One final word

I’m writing to congratulate editor in chief Lance Madden for his latest column (“”Anger works in funny ways””, March 9). First of all, the editorial was very well written. It illustrated, it moved, it cried out with all the anguish associated with running a student newspaper, and finally, it wound up in slow motion and gave Hillel the finger.

It was also quite strategic. The Wildcat could not have planned a better time to bring up the issue of its slighted integrity again, except possibly Wednesday. “”Regardless,”” Madden proclaims, cashing in his chips before anyone has a chance to respond, “”It’s time to move on.””

However, despite this skillful writing, there are some issues. Never mind that Madden asserts a void of Jewish legitimacy in its homeland — his stance is already obvious. What is less overt, however, is his poor defense of the issue in question: the “”ethics”” of the Daily Wildcat.

Apparently Madden believes that because groups such as the UAPD do not bow down to reporters and give two-hour interviews on peripheral political issues, he can justifiably present students with inaccurate news. Students have every right to question the integrity of a newspaper that skews information out of spite, if not out of bias.

The editor complains about the great plagues brought down upon the Wildcat office by Hillel, which is, we’re told, the true villain for caring about political issues. Snapple Fact: if people didn’t care about issues, people wouldn’t read the newspaper. The signature of “”Michael Schwartz”” for a letter is then questioned, as if only one Michael Schwartz has ever graduated from this university.

When I was a freshman, there was always a morning scramble to get my hands on a coveted copy of the Daily Wildcat, which so many of my peers would read in class. This isn’t a problem anymore.

Coincidence?

This wasn’t the first time that I’ve seen Daily Wildcat employees angry that citizens would dare to decline to comment on an issue to reporters, but I hope it’s the last.

Regardless, it’s time to move on.

Daniel Greenberg

Near Eastern studies senior

Say your piece and move on

Before I say my piece, let it be known that I’m a former Wildcat sports editor who supports Israel and doesn’t exactly agree with the Motorola articles that have sparked so much anti-Wildcat talk around campus.

But I do find it a little ridiculous all the hate that has been spewed at Lance Madden and his staff. Isn’t there a better way to resolve these differences? I feel the “”fight”” between the Wildcat and different groups over the years (from cartoon troubles to this latest Motorola issue) has become bigger than the issues themselves.

This shouldn’t be about Lance and his integrity. I know Lance. I hired him and worked with him for two years. There’s nobody with more integrity than Lance Madden. This issue shouldn’t be about Lance any more than an anti-Semitic cartoon run in the fall of 2007 should have been about then-Editor-in-Chief Allie Hornick, who bore the brunt of the blame for that incident.

The Wildcat should run your letters on the ISSUE and even invite a counter guest opinion so that the other side is represented and dialogue is fostered, which is really the point of newspapers even today (yes, they still have a point). Let’s come together, voice our opinions, discuss the issues and with all the facts on the table everybody can come to their own decision.

As a whole, the Wildcat is not anti-Semitic, it doesn’t hate Israel and it doesn’t need diversity training classes. I’m not trying to defend these Motorola articles, and Lance even admits these faults in his Tuesday column. But if you did not sometimes disagree with the Wildcat it wouldn’t be a paper worth reading.

Michael Schwartz

Former Daily Wildcat sports editor

Red and blue … and white?

I am not here to bash on me or others paying more for this university’s tuition, but more on the topic of diversity. With tuition going up, changes with diversity is going to as well. Whites have continually passed down their wealth to future family keeping the family wealth, while other newcomers have not had this (seemingly taken for granted) opportunity. Where does affirmative action come into play here? All races are not equal yet here in America and the population speaks for itself. With our tuition going up, we will start to see less and less minorities especially at one of the cheapest public universities. Soon economic groups will be set apart further and further making diversity go down and the population of whites go up.

Stephen D’Addio

Undecided freshman