Meningitis an Issue to Be Taken Seriously
Dear Editor,
I would like to comment on Matthew L’Heureux’s well-written article on the media hyperbole regarding the recent meningitis death in San Diego. I cannot argue that the media does not often “”hype”” something to get attention, and often the facts may not always be correctly reported.
What I do want to say, though, is that meningitis is not a disease to be taken lightly. The video of immunization lines in one area should be a strong message that youth, especially, should be protected. Students from middle school through college should be immunized with the latest vaccine, Menactra, as well as educated regarding this killer disease – yes, it is a killer.
It is easy to dismiss the hype and concern related to a single, sad, unfortunate death and chalk it up to media hype and panic. The reality is that California had the opportunity to really help the immunization and education process associated with meningococcal disease over six years ago, and it was fought by private colleges. The legislation that resulted was less than optimum, and needs to be revisited. I know because I testified at hearings in Sacramento after a number of teens died, including Johnny Garcia in 2000, a vibrant high school senior who had just graduated. Having also lost my 18-year-old son to this disease in 2000 because I never heard the hype, I can only say that some things are worth hyperbole to ensure that even a few lives are saved.
Matt, have you been vaccinated? Do you know that the vaccine protects against four of the five strains, but there is one that can only be protected against through not passing the bacteria? If not, please do get vaccinated and encourage your friends to do so as well. Also I would encourage you to do some research and writing about what could be accomplished with effective meningitis legislation in your state. I am only one sad parent who lost an incredible son and started a national nonprofit to raise awareness about this disease six years ago.
Although I resigned from that organization last year, if you want to learn more about the effect a single life lost to meningitis continues to have on this world, visit http://www.thetcb.org or http://www.myspace.com/tapscommunitybrotherhood. Some hyperbole is life-changing.
– Mike Kepferle
Founder – Meningitis Prevention and Awareness Children’s Trust, National Meningitis Association
DisreGuardian Story Hardly Offensive
Dear Editor,
I read plenty of issues of the Guardian, and I am usually impressed with the quality of the articles published. With this in mind, I did not find the April Fools edition of the DisreGuardian funny. However, this was merely due to the fact that, in my opinion, the humor was low quality, not because it was offensive. In reading the numerous letters sent to the Guardian complaining about the “”Predators Stalk Campus for Big Win”” article, I could not help but be upset. The DisreGuardian edition of the paper was clearly a grand exercise in satire and stupidity and should have been, as the title so aptly explains, immediately disregarded (preferably into a trash can). Only an ignorant human would fail to understand this fact and only an ignorant human would continue to be offended by an article in such a paper.
On top of that, the article itself was clearly not trying to undermine the seriousness of rape. If you haven’t noticed, plenty of humor will take a serious issue and joke about it. Unfortunately, some people, such as those offended, are born without a sense of humor and thus feel it necessary to overreact and make a huge ordeal of things. In the end, even if those offended continue to bask in their ignorance and not get a sense of humor, it is no one’s business to tell the Guardian what it can and cannot write about, especially in its April Fools edition, let alone to ask for an official apology. Keep in mind that our tuition does not fund the Guardian, which raises all of its money on its own through advertising (our tuition pays for the Koala). So if you don’t like reading it, do what I did: Throw it in the trash!
– Bassem Shoucri
Sixth College Sophomore
Article Pokes Fun at Campaign, Not Rape
Dear Editor,
I found your faux article about the UCSD rape team funny. Why? Because unlike the people who you “”offended,”” I actually read your newspaper, and knew that you were poking fun at Most Tritons, not saying that rape is OK. As you explained in the last issue, the Most Tritons campaign states that nine out of 10 UCSD students think that rape is not OK. Which, according to the campaign, means that 10 percent, or about 1,050 undergraduate males, are gung ho about rape.
Of course this is not what the Sexual Assault Resource Center intended to display, and the group itself does a fantastic job, but they made it really easy to make fun of their statistics, which is why when I read the DisreGuardian issue, I understood you were poking fun at Most Tritons, not glorifying rape.
The letters you published from the offended parties didn’t mention once that you were teasing Most Tritons, so obviously I can see why they were offended since they didn’t know where the article was coming from.
Your paper is usually boring and unreadable, but I would hope people would get mad at you for the right reasons, not because they can’t read.
– Jordan Spees
Thurgood Marshall College Senior