Letters to the Editor
Campus Times
March 6, 1998
Dear Editor,
On Thursday, Feb. 26, we were fortunate to have Dr. Terrence Roberts
address the La Verne community ["Civil
rights pioneer discusses past," Feb. 27]. Dr. Roberts was one of
nine teenagers who were the first to integrate Little Rock high school in
1957. Although this is a dark period in our history, the chance to listen
to Dr. Roberts was one that should have taken precedence over any other
activity on this campus (my personal opinion only). His message was articulate,
important, and it deserved our complete attention. Although publicized in
the "Campus Newsflash," I wonder how many people read it because
I saw too many empty seats. Indeed, most in my afternoon class were not
even aware of Dr. Roberts' presentation.
When we have a chance to hear and interact with someone whose place
in history is this important, shouldn't all of us in the ULV community do
our best to support the efforts of those who sponsor them?
Dr. Janis Dietz
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
via Internet
Dear Editor,
It is unfortunate that multiple errors were made in the printing of
Mrs. Garcia's poem in the 20th anniversary issue of Prism ["Letter to the Editor," Feb. 27]. For
that, as co-editor in chief, I sincerely apologize to Mrs. Garcia as well
as to any other authors who feel that their works were not properly reproduced
in this issue. What is most unfortunate, however, is that Mrs. Garcia chose
not to approach the editorial board of Prism with her concerns, opting
instead to castigate our publication within the pages of the Campus Times.
Prism, although a campus publication, differs from others because
it is staffed by volunteers. There is no scheduled class time to be met
and no grade to be earned. Each of the editorial board members devote what
time they can to the publication of this magazine, and it is my honest opinion
that we produce a superb monument to the creativity of the University community.
To my knowledge, it is the only campus publication that serves as a creative
outlet for all students, faculty and alumni.
Mrs. Garcia's letter ends in what can only be described as an admonition
to students against having their creative works published in Prism. It is
regrettable that Mrs. Garcia feels this way. I want to assure future contributors
that the editorial board is taking steps to ensure that egregious errors
of this nature will not occur again. The board will enact a self-editing
procedure in which contributors will be invited to review their works during
our proofing process. Furthermore, contributors will also have the option
of submitting their works on disk, after selection by the board, to ensure
that they are printed correctly.
Using this forum, I would like to invite students who are interested
in becoming a part of Prism to email me (sawyers@ulv.edu)
for further information about our board meetings. We are always looking
to broaden the spectrum of students who assist in the publication of Prism
and are eager to welcome new members with fresh perspectives.
Sherri A. Sawyer
senior
Co-Editor in Chief, Prism
Dear Editor,
I was taken aback by Ms. Zoila Garcia's harsh critique of Prism
standards in her recent letter to the Campus Times, inasmuch as she
had already received my profuse apologies for mistakes in her poem. While
I am in complete agreement that such mistakes are severely distressing to
the writer and every effort should be made to eliminate them, those of us
who have worked on student publications recognize that the experience is
a learning process and perfection, while the ultimate goal,is only rarely
a reality. The Editorial Board of Prism -- six to 12 highly conscientious,
dependable and intelligent young men and women-worked very hard to make
the 20th Anniversary Edition better than any previous issue and, as their
adviser, I believe they achieved their goal. I again offer my apologies
to Zoila and can assure her that we had already implemented a new proofreading
process which should preclude the possibility of similar problems in the
future.
I was amused, however, by her mention of halcyon days of higher standards
in student publications in place during her tenure as a journalism student
here. I well recall what Dr. Esther Davis (chair of the Communications Department)
called her Monday morning "Hell Sheet," in which she corrected
-- in bright red ink -- every error to be found in the previous Friday's
Campus Times, as well as the galleys for Lambda. We appreciated
her diligence and student work improved because of it. I believe that all
student publications today are greatly improved over those in the past and
that students are to be applauded for their continued efforts to create
publications of which we can be proud.
Prism is a volunteer group -- no registration, no grade, no workplace
-- to which any interested student, faculty or staff member may apply. We
welcome any good idea which will assist us in a achieving recognizable improvement.
Offering nothing but praise for the time, effort and creativity the Editorial
Board devoted to the 20th Anniversary Edition, it is my hope that final
evaluation of the magazine will rest on its positive aspects, rather than
the few flaws to be found therein. Thank you.
Carol Whelchel Fetty
Instructor of English
Adviser, Prism
Dear Editor,
As a program assistant for the University, I want to thank Alicia Gibson
for her column "Program assistants deserve
recognition" [Feb. 27]. It is great to receive acknowledgment for
the hard work that we put in each week with programs. Not many people realize
how much work is involved for organizing programs and presenting them. We
are required to have 10 hours of office work per week, but often work over
the required time to complete the programs to the best of our ability. We
try our best to not only bring residents to our programs, but also the commuters
of this institution. As Gibson mentioned, "They try to help ULV students
to do better academically, emotionally and to just have a little fun."
Once again, thank you for writing a positive story about your program assistants.
Were here to serve you!
Sergio M. Velazquez
Senior
Program Assistant (Brandt Hall)
