Crimson Staff Unfairly Targets Mahan and Blickstead

To the editors:

I applaud the Crimson’s Feb. 4 editorial, “Prioritize the Curriculum,” for reminding us of the Undergraduate Council’s responsibilities in the curricular review process and for making thoughtful and beneficial suggestions to the council.

However, I am disappointed that the editors were unable to do this without adopting an unnecessarily belligerent tone and framing their article around a baseless accusation against Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05.

Mahan and Council Vice President Michael R. Blickstead ’05 published a remarkably thorough and far-reaching campaign platform, which included one point that sufficiently addressed their vision for the curricular review process. The editors’ conclusion that this issue is a low priority for Mahan is illogical and unfair. (After all, this is the only Crimson staff editorial this academic year devoted to the curricular review, which is clearly a high priority of the editorial board.)

As the review progresses, if undergraduate discourse continues to be full of such spiteful, pointless, and irresponsible charges, I fear that The Crimson’s admirable goal of constructive student dialogue is doomed to failure.

A. Eleanor Luey ’04

Feb. 4, 2004