LETTER: Defense of `Campanile' unfair, offensive

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by Garrett Wotkyns

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Editor's note: William Li is not a member of the Campanile editorial staff.

To the editor:

The world of William Li is certainly an interesting one. In that alternate universe, one man -- namely, myself -- is by a few strokes of Li's magical keyboard metamorphosed into a whole "ungrateful batch of apathetic nay-sayers."

Also, although I am only one of over 2,700 undergraduates, I have become powerful enough to singlehandedly "ruin campus morale for everyone."

While not realistic, I found my position in Willie's world flattering to say the least.

His unwitting efforts at blandishment aside, William Li's letter to the Thresher last week is little more than a crude, poorly-reasoned ad-hominem attack.

I shall review his meritless assertions in the order he presents them.

After repeating my two morale-destroying sentences regarding our tardy copies of the Campanile ("I think it's ridiculous that they can't get it out in a prompt and punctual manner. It's not all that theoreti- cally complex."), Li asks, "Who are you to make such disparaging remarks?"

His is a pointless question; despite the facts that we have never met and that he would scarcely be able to identify me by name if we passed each other on the street, he seems to know quite well who I am.

In the event that my identity is still in doubt, I will identify my- self only as a Rice undergraduate who is less than impressed with what his hefty Campanile fee has bought me.

With my identity established, the answer to his next question ("What contributions have you made to the 512-page yearbook that allow you to criticize our staff?") should be obvious.

I, like every other Rice undergraduate, contribute in fees the money that funds Li's 512-page prize.

I imagine that my money entitles me, if nothing else, to at least an opinion on what it buys (or, as it were, does not buy).

That I have not personally labored over at the Campanile office does not make my opinion any less valid than his.

By Li's logic, only bureaucrats at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, can rightly hold opinions on the use of tax dollars for farm subsidies; in Willie's world, the average taxpayer who ventured an opinion critical of federal farm subsidies would be shouted down as "an ungrateful batch of apathetic naysayers" ruining national morale.

Li next wonders, "For that matter, what publishing experience do you have in general?" Who cares?

Does it take a master's degree in journalism to earn the right to an opinion on a yearbook that my money helps fund?

To answer his pointless question, though, I was op-ed page editor for my high school newspaper for two years.

I even learned how to use some of that tricky publishing software back then.

Although I've never apprenticed at Willie's House of Publishing, I seem to remember that the whole enterprise was something less than "all that theoretically complex." Mr. Li's final paragraph is the nadir of his inelegant indictment.

As noted earlier, he labels me -- me alone -- "another ungrateful batch of apathetic naysayers ruining campus morale for everyone."

To begin with, I am only one "naysayer," not a "batch" of them as Mr. Li erroneously insists.

How he can rightly infer, moreover, from my two sentences that I am "apathetic" is beyond me.

And, again, his notion that my two sentences could somehow "ruin campus morale for everyone" is ludicrous.

I have my opinion; Li has his.

As Li ratchets up the intensity of his insults, however, the Campanile seems to fade into the background of his letter.

For the record, I sympathize with the Campanile staff. Their job is a thankless one.

From what I hear through the campus grapevine, the small staff is mightily overworked.

My sympathy, however, does not extend to William Li.

He contends that my brief comments "ruin campus morale." His notion of morale is a curious one.

Maybe he thinks that making baseless, ad-hominem accusations in print against a total stranger will boost Rice's institutional self- esteem.

For Rice's sake, I am glad that his only involvement with the Campanile is his botched letter in last week's Thresher .

Garrett Wotkyns

Brown '96

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the February 23, 1996 issue.

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