Actually, my complaint this week is not with Student Life, but with the Professor and Chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures here at WashU. Lost in the sea of people complaining about the Ervin Scholarship becoming "integrated" (I'm sorry people, but if one minority group gets their own scholarship, then every possible minority group should get their own scholarship. Better to award money to the most deserving regardless of race.), was a letter from said Professor and Chair Elzbieta Sklodowska entitled "Murder is Not Funny". A true sentiment indeed. Here's the full text of her letter:

One might be inclined to ignore the general lack of taste and wit displayed in the recent issue of "Student Libel" as so much adolescent graffiti. Murder, however, is no joking matter, especially in a city where homicide rates have frequently been much higher than the national average --which is never an acceptable figure to begin with. Perhaps the editors ought to bear in mind their responsibilities as citizens of a larger community beyond the campus.


Very true, we do live in a crime-ridden cesspool, but the "murder" referred to in the letter (the full article can be read here), was, in fact, the death of a FREAKING RABBIT STATUE. Therefore, the concept of murder, when applied to a nonliving heap of metal considered absurd or whimsical depending on who you ask, is a "joking matter" (whether or not the story itself was amusing is another post entirely).

But don't worry, by next week idiot letters like this will be replaced by even dumber letters where frat boys try to justify their outlandish spending on temporary Thurtene Carnival facades (leaving no money to donate to charity) as "all about brotherhood and community".

Posted by: rkc at April 9, 2004 11:17 PM

Posted by: Anonymous at April 10, 2004 11:01 AM