The Cadre -

17 March 1998

Editoral

A master of public relations once said, “The medium is the message.” His realization was that it is not so much what you say, as where and how you say it. A sad little piece of information, but true nonetheless.

Take, for example, the Letter to the Editor written by on Neil Barry, concerned linguist-at-large. Recently, Mr. Barry took it upon himself to enlighten us here at the ‘news’ paper of our many great failings, and submitted his letter with a copy of The Cadre covered in ink due to his many comments and corrections. His letter raises many interesting questions that I strongly feel need answering before | file it in my special folder marked ‘yadda-yadda-yadda.’

First, I’m not quite sure what I should feel: (a) pride that someone thought the paper worth correction in great detail, or (b) amazement that someone would actually take a sit down, and correct the in great detail. Do | offer my thanks or do I suggest professional help?

Second, I’m confused as to Mr. Barry’s purpose. If it was his intent to offer positive criticism of the a accompanied with suggestions for improving both content and style, then, I must admit, he has failed -- rather miserably, in fact. If, however, it was his intent to humiliate a small group of volunteers, belittle their efforts, and create general feelings of inferiority and uselessness, then he has accomplished exactly that. Bravo, Mr. Barry! You may now move on to kicking the occasional stray dog.

In Mr. Barry’s defence, the comments he made in the

he corrected are, in many ways, quite true. The spelling mistakes, the lack of reference for our quotes, the lapses in analytical reasoning, the essay-like writing style -- they exist. There is more to journalism, though, than style. Sometimes, just sometimes, the content is important as well.

I do not deny that we have a duty to present that content in our best way and with the best possible research. We are students, though. We have essays and exams, classes and schedules. We do what we can with the time and resources we have, and sometimes, just sometimes, we fall short in our mission. Perhaps it is your duty, then, to bea little more forgiving

when that . Forgiveness, however, requires under- standing. You ; ing a mile in someone else’s shoes. Maybe we can help you a little with that perspective.

You will notice that your letter has been printed in its entirety, much to your misplaced beliefto the contrary. Youwill also notice a little bonus, proof that we have taken your kind words to heart. eee our newspaper, we decided to display, in great detail, your

errors and lapses in reasoning. This is nota simple exercise in revenge. This is a lesson in A

You see, I want you to know what it is like to have your name appear under a big headline, with your thoughts and feelings on display for everyone to see. | want you to know what it’s like for tobe less concerned about what you say then how and you say it. , 4

Rest assured, sir that somewhere, right now, someone is reading your article. Someone, somewhere, is shaking their head, wondering why we let write for our paper.

Welcome to our world, Mr. Barry. | hope you enjoy your stay.

17

Letters to the editor

vy lorined © \ uly tiles ay in italics, ov andetingd ; Ay

eres ; do | begin” 1 that | should begin with/an observation on the person to ? whom | am writing this lettgf that person being the editor /1 must hat since there are

apparently four different edifors employed not entirely sure which one | am. or

"4 mo wa Gs py an Taine fot ft op Cdon then proverbial “shoe” by the end of this letter. should “wear it" A t that wth four 44.2

editors combing through the many articles which grace the pages of our fine paper. that the

average reader would rarely find a mistake So you can imagine my surprise, when upon reading italics © the current I found several articles which appeared to have been written by t ued pr (albert preschoolers with impressive vocabulanes) If you fail to share my opinion pron ior §

on this. | suggest taking a closer look at the two articles by Brod, Morrison on page six of the last issue For example. Mr Mornson seems to beheve that Jagice Broderick makes up the enur swudent union at UPE! “UPEI SU Janice Brodenck admas(~. } a dir such mistake might be excusable. but my poor highhghter wenrGry higinighn that particular writer

Even the fact that some of the articles being printed in the Cadre are not well Wrerks,

ore

indentation. cicen not be so bad, if thev were at least well researched, and/or objective For Mr

ve. Mornson to state that “the SU 1s [in] clear violation to BOG by-la Offering no evidence to back up the statement. is only one example “Gate w “journalists” bend the facts

to fit their stones Another common practice Mr Morrison in particular, is to

offer information as important, without giving the reader a credible sourc commenting at

all on supposedly important quotes For example. the ‘victim’ interviewed in the article was A OR quoted as saying "a lot of other universities cover dent Mr son did not address this

weide Ss *

other universities offer more dental benefits, was this fact left out intentionally, in order to make Morrison's arguments appear stronger” After all. it is obvious upon reading this piece of

claim at all, and this leaves readers wondering if, in fact, this is the case If it ts not the case t

mark: {nection ro

doesn't make it abundantly clear what thev feel our : er t ive” journalism” seems to be more of a collection of

; a newspaper z

Alas day cruel tuehatts doeen't endl there Fiat 1 must admit that I'm not a well-

travelled man. I'm not a man of high society or high culture But | do believe that | have seen

enough. and read enough in my lifetime to be able to judge whether or not something is based on again

the thinking of a rational mind So, with that in mind. I'm left w ing what in the hell Comuras editorial was about Reading the title, “Why school is failing me prepared for a critical 4p wide evaluation of university procedure, or perhaps a comment on a university education might qystatin

not prepare us for the workplace Instead. | was left wondering if the poor editor was suffer row from some rare form of schizophrenia. or perhaps under the influence of some exotic cheuld

altering drug Hmm maybe that eee unique editing style” i By Neil Barry vrlodine

nate

Dear Editor, . After reading The CADRE dated Feb 17, 1998 I realized how shallow and naive I must

have been as a University student in the late 1950's. For example the Editorial concerning the cancellation of phone e at the library because of student abuse is a real loser. Is this one of the important issues on the UPEI campus

in te 4 If it is, either UPEI is the next place to heaven or today’s students are a bunch of sheep or both.

Another example is the story of Peter Gillis, private fevestionec sho exposes the antics of a collection in Ontario. 1 wonder why Mr. Gillis can’t find something close to home to expose? (Like at UPEL.)

The CADRE is polite, politically correct, very serious and very boring. Let’s pull mo next few issues and surprise everyone with some lack of respect, humour and boldness. Who knows it might be fun!

D.D. Steeves

PS. Devote an issue to bird courses at UPEI and student assessment of teachers of bird courses.