The Cynic has anti-Greek bios
To the Editor:
In last week's Cynic there
were, count 'em, THREE
anti-Greek articles. Yet submitted for the same issue
were two Greek editorials
and one Greek article
which were not published.
The article was about a
chapter of the national
Greek honor society the
Order of Omega recently
inducted here at UYM. I
personally wrote that article, took it to the Cynic's
office, and was assured by a
Cynic Sraffperson that it
would appear in last week's
issue. It didn't. Is the Cynic
afraid to publish any article
stating anything positive
about
the
Greek
community?
One of the editorials,
which took much effort to
write and edit, was Blast"
by the Cynic staff. (Since
the Cynic won't give the
Greek
community
the
benefit of the doubt, I see
no reason to extend it to
the Cynic.) It was later
found and the Cynic promised to publish it. So
much for promises.
The Women's Organizacion and Resource Center
had an editorial published
decrying harassment, oppression and dtscrlmlnanon. let's
talk about
harassment, oppression and
discrimination. What do
you call it when to only
campus-wide
publication
prints only selective articles
and commentaries
and
gives the accused no chance
for rebuttal? It is the exact
same thing. The Cynic has
been notorious for its antiGreek attitude and I am
sick of it. If you want to accuse. and persecute us, then
give us a chance to respond!
The Cynic, in its fight for
equality and freedom from
stereotypes, prejudiced, and
The
double -s randards. is being
hypocritical. It seems that
individual
incidents
of
"Gay-bashing" are grounds
for disbanding a community
which has stood for 152
years, but "Greek-bashing"
is acceptable.
I am not belittling or
dismissing the incidents,
but questioning the fairness
to all parties involved.
The Greek community
stands
for many good
things,
such
as
brotherhood,
personal
development,
and teamwork. It does not, nor has it
ever, stood for racism, sex"
ism, violence are hatred.
We work very hard each
year to raise money for
philanthropies
and
charities,
such as the
United Way and Ronald
McDonald House, and we
are sick and tired of our efforts being ignored.
If the GlBA was being
judged, stereotyped, and
condemned on the basisof
one of its member's actions,
you can bet many local
liberal groups would speak
up,
loudly,
against
homophobia. Yet through
the
Cynic's
selective
publishing
procedures,
Greek-phobia is spreading
rampantly.
The Greek Community
has 1,100 members, we are
a major portion of the student population, and we
want the same right of
freedom from harassment
and discrimination that is
the priviledged of every student
here
at UVM,
regardless of race, creed,
religion, sexual preference,
or affiliation. Either the
Cynic publishes what it
preaches and gives each
side a chance to present
their views. or leave us out.
Jonathan Apfelbaum
Even Greeks can have labels
To the Editor:
Latel y there has been a
lot of discrimination on
campus. Luckily; there are
enough caring individuals,
incidents
plagued
with
discrimination
have
become public knowledge.
And with the. publicity,
maybe we can leam a little
good out of the bad.
I would end the letter
here, but for some reason I
feel that playing the Devil's
advocate is necessary. I am
a "jrat-bov, but what does
that mean. JUSt as some
people have stereotypes
geared towards minorities,
homosexuals and so on
others have stereotypes tha;
pertain to frat-boys. Not all
frat-boys nor frat functions
are bad.
Simply said, it seems a little hypocritical for Paul
II
Vermont
[ v n lr
Brill, Greg Cabaria, Sam
Mathis and the GlBA to
label the members of a
fraternity. If we are interested in the good of the
community, then we. ~t'Il
put aside our labels. This mc1udes all labels, even
"Frat ..boys. "
Tim Brown
'Til next fall
r:
This is the last issue of
Cynic for the 1987"'"
academic year. Like ::;
all, we too have exams
have just a few weeD
recover from 26 issUeS ....
backlogged homeworlt'sleep. Good Iud< to CA#P
iog seniors
and s,~
everyone else.
you. in Septe1nber°
::f
we·n.':i
t.l:
Anril
7R
1988