Nothing is more cowardly than the anonymous letter.
Our first issue of the semester featured a profile about a student on campus who was the subject of a documentary. Pretty rad, huh? I mean, if I were in a documentary I would definitely want some press coverage.
So the weeks go by and lo and behold, someone has taken the time out of his or her life to type up a strong- ly-worded letter about this particular student and insert it in copies of the Dixie Sun.
Now I'm all for sticking it to the man, so to speak.
Here's the thing: The person who wrote this letter, which by the way made for some nice afternoon laughter, obviously didn't believe what he or she was writing. I have come to the conclusion that this letter was a joke.
Unfortunately not everyone gets to see a letter that's haphazardly placed in copies of a newspaper. Sure, there were a few readers who found the little flyer, but for the most part we caught it before readership of this letter could get beyond one or two students.
And of course, the letter was unsigned. Again, this is just proof this person doesn't actually believe what he or she wrote. Anyone with any actual scruples would have signed a name to a letter like that.
So for anyone thinking about pulling a stunt such as inserting literature into a publication, at least have the cajones to write your name at the bottom.
To the person (or persons) responsible for the letter, your review is this: 10 of your next 11 writing endeavors going out unsigned. This means the next thing you are passionate about will be ignored, just like the letter that was put into our newspaper.
Dang, that sucks!
If it were me, my name would have appeared at the top and the bottom, as well as several places in between. That way, if anyone wanted to ask me further questions about my views, they could contact me. And if anyone wanted to dispute what I had written, I would be available to debate the issue (like a real man).
Do you know what is even funnier? Had this person submitted his or her letter to us via letter to the editor, the letter would probably have been published in our opinion section! Because guess what? Even when we as a collective staff don't necessarily agree with letters to the editor, we still publish them.
That means the author of that letter could have saved money on paper, saved effort on coming up with that clever pseudonym, and, most importantly, saved the time it took to execute the whole covert operation of putting the letter in the paper, which ultimately proved futile.
So here's a message to this un-named author: All is not lost. I highly doubt a coward such as yourself would re-submit your letter to us along with your name so it can be published, so I've decided to offer you some alternatives.
You can start your own publication and dedicate it completely to the bashing of articles you read in the Dixie Sun. That sounds like fun!
You can stand on the diagonal with a Zorro mask on (to properly hide your identity) and read your letter out loud to everyone who passes by in between classes.
Or, if you're not a scared little baby, you can re-submit the same letter to us with your name so we can publish it. This last choice, of course, is your best chance at getting a majority of the student body to read your thoughts.
Just trim your letter down a bit. We can't really publish a 1,000 word letter to the editor, but if you can somehow condense your views into about 500 words, I don't see a reason why we wouldn't publish it!
I have a final review for people who actually submit letters to the editor with their names on it, like a real man or woman:
You, my friends, get to have your views read by everyone who picks up the newspaper or seeks us out online. Your view will not only reach readers on the DSC campus but also readers nationwide!
Who knows, because you submitted your letter with your name attached, someone may call you up someday, and ask you if you have any thoughts on how to fix the problem you addressed. Way to go!
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