In a letter to the editor last week ASPC President Brian Andrews addressed happenings at Pomona College last semester and looked forward to the remainder of this semester. But instead of a candid reflection on the good and bad things about Pomona, Andrews offers an airbrushed portrait of the college that reads like a cross between a Shakesperean Sonnet and a Stalininst propaganda poster.

That Andrews penned his letter in a good faith effort to do what is best for the college is possible. But Andrews mistakes the role of the ASPC President and the ASPC Senate. Pomona students do not need an ASPC President to spoon feed us mashed up Prozac tablets with our free beer at parties. Our collective self-esteem does not require a congratulatory slap on the back for the "positive energy which pervaded campus last semester." Last semester was like any other semester, with ups and downs, good times and bad. In my analysis, positive energy at Pomona was as it always has been: on an interruptible rate plan.

Senate needs to come to terms with potential threats to the well-being of Pomona students, in addition to taking simple, immediately apparent actions to maintain business as usual.

Never has a society which ignored its problems succeeded in overcoming them. Pomona students will have a lifetime to put up with feel good national leaders that depend on baseless popularity and sentiment to rule. But Pomona students should not have to put up with an ASPC President that leads the student body in such a manner. There is no bid for re-election at the end of the year. There is no approval rating. There is no legacy. So give it to us straight Mr. President. In reality, only the most extreme pessimist will not acknowledge the possibility for improvement.

Sincerely,

Conor Friedersdorf ’02