Letters to the Editor - Sept. 24

Theresa Marino

Cartoon "humor?"

This letter is to address the cartoons in the daily campus on September 21st. The two I'm referring to are "Victory Lap" by Zach Wussow and "Milksteak and Jellybeans" by Alex Dellin. I am outraged by these cartoons' lack of respect for women. How could both drawings be allowed into the OUR Daily Campus, IN THE SAME DAY!? I must ask you editor, if your mother is nothing but "crabs, scabs, and everything viral?" I am assume she isn't, but this is what "Victory Lap" is suggesting that she is and so is every other female. The Daily Campus is OURS, we all should be presented equal and please, respect towards women would be very appreciated.

Samantha Santos

Running Misogynistic Comics Is Inexcusable

I was shocked and disappointed to see that on September 21, the Daily Campus ran two offensive and blatantly anti-woman comics. The first, "Victory Lap" by Zach Wussow, showed two men having a conversation. The text read, "Forget about sugar, spice, and everything nice. Try crabs, scabs, and everything viral. That's what girls are really made of.. The second comic, "Milksteak and Jellybeans," by Alex Dellin, shows a woman talking to (presumably) her boyfriend. When she says that she wants to take things slow, he responds by offering her a large, shiny ring, and flinging it through an open doorway labeled "bedroom." The woman races eagerly through the doorway to fetch the ring.

Why the Daily Campus would think it is appropriate to publish two such crass and misogynistic comics is beyond my imagination. The first comic calls women diseased. There is no context given at all, just the message that women are dirty. The second comic implies that women are gold diggers, hungry for jewelry and money, and that men can coerce women into sex through the offering of material items. One in four women will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in her college career. UConn is no exception, and running a comic that portrays manipulating women into unwanted sexual behavior as something to laugh at is inexcusable.

While I realize that the comic is not an explicit reference to rape, it does show a form of sexual manipulation, and at the very least a complete disregard for the boundaries of one's partner. This is a very dangerous message to send on a college campus, and I hope the DC recognizes how truly irresponsible its actions are. The Daily Campus owes the women of UConn an apology, and an assurance that never again will they feel violated by their own student newspaper.

Tess Koenigsmark

Commercial geared toward alumni

In his column, "New commercial necessary," senior writer Colin McDonough raises some interesting questions about the institutional public service announcement produced by University Communications; however many of his comments are based on the incorrect assumption that this commercial is geared toward undergraduate recruitment – a common misconception. In fact, this year's commercial is a continuation of a 3-year strategy aimed at alumni. To develop this strategy, we evaluated the commercials of other colleges and universities. Often other universities use a cookie-cutter approach when trying to reach all audiences generally. We strategically tailored our commercial to alumni pride spreading beyond Connecticut, across the US. Additionally we conducted focus groups with alumni to ensure this message and concept resonated with them. As you know, alumni are important to the University for a variety of reasons, including all the support they provide for scholarships and student mentoring.

While this strategy to use the public service announcement for alumni has served us well for three years, University Communications is always re-evaluating opportunities and strategies. Additionally, we encourage feedback, suggestions and comments from everyone.

Patricia Fazio

To submit a Letter to the Editor for consideration of publication in The Daily Campus, please e-mail eic@dailycampus.com, managingeditor@dailycampus.com or visit www.dailycampus.com and complete the Letter to the Editor form on the website.