Front page photo in bad taste

Re: “The best student experience two years running” March 18, 2010

To the editor:
I am compelled to comment on the photo that ran on the front page of the Gazette. Aside from a student being lifted into a keg stand position, the individual in the foreground of the photo deserves special mention, as he is depicted wearing a shirt reading: “Blow Me, I’m ______.” In and of itself, this is not the type of content I would expect to see on the front page of a newspaper serving a highly educated population of over 30,000 individuals.
Curiously, but also sadly, my disappointment doesn’t end there. Just a few inches below the fold, an article discussing the USC’s involvement in a new sexual assault awareness campaign has also been printed. It details, at length, new measures which are being implemented to stop the concerning presence of sexual assaults and attitudes which exist right here on campus.
The egregious lack of sensitivity, which caused this photo to cast a shadow on such an important issue, simply cannot be ignored. As Gazette staff, you decide what’s recognizable. And this photograph is certainly easy to remember. What does that say about the culture?
—Niels Horne
BMOS, Human Resources Specialization III

To the editor:
With regards to the St. Patrick’s Day front cover picture, I am completely shocked and appalled the Gazette would put a picture of a keg stand along with a T-shirt that says “Blow Me I’m _________.” Not only is this completely inappropriate for a university newspaper, let alone a University that does not allow kegs on campus. The keg stand is a complete juvenile and irresponsible way to drink.
On the note of the T-shirt, to put something so offensive in a publication underage frosh might read is completely irresponsible and insensitive on your part. Calling it “the best student experience two years running” also diminishes dry events the University sanctions. Alcohol is to be enjoyed, not excessively consumed to the point of public drunkenness. You are alienating those who do not wish to spend their social time drinking to get drunk. Images such as these encourage inappropriate behaviour in students who are supposed to be the future of the generation.
If it is the case that the obviously-still-in-a-16-year-old-mind-set wearing a shirt that says “blow me” is the future of this country, I am quite frankly extremely scared, as I already am, based on my experiences of seeing events such as these during my three years at Western.
—Hannah Authier
History III