Letters...

‘YOUR FORUM FOR DISCUSSION= The Gem vigorously encourages’ dissent and contro- versy and prints all letters to the Editor except

those of a malicious nature,

Letters must be

signed and include the authors phone number. However, names can be withheld from publica- tion by request. Deadline for letters is Monday,

12:00pm.

Dear Editor;

I am writing in response to the advertisement concerning the Campus Police in the “Five Lines Free” column of the October 29 edition The GEM.

Obviously, the person who submitted the article, under the pseudonym “Pit Poodle”, was re- ferring to my hiring of a tem- porary Campus Police officer on Tuesday, September 13. The “Pit Poodle” is correct in sug- gesting that this particular tem- porary employee has a less than reputable behavioral record on campus. He is also correct in stating that the person in ques- tion is a resident of Marion Hall. The problem, then, lies in the

' “Pit Poodle’s” insinuation that I

am hiring persons of questionable character simply because they are fellow Marion Hallers. This is not the case. The thirty applicants for positions with the Campus Police will be screened and inter- viewed by a six member hiring board, and only the most quali- fied will be chosen. On Septem- ber 13, however, none of the full— time Campus Police were avail- able to work the morning book- store shift due to class schedules. I was forced to hire a temporary employee to fill that shift, and I chose the person in question, knowing him to be responsible and trustworthy. True, my choice

was made on the basis of prox- imity, but it was definitely not a case of favoritism. The person in

question was kind enough tolend §

his time on very short notice, and did his work satisfactorily.

If the “Pit Poodle” would pre- fer to discuss this matter in per- son, he should feel free to call me at Marion Hall, room 200A (368- 9896). I sincerely hope that. my explanation of this incident will clarify the matter, as I had no in- tention of offending anyone by my decision.

Yours Truly, Kelly VanBuskirk Chief of Campus Police

Dear Mr. Morrell;

-....Your story (New Revolu- tions, The Gem 9/29/88) was not only to the point but poignant. Kids to-day have no focus. They wander shopping malls in what Edwin Robinson would term a “piritual kindergaten”. (Oh, who could forget poor Richard Cory?!) Undoubtedly, these kids grow into adults without the strong sense for the social ani- mals that we are. As a ‘true-

believer’, I find it hard to un- derstand their actions and I am leary of them. Graham Green’s short story The Destroyers high- lights this new individualistic rev- olution in the character of Trevor. The novel “A Clockwork Orange” likewise paints a dim picture of the future adults we are soon to be faced with.

was: Growing up in a large metropolitan city and having

been a member of a ‘gang’ dur- ing the early seventies, where it was not only fashionable but also a necessity, I remember the sense of comradery I had to this day. Whenever, wherever, I am Ido not feel wholly alone. To-day I’m much of a misanthrope, perhaps too much, but I see the hurt that pours forth from these kids and can only envision with the lights- on what they shall become.

Island Breweries Fails to Honor Agreement

On Wednesday of last week, the Engineering society arranged with Island Breweries Ltd. to purchase a keg for their annual Cornboil and were told that in buying one, they could get an- other one free as a special of- fer. We were thrilled to hear this as it meant saving a great deal of money that would otherwise have been spent on buying bot- tled beer. The agreement was made and the deposit was paid for two kegs, a total of $250.

Two days later on the day of the Cornboil, several repre- sentatives of the society went to pick up the two kegs, but were told that the offer that was made two days before was no longer valid, that the simply couldn’t give away a keg for free. This would have been fine had they not

already agreed to give us the keg.

As a result, we were forced to go out and buy more bottled beer than we had already planned to

Page 4

buy, which was a drain on the So- ciety’s meager funds.

The fact that they could not give us a free keg was not the problem. The problem was that they had already told us that we could have the keg for free and even took our deposit to prove the point. As a small repayment for our troubles, they returned the deposit for both kegs, but the fact remains that they had mis- lead us, forcing us to make last minute changes which delayed the Cornboil as we had to wait for the supplies to be purchased again.

We don’t appreciate, as I am sure no one else would, being told one thing, only to find out that it never was their policy to do so. This makes me wonder what made them agree to it in the first place, or if it was their policy, why did they all of a sudden tell a faithful customer that they could not honor their original contract. It is this that we are, to coin a phrase, extremely pissed at.

I ask you now to review the facts. We, the society made an agreement in faith that they would honor their end of the bar- gain, but they in the space of two short days changed their minds and expected us to take it lying down. We have been ardent sup- porters of Island Brewery’s Draft and have at virtually every Engi- neering function bought at least one keg and have supported oth- ers in doing the same at their functions. This was the way they treated a customer, they broke an agreement that should not have

been made in the first place if it

was not their policy to make such agreements. This is not the way to run a buisness, it in most cases results in a buisness losing more and more customers until they simply fold. I would hope that such practices would not continue or they I could see them losing more customers.

Sincerely,

Engineering Society

“Journalism: a profession whose business it is to ex plain to others. what it personally does not

understand.” _ - Lord Northcliffe

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Thursday, October 6, 1988