Editor’s Note: Some letters have the length requirement waived due to space availability

UNC students tailgating perspective

Boo me all you want, Wolfpack fans. When I walk through your student tailgating section wearing baby blue, hiss until your hearts content. You can issue the “dose of class” we UNC fans need (as noted by Technician columnist Benton Sawrey, [“Heels fans need a dose of humility”] on Friday). I understand and appreciate rivalry– it’s what makes college football so great, so boo away.

But what I experienced on Saturday afternoon went far beyond my daily dose of humility. Walking around the fairgrounds I continually was approached and told to “Go back to Brokeback Mountain, [homosexual]”… to “go f— myself”… and “to go home, b—-“. Not for taunting or teasing the red storm, but for just walking by in a blue shirt.

And the Wolfpack’s comments weren’t confined to me. They were hurled at a young elementary-school aged boy and at an elderly couple. I was chased down inside Carter-Finely by two young Wolfpack gentlemen, in front of my mother (who was wearing Wolfpack colors), to be told to go f— myself.

Maybe we UNC fans could use a dose of humility, but maybe some State fans could use a dose of class. I will deny into the ground that I was stereotypically born with a silver-spoon in my mouth. But I would rather be thought of as a stuck-up Carolina girl than a classless State fan any day of the week… and that includes game day.

Claire WilliamsonJournalism, UNC Class of 2008

From a frustrated student

On Nov. 8 Technician reported that those who camped out at the Free Expression Tunnel all night would have a chance to receive tickets to the UNC football game, however, the information you reported was incomplete and some of us showed up to camp out and get tickets but were met with the information that peoples names had to be drawn just for the opportunity to camp out for tickets. Because of your mis-information, my friend and I went to the Free Expression Tunnel to camp out to have an opportunity to get tickets, we had our opportunities shut down by the reality of the system. Please get your facts straight next time you report an issue that is sure to receive as much attention as this because the number of people that failed to receive tickets.

I would also like to protest against the ticket lottery system in place because my friend and I who had been to almost every football game — I know I have been to them all — were denied tickets while those who may have never been to a game and hopped on the bandwagon at the last minute because all a sudden we are a winning team and chances look good to beat UNC. It seems bad there is no preference given to those who have supported the team or those who have seniority over others. Both Chase and I are juniors and this will be our last time to attend a UNC vs. State football game and now that has been taken away from us because of a faulty ticket system and the mis-reporting of the Technician.

It’s this incident and other issues I have around campus that make me want to run for student body president and try to instigate reforms. In fact be sure to look for me on the ballot next semester for a position in student body government because I have a large list of reforms that I believe in.

I believe in what is right and I believe that seniors should have seniority over juniors, sophomores and freshman. I think that when a seniority system is combined with a system of support for the team — meaning those who have attended all the games that one can attend — then that would make a better system.

William Jeffrey SmithersJunior in Political Science

Response to RENT review

Nowadays it seems critics try to be witty rather than constructive, especially when they are ignorant of the subject matter. Kathleen Gordon’s review on RENT followed this mold. I’d be the last person to say everyone is not entitled to their opinion but her review was poisonous and ignorant of what she was reviewing. To say that “the story line was good” yet the songs “completely take away from the messages within the play” boggles my mind.

RENT is our generation’s rock opera. In a rock opera the music is the story line. Praising the actors’ performance seems rather flat as well, since it is during the musical part of a musical that they really show off who their characters are. The actual music is different from what one would expect in comparison to other musicals. Jonathan Larson died before he was able to complete his final edits, so the music does have a raw sound to it. The unpolished nature of the play and it music probably doesn’t appeal to everyone but to musical theater lovers — it’s what makes RENT distinct. Perhaps it’s oversensitive of me, but it doesn’t seem very sporting to mock Larson’s masterpiece by saying it makes ears bleed when the man is dead and can’t defend himself. Ms. Gordon’s opinion is thankfully in the minority though, if the play’s four Tony Awards and its Pulitzer are anything to judge by.

To say that a student is better off renting the movie to save money is disrespectful to RENT’s legacy, especially when the reviewer has never bothered watching it herself. The movie is a watered-down shadow of this Broadway staple and can not compare to the thrill of seeing it live. It is in the last line of the review where the critic’s desire to entertain outweighs her limited knowledge on the subject. As anyone could tell you who has seen the movie, Maureen does all that. It would make more sense to send someone with an appreciation of musical theater out to review shows like this so as to give Technician‘s readers a fair take on the production’s quality. I would encourage everyone to take a night out of their busy schedule to go see the play this weekend before its run is over in Raleigh. While RENT is not everyone’s favorite musical there is something everyone can appreciate and take from it.

Tiffany AlemanyFreshman, Animal Science

Picking and choosing battles

In addressing the comments made in “Noose discovered in campus bathroom” [Saja Hindi, Nov. 9], I ask all parties to consider the following: If we give credence to people who fashion nooses from toilet paper, are we not playing into their intentions of garnering as much attention as possible? I find the concept of the noose deplorable for a variety of reasons, but that does not mean I feel that we should conduct a full-on manhunt for the toilet paper bandit.

The letter from Chancellor Oblinger was indeed sufficient: it summarized the details of the event, indicated that they felt it was an isolated incident, and reminded everyone on campus the serious implications of behaving in such a manner. By not polarizing the campus community, this event will be quietly reconciled, the offender will more than likely be terminated, and our campus environment will not be disrupted by an individual who is not even a student of the University.

No one should be persecuted for their race or creed, but often times it is necessary to let ignorant actions (such as toilet paper nooses) roll off your back in order to preserve the sword of public upheaval for those events that merit such an action. Andrew TuckerJunior, Political Science