On March 23, a student wrote a letter to the editor entitled âÄúOffensive comment printed in âÄòOverheardâÄô âÄù that condemned The Minnesota Daily for printing an allegedly sexist overheard statement and demanded a formal apology. The overheard comment was, âÄúThere are only two kinds of numbers: rational numbers and women numbers.âÄù This student claimed that by printing this, the Daily was agreeing with the statement. To me, the statement was humorous, if not only for its blatant ignorance. If the Daily complies with this studentâÄôs request for a formal apology, they will be admitting wrongdoing in publishing something that someone somewhere might find offensive for some reason. Vague? Overcautious? It is both. If this becomes a guideline for publishing material in the Daily, we are at risk of losing popular sections such as Editorials & Opinions, Daily Doodle, Overheard and Sports (IâÄôm sure a Badger fan somewhere was offended by a Gopher victory). LetâÄôs not lose our sense of humor, people. For some of us, itâÄôs all we have left. Ryan Willwerscheid, University undergraduate student
Let’s not lose humor
Published March 23, 2010
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