Letters to the Editor (Editorial Policies)
Posted on February 5, 2007

Front-page photo ‘shoot’ inappropriate

I found the picture centered on the Feb. 1 issue’s front page to be highly inappropriate. The picture to which I refer is of the rescue worker holding his fingers up to his head as though to indicate a gunshot wound to the head. I understand that the article was about a man who is thought to have committed suicide here in Harrisonburg, and I understand the picture was not intended to be hurtful. However, as a school publication, it is important that we preserve the dignity of the community as much as possible. The pose, although an “action shot” and not planned by the photographer, does make light of the serious situation — some family out there has just lost its son/brother/etc. In the future, I would ask the editors to consider more carefully the scene they are portraying and attempt to preserve the dignity of the individuals affected most severely by it.

Rachael Wenger, junior biology and environmental management major

Making much of a good economy

Patrick Callahan’s Feb. 1 article, “Made in China,” serves as another piece of commentary that gets the American public to point the finger of blame at anybody but themselves. The article claims that America’s economy is undercut by manufacturing jobs in other countries. How many more jobs do we need in America? While this seems audacious to ask, a December report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that unemployment rates remain steady at 4.5 percent. If I remember my ECON 101 class correctly, that’s “full employment.” Most of that 4.5 percent is not seeking a job, or they are inbetween jobs looking for another [better] job. For whom are politicians protecting these jobs? Illegal aliens?

Secondly, Callahan’s heart bleeds for American companies who “shouldn’t have to compete” with poor countries. America needs to wake up and realize that the economy does not operate in a vacuum. General Motors’ demise is because of its own hands. Its years of lobbying against higher emissions requirements, such as catalytic converters back in the mid-1970s, have finally come back to bite them in the wallet. Many American cars, unlike their Japanese counterparts, cannot be sold in many foreign markets due to their poor emissions standards.

Finally, Americans do need to save. Mass consumerism is the culprit here, not outsourcing. If Callahan wants to truly make an example, I suggest he bypass the “chain appeal” of Cracker Barrel for a Sunday brunch provided by the local farmers of the Shenandoah Valley. 

Sean Lowry, sophomore international affairs and economics major