Scott Tibbs
Submitted to the Indiana Daily Student on 06-21-02

Facts missing in attack on Blattert

To the Editor:

I laughed out loud after reading Rebecca Bartlett's June 20th letter to the editor. Cherry Blattert certainly brings out a lot of criticism. I haven't seen this much venom spewed about an IDS columnist since the days of the infamous Reid Cox.

First of all, it looks really petty and childish for the president of Campus for Choice to whine about the fact that the president of IU Students for Life writes for the student newspaper. The tone of Ms. Bartlett's pontification suggests she wants to see Ms. Blattert removed from the opinion page due to her conservative views. I would hope the president of Campus for Choice would not advocate censorship of views she disagrees with.

Ms. Bartlett may also want to bone up on facts before she charges into a public forum. Despite criticism of his position as Opinion Editor while working for City Government, Travis Thickstun was not prevented from expressing his views. Mr. Thickstun finished his term as opinion editor, had columns published in the IDS summer edition on May 6, 16 and 30, and is the current World Editor. Furthermore, nobody suggested that he should not be able to write columns for the student newspaper. I am also surprised and disappointed that the IDS would publish a statement about itself that is so obviously untrue.

There is no need for Ms. Bartlett to ask that the IDS "allow columnists from both ends of the political spectrum to publish articles". The IDS has had no shortage of columnists from the Left end of the political spectrum, which a simple search of IDS archives can prove. I hope for Ms. Bartlett's sake she remembers her facts a little better when she takes exams than when she writes a letter to the editor.