Editor:

I’m writing to register my disgust at TSL’s "joke issue."

The first thing that struck me when I read the "joke issue" was the article ridiculing Professor Gaines, partially on the basis of his race. I don’t agree with Professor Gaines’ charges against the college, but I fail to see how what is to some extent a racially-based attack has any place in TSL. Not even as a joke.

Other comments throughout the articles maintain a tone of general intolerance, on grounds ranging from race to sexual preference. These topics are worthy of public discussion; they are serious issues facing us as a community. They are not topics to be ridiculed and used as a basis for denigration.

Last, but not least, are the personal attacks. While attacks/jokes on public figures, including school officials and professors, might be considered acceptable, attacks on private individuals are not. The flagrant irresponsibility with which TSL’s editors and writers have made use of a school-funded community resource to attack specific students is shocking. And no, putting up a disclaimer and saying that it’s all a joke doesn’t make it acceptable.

I am astounded that a paper which, if it had been published among the general public, would probably have resulted in pickets, public denouncements, and a dozen lawsuits for libel, could have been expected to be considered funny.

While I realize that the ASPC maintains a somewhat neutral stance as to the content of TSL, it is nonetheless the case that the ASPC is the publisher of the paper. As the ‘Associated Students of Pomona College,’ we should all be ashamed that we’ve financed this. I know I am.

So what do I want? I would like to see every editor, staff member, and writer for TSL who participated in the creation of the "joke issue" removed from the staff of the newspaper, and banned from serving on the staff of TSL or any other college-funded organization for the remainder of their time at Pomona. I’d like to see a public apology to the libeled parties and to the college community in general.

Am I overreacting? No. If this was a matter of political speech or a furthering of the public discourse, I would be writing just as strongly in favor of TSL. The fact of the matter is that a paper was published by a college-sponsored organization, in the name of the students of the college, that makes me–and I believe many others– ill to read.

I’m shocked that the editors could somehow believe that their control of the paper made it acceptable not only to act in a fashion which can only be described as disgraceful, but to consider it humorous at the same time. I’m shocked that the ASPC–whose intervention I would generally find inadvisable–stood idly by when it happened. For the first time, I’m ashamed that I go to Pomona.

Sincerely,

Ed Takashima ‘02