2008 Woodie Awards
Letter to the editor: Educated people do not need to swear
Issue date: 5/29/02 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
I take issue with the writer's opinion in the letter "F##k this s##t!!" in the May 22 issue of The Guardian that ANY legitimate news publication should lower itself to the least common denominator and include profanity under the disguise of true reporting.
If college is "all about independence," then the author is missing the point of college.
College is an institution of higher learning, to prepare individuals for interacting with other individuals and to maintain the standards of decency that are accepted in a professional environment.
If all you want is independence, move out of Mom and Dad's house and go it alone in the real world.
Wright State and their newspaper, along with any newspaper who desires to maintain professionalism, should not need profanity to express its views. The English language has plenty of adjectives, adverbs and nouns with which one can express oneself in a manner becoming of an educated person.
As a former shift supervisor in a steel plant (second only to sailors in their ability to make construction workers blush), I have used every cuss word known to the letter writer at some time to get my point across.
This, as the author pointed out, is a matter of knowing one's audience and using the vernacular that they will respond to.
But never would I have posted a memo, a policy or any other professional document aimed at this same group using these same words that are used as a regular part of conversation.
There is a certain decorum to be maintained in any professional environment. Any quality publication should subscribe to these same standards.
I would hope that in any conversation with a professor (which implies a degree of education) that includes them shooting cuss words back at you is in a one-on-one environment as friends, not in the context of a teacher mentoring a student.
As for the argument that we can "figure out what the words are anyway," my six- year-old son could figure out most of them. That does not justify the relaxation of professionalism. I see that the author is an education major.
For the sake of my children, I hope our future educators do not carry these standards into any classroom that they may control.
I am by no means a prude, but I am bringing my children up to understand that there is a time and a place for certain behaviors.
If the goal of The Guardian is to be hip and liberal, throw all standards to the wind. But if the paper's goal is to relay information to students and instructors in an acceptable manner, the standards of the publication should be maintained.
If it's swearing you seek, kick back with a case of Old Milwaukee and watch The Simpsons with your roommates.
Read The Guardian or USA Today to gather information or entertainment on a level that rises above society's degrading standards.
Eric Baacke
Junior
Accounting
If college is "all about independence," then the author is missing the point of college.
College is an institution of higher learning, to prepare individuals for interacting with other individuals and to maintain the standards of decency that are accepted in a professional environment.
If all you want is independence, move out of Mom and Dad's house and go it alone in the real world.
Wright State and their newspaper, along with any newspaper who desires to maintain professionalism, should not need profanity to express its views. The English language has plenty of adjectives, adverbs and nouns with which one can express oneself in a manner becoming of an educated person.
As a former shift supervisor in a steel plant (second only to sailors in their ability to make construction workers blush), I have used every cuss word known to the letter writer at some time to get my point across.
This, as the author pointed out, is a matter of knowing one's audience and using the vernacular that they will respond to.
But never would I have posted a memo, a policy or any other professional document aimed at this same group using these same words that are used as a regular part of conversation.
There is a certain decorum to be maintained in any professional environment. Any quality publication should subscribe to these same standards.
I would hope that in any conversation with a professor (which implies a degree of education) that includes them shooting cuss words back at you is in a one-on-one environment as friends, not in the context of a teacher mentoring a student.
As for the argument that we can "figure out what the words are anyway," my six- year-old son could figure out most of them. That does not justify the relaxation of professionalism. I see that the author is an education major.
For the sake of my children, I hope our future educators do not carry these standards into any classroom that they may control.
I am by no means a prude, but I am bringing my children up to understand that there is a time and a place for certain behaviors.
If the goal of The Guardian is to be hip and liberal, throw all standards to the wind. But if the paper's goal is to relay information to students and instructors in an acceptable manner, the standards of the publication should be maintained.
If it's swearing you seek, kick back with a case of Old Milwaukee and watch The Simpsons with your roommates.
Read The Guardian or USA Today to gather information or entertainment on a level that rises above society's degrading standards.
Eric Baacke
Junior
Accounting
