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Editor:
This letter is directed toward the Wildcat for its biased coverage of the political debate on Sept. 18 held by the Libertarian Students. I was disappointed by Alicia A. Caldwell's story that obviously played to the emotion and rhetoric of the Young Democrats. She overlooked quite a few aspects of a very informative debate.
The only side the reporter seemed to be concerned with was the liberal democrats' side. No quotes from the College Republicans were included. The president of the Libertarian Students was completely misrepresented. No audience members associated with the positions other than that of the liberal democrats were quoted. The headline of the story, "Political debate becomes heated shouting match" (Sept. 19) even shows that the reporter was looking for sensationalism and not facts.
The one fact of this debate that shined through for myself and many others was the gross misrepresentation of the democrats by a group of students that were obviously unprepared to handle an educated debate. Instead of commenting on a well-researched comparison of Nazi Germany's education position and that of the Democratic Party's platform, the president of the Young Democrats, Julie Lewis, chose to threaten one of the Libertarian Students with violence and then disgrace the memory of her grandparents and other relatives by using their terrible, unfortunate deaths as a reason for not answering the obvious comparison.
Perhaps the Wildcat should have printed the quotes from the Nazi education minister, Benito Mussolini, and the democratic platform, making it clear to all readers that Mr. Rossen's comparison was not unfounded. Instead, Caldwell chose to pander to the irrational, misplaced emotion of the Young Democrats. I find this obvious bias of your reporter unacceptable in journalism, college or otherwise.
In closing, I would like to comment on Lisa Wootton's Sept 24 letter to the editor. Instead of launching attacks at Rossen, perhaps you should read the democratic platform on education and that of Nazi Germany. Your remarks were like that of a person walking into a conversation halfway through and then trying to comment on it. You didn't even attend the debate!!! I think the quote from your letter says it all, "I don't care what it is that you debate about." If you don't care and cannot attend, you should leave well enough alone.
Anthony Casarta
debate audience member
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