Letters To the Editor...

Nadine;

This letter is in response to yours of last week. It is in support of your stand and, of course, Libby’s and any one else who has taken a stand this semester to try and stop this abomination called the X-Press from printing such vile material, I have many ‘formal’ complaints so the best idea is to list them (since the complaints I have forwarded to the editor all semester have been ignored):

1) Backlash - this column is as homophobic, anti- womyn, and racist as it gets. They may protest this statement but taken as a whole this semester (and having seen the ‘original’ articles) there is no other conclusion. I feel that as long as comments in their column, suchas the ‘contest letter’, their first article and last week’s paperasa whole, are allowed to be given space then the University and the newspaper are helping to promote these views. If ‘total? freedom of speech were allowed in this country then Keegstra and others like him would be legally allowed to print and distribute their literature. Since they are not, I be- lieve it is time for this university, especially the Student Union, to take a serious look at this situation.

2) The infamious ‘Petition’ - I take great offense on being implicated as a drinker who signed. I person- ally had two sheets filled with names and none were signed at the Lounge or under the influence of alco- hol. As to the reference that it is the “Libby peti- tion’, since a number of us were involved in circulat- ing the petition, I believe this remark is way out of line. As to the implication that it never existed, believe me I had my hands on it and so did a number of others and those who made sure it disappeared only helped fuel the fire.

3) The XPress as a newspaper? - since this is a form of journalism, then I believe some of the rules regard- ing journalism should be followed. The lack of correct spelling, grammar and lack of facts are hor- rendously repeated week after week. Since we, the students, pay fees that include the publishing of this paper and the Student Union pays the salaries of the people who work on the paper, I believe we should be getting our money’s worth.

4) Lack of responsibilty - this is mainly on the part of the Editor. He blatantly has ignored important sub- missions to the paper. His excuse ‘‘we randomly

UPEI X-P RESS

April 9, 1992

select’” if too much is submitted is ridiculous. Arti-— | cles from the Senior Class President regarding nomi- nations for awards (witha deadline), announcements from Student Services regarding application deadlines for scholarships, and advertisements with time sensj- tive material (and paid for) are just a few of the omissions. Instead we see lots of cartoons, Pictures with no captions and three Pages on hard rock music!

also am angry that this Person received a salary yet did not do his job.

5) The election - I was helping one of the candidates with their advertisin g and had prepared an ad on disk and hard copy ready for the Paper. The Editor stated that no ads were running that week unless paid for ($500) and that the week before election he would give a free space to all candidates. The following week the prepared ad was submitted, this time when it did not appear, the excuse was, ‘*we could not bring it up on the computer.’’ Since there was hard copy attached (camera ready) and the Editor had been told it was in Pagemaker, this is a lousy excuse. I would like to know if the two 1/4 page ads that appeared the first week were paid ads?

6) The libel and the promotion of violence - Last week’s newspaper was completely over the mark. Libeling Libby was the last straw. many times they printed lies in the past too numerous to mention but | believe the letters to the editor by Dean Smitheram, Vaughn Jeliffe, and Don Mazur support this point. | am aware that Libby personally spoke with the editor to lodge a formal complaint last week and it was only after this that such an attack was made.

7) The comparison of the Backlash page with the Campus Women page - I take offense that the content of these two pages can even be remotely compared. I wrote a number of articles forthe Campus Women’s page and they were researched and factual. Not once did I say anything to harm another person. I believe there should be ample opportunity to publish articles that are well-researched and factual on both womyn and men. As I graduate this year I sigh with relief that I will not have to deal with this in the future. However, Iamtruly afraid for others who follow behind me. Wake up folks, this isn’t the Dark Ages. It is time to stop this abuse of human rights and the freedom of speech. It is too late in the year to for- mally fire the editor but I believe a formal apology is required to Libby, Michelle, and Vaughn. For the

hs See mis x

future, a set of rules regarding this paper must be set down in writing so no one again says’’ I’m sorry

Page 4