Skewed view of student opinion on Kosovo
To the editor,
As a former journalism major, I would like to point something out about your reporting on the Kosovo Crisis. I realize that most of the material you print on world affairs comes directly from other news services, but your latest attempt at polling the UA student populace is sadly lacking in the true sentiments of many students. I noticed that of the four viewpoint quotes on page one of the April 8 edition of the Wildcat, three of them are in favor of the NATO bombings.
You may have heard the expression "pictures never lie." Well, as everyone in the journalism business knows, pictures can lie, quotes can lie, statistics can lie; it all depends on the spin that the reporter puts on it. By placing three favorable quotes on page one, you have successfully sent the message that most of the student body supports these NATO-led airstrikes against Yugoslavia when, in actuality, many neither care nor approve of NATO's actions.
I ,myself, believe that NATO is making a big mistake, not because they are trying to halt atrocities, but because they are going about it all the wrong way.
Another concern I had about today's newspaper was that the only negative quote on page one mentioned drafts and reserves. The first thing that popped into my mind was the word "Vietnam." I realize that the probability of this happening again is slim, but mark my words, if the United States doesn't withdraw its support of this action, we may, indeed, be faced with another Vietnam, or worse yet, World War III. In case you're not familiar with World History, both world wars started in that specific region of the Balkans, why not a third?
The point I'm trying to make is that you should be more careful in your polls. Unfortunately, many people today "go with the flow" when it comes to opinion. Maybe if we each knew what the others really thought about Kosovo, we would be more apt to speak out against hasty intervention on the part of our government. And just maybe we could get back to government "by the people, for the people."
Jacob Lauser
Theater arts sophomore
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