fact that you have used a national tragedy to launch an assault against the administration and campus safety. This splitting campaign is not what campuses across the nation need right now, and frankly, is not directly related.
I do believe that the recent events of car violence with the assumption of a hate crime, a message board on which we exploded about our issues (while also relishing in the secrets others told- I confess I was addicted), and the Virginia Tech murders have created a tense situation on campus. We are prompted to share our innermost opinions, with or without basis, and often times fail to acknowledge the opinions of others. However, I do not see the link between the Virginia Tech incident, Campus Safety reports which apparently (according to Nicholas) are not factual, and the bureaucracy of Occidental’s administration. The VT incident can be taken as a completely separate event, one not motivated or influenced by the bureaucracy at Occidental College. If someone had the motivation to perform this heinous act, I doubt whether the administration at particular campus would be strong enough to stop it preemptively. And I also believe that no matter the leader of our country or his years at law school, taking your personal opinion at bay, Occidental can create its own politics and sense of community. In terms of our Campus Officers, you are seriously mistaken. If you have ever truly interacted with Campus Safety, you would know that their number one priority IS the student body. And I am confident that if an incident like the one at VTech were to occur on our campus (God forbid), our officers would do their best to keep us out of harms way.
Please stop submitting your messages on the Oxy Digest to all of us and assume that we agree with your opinion. Place your thoughts on a board or the newspaper where we can choose to read it as such: an opinion.
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