2008 Woodie Awards
RSSPunishing the children is childish
Letter to the editor
By Daniel Olson, '10
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Opinion
I would like to thank you, Andrew Wenri ("I was robbed, so no candy this year," Oct. 30), for displaying how ignorant Lehigh students can be. The logic you used to come to the conclusion you made in a recent letter to the editor was so bad that it made my jaw drop.
First of all, Lehigh's chief of police has sent many warnings about not leaving valuables in cars to abate the opportunity of 'smash-and-grabs.' Even if you deleted all of those e-mails without reading them, would it be too much to ask of you to employ a bit of common sense?
Deciding to refuse candy to any child from South Bethlehem because of your stolen iPod is not only unjust, it is irrational. Unless, of course, you believe it was a 10-year-old child who broke into your car, but I'll just assume you at least have the wit to know whoever committed that crime was far older.
I feel awkward saying this to a person who is probably at least 20 years old, but here goes nothing: Retaliating for your apparent loss of material possession by punishing a community of children does not bring your iPod back. It accomplishes nothing positive. In fact, if noticed by the community, it will only increase animosity between students and South Bethlehem residents.
Furthermore, to state that you are "sorry it has to come to this" is hypocritical if your previous sentence was encouraging other off-campus students to engage in the very actions you claim to be sorry for.
Please, learn to separate between isolated incidents of crime and the merits of the community at large. There are many good kids in this neighborhood and building them up in a positive way is the only method to keeping them from becoming like the criminal who broke into your car.
First of all, Lehigh's chief of police has sent many warnings about not leaving valuables in cars to abate the opportunity of 'smash-and-grabs.' Even if you deleted all of those e-mails without reading them, would it be too much to ask of you to employ a bit of common sense?
Deciding to refuse candy to any child from South Bethlehem because of your stolen iPod is not only unjust, it is irrational. Unless, of course, you believe it was a 10-year-old child who broke into your car, but I'll just assume you at least have the wit to know whoever committed that crime was far older.
I feel awkward saying this to a person who is probably at least 20 years old, but here goes nothing: Retaliating for your apparent loss of material possession by punishing a community of children does not bring your iPod back. It accomplishes nothing positive. In fact, if noticed by the community, it will only increase animosity between students and South Bethlehem residents.
Furthermore, to state that you are "sorry it has to come to this" is hypocritical if your previous sentence was encouraging other off-campus students to engage in the very actions you claim to be sorry for.
Please, learn to separate between isolated incidents of crime and the merits of the community at large. There are many good kids in this neighborhood and building them up in a positive way is the only method to keeping them from becoming like the criminal who broke into your car.
