Newspaper handled mishap with professionalism

On behalf of all those who participated in Dawgtoberfest I would like to extend my thanks to the Red and Black’s editorial board for their handling of the “uproar” resulting from the cartoon of Oct. 15th.

You accepted responsibility for accurately informing the public while reaffirming your desire to build relationships with student groups that benefit the campus as a whole. I applaud you for your prompt acknowledgement of misinterpreted information and trust that this situation will lead to redoubled efforts to be the most highly respected newssheet on any campus.

I eagerly await with the rest of the student body to see the heights the Red and Black is capable of, mindfully controversial cartoons included.

Liz Miller
Grad. Student, Decatur
Pharmacy

Paper shouldn’t have to apologize for opinion

I have one issue with the Red and Black’s apology on Friday, they apologized. One thing I have noticed from former letters to the editor and comments online is that people don’t seem to understand the point of an opinion section.

This is an area of the newspaper where writers are allowed to state their opinion. It doesn’t matter if you agree with them or not. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t do their homework and have the facts all wrong. It’s their opinion.

Now, Bill Richard’s cartoon makes an interesting point. I understand the College of Pharmacy tried to get flu shots but the cartoon goes deeper than that. The University as a whole makes more of an effort to look good and have high tech equipment than they do to keep their students healthy and safe. Anyone that tries to argue differently has never seen the horrible shape the dorms are in or the health department scores in the dining halls.

Amanda Tramel
Sophomore, Columbus
Secondary education

Musician has right to make Christmas album

I found Michael Prochaska’s Thursday column reviewing Bob Dylan’s new album, “Christmas in the Heart,” unnecessarily aggressive. Prochaska accuses Dylan of being a “sell out” with his Christmas album. First of all, is a serious poet such as Dylan not allowed to kick back and indulge in the Christmas spirit?

Certainly he is one of the great lyricists of the 20th century, but he is also a musician who has created some truly exhilirating covers (his version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is vastly underrated) and I fully support his right to make the album he wants to without being called a hack. Second, and most important, Dylan will not see a cent of the profits from this album. All U.S. proceeds from the sales will be donated to to Feeding America, while sales in the UK will go to the Crisis charity.

A simple trip to Dylan’s website or the WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE for “Christmas in the Heart” could have told Mr. Prochaska this. But, sure, he’s a sell-out. Whatever.

Brendan Boyle
Freshman, Alpharetta
English and film studies

Hearing loss column gave no new information

As a student with profound hearing loss, I applaud Vivian Giang’s efforts to write a column about it. However, I couldn’t help but think that her column was simply a filler piece for the R&B on a slow news day. Giang’s column simply restated several facts from a news report from last week. It presented nothing new.

Being a student with profound hearing loss, I know how easily hearing loss can occur do to environmental factors and everyday activities, such as the alarm clock going off or listening music from iPods. I’m glad that the R&B decided to bring awareness to this problem, but I wish that they could have done it in different ways, rather than restating the facts in a column.

Chris Ra
Junior, Marietta
Agricultural and applied economics