GODDARD EDITORIAL FRAUGHT WITH ERRORS
Every once in a while I come across a piece of journalism
which merits intense study: Not because it is worthy of the
Pulitzer Prize, but because it is so ridiculous that I have
to wonder how it even got printed. One of those works was
the aptly entitled editorial, "Anarchy
101," in the April 23rd Times Argus.
I am amazed that an editorial staff would allow such a tabloid
style editorial to appear on its page. Aside from being sophomoric
in its style and juvenile in its tone, this editorial so fraught
with generalizations and misinformation that it hardly passes
as a well-thought out, much less well-articulated, opinion.
First, and most glaringly incorrect, is your documentation of
the "demonstration." I was at the front of the demonstration,
with a community vote of no-confidence in hand. We came straight
from a meeting to the hallway, where the demonstration was
spontaneous. The only faculty member present was Dan Chodorkoff,
who was not wielding a baseball bat. Oddly enough, the time that
I was there, no one in the hallway had a baseball bat; that is one
of the qualities inherent in a non-violent demonstration. He may
be referring to a student who had one point was in possession of
the bat, but certainly never wielded it. This statement was
totally misleading.
Second, your generalizations are gross and misleading. The Board of
Trustees has only five community members out of 25. The current board
is made up of many members whom President Richard Greene proudly and
openly states were "hand chosen" by him. Furthermore, Jane Sanders
is its chairperson and has only one vote. Sadly, the Board's decisions
are not bound by consensus but only by a supermajority vote of 50
percent. Now, if you do a little math, you'll see that five members
are not enough to swing any vote.
Third, you suggest that the college might be better off without some
faculty. Whom? This college's only real resource is the human kind,
and those are scarce enough. Most academic areas at the college
composed of only one or two faculty members. Lay them off, and who
will be there to teach? You make a snide innuendo about firing "some
of the more grizzled Jacobins." Whom do you mean? This stereotype
deserve some names. Of course, since you are not a student at Goddard,
you are not informed about the faculty who teach here. So why do you
make these generalizations?
It is obvious that without any facts on which to base your opinion,
you have relied on inflammatory glamorization to uphold it. This
editorial sounds like a letter from Richard Greene to the students
telling us to be quiet act like students should: obedient and mindless.
It is a slap in the face and an insult to the intelligence of the
students at Goddard.
The next time you publish an editorial, please make sure that if
it supports itself with facts, the facts are correct. It appears
The Times Argus has taken a lesson from Rush Limbaugh. So,
whose esoteric now?
Chris Riddell
Goddard College student
