Dear School Newspaper

A nickel for your thoughts.

The school newspaper is an institution established over a 100 years ago. It is a great example of what student drive and ambition can achieve. I respect this dearly.

A year ago a student at the University of Pennsylvania was vivisected by the school newspaper. In what they displayed as journalism they proceeded to slander his name in one of the arguably most biased pieces of pseudo-writing they have ever published. They apparently forgot - like most public media outlets do - that in America you are INNOCENT until proven guilty.

We wrote a letter to the editor regarding the unilateral attack that the article mounted. The obvious question was - of the many people quoted in the article for an opinion (almost, if not all negative character references), why were none of them his fraternity brothers? The people who probably knew him best.

If you push the matter you get silence in return. They probably have non-committal expressions to divert the subject. Make you forget all together. They are bound by journalistic integrity. This I respect. I "get" confidential information.

My doubt as to why the paper went silent after that article was published is still on my mind.

We are told that letters to the editors are published based on the intelligence of the argument, the appropriateness of language and thought provoking qualities.

The man who wrote that letter was a near 4.0 GPA ivy league student who went on to Law School. Usually the kind of person who can produce a cogent line of thought. He is also one of the smartest people I have ever met.

It the secrecy surrounding the topic is related to the eventual outcome of that article's accusation. They're clairvoyant you see? How can we compete with this?

We are told to get a letter to the editor published, a valid point must be raised. And yet they set a precedent that is big brotherish at best. Silence.

As an independent institution within the university they act with considerable autonomy. Attached is a whole lot legal responsibility. The staff would do well to remember though that to those to whom much is given, much is expected.

We are also told that an outright attack to the DP will not be published. I wouldn't expect them to and I am not bothered by this. It is a logical move and no one would expect them to do so. I don't think an outright attack would be in order.

I like the DP. I read it everyday. It has funny pieces, covers Penn Athletics, includes some worldly news articles and has some insightful editorials. What I am talking about is not meant to be an attack but a comment on the practices some, perhaps rogue writers/editors may have followed in the past. The idea is to provoke thought, to wake the silent majority.

And these thoughts are all part of a technically not off-the-record conversations.

Your move DP.