Reactions to Kelly Tsaltas' column "Come on ladies (and gentlemen) we can do better," have ranged from total outrage to complete praise. Regardless of the response, the entire situation has raised larger issues about the nature of free speech, the media and the culture of Auburn's student body that cannot be ignored.
The rights of free speech and free press are two of the most sacred rights Americans possess. Tsaltas' words were not an abuse of those rights.
However shocking and directful those words may have been, they were an affirmation of those rights.
Many complained about the decision by the editor to disable the ability to post comments about the article online.
This decision was made not to stifle free speech, but to protect the writer as several of the comments had become threatening in nature.
While select words in the article may have been offensive to some, many of the reactions to the column crossed the line of offensiveness and were downright careless and disgusting.
No matter what an individual says about you, telling someone to "throw themselves off Haley Center," or posting their dorm and home address online as a threat should never be tolerated. Comments like these only serve to detract from the credibility of those who raise legitimate concerns. Many responses from members within and outside of the Greek community were nothing short of embarrassing to their respective camps.
Perhaps even more discouraging than the ability for so many students to easily disregard Tsaltas' First Amendment rights and criticize her personally, many commented about how the column was an example of poor "journalism," that the standards of "news" at The Auburn Plainsman had hit a new low.
It is imperative to emphasize the column was published on the commentary page, and as the policy at the bottom of this page reads, the words on this page are solely those of the authors who write them.
They are not, and have never been, the opinion of The Auburn Plainsman or any portion of the student body; nor are they news stories.
Thus, to attack the institution of The Plainsman is a gross misplacement of anger by those who chose to do so.
However, in the 24-hour media culture which so often blurs the line between what is fact and what is opinion, it is not a mystery as to where this misplaced anger originated.
Even so, it is no less discouraging that thousands of Auburn students could not distinguish a news story from an opinion column.
The theme of the week seemed to be the victory of hotheadedness over reason. At its core, the column criticized wardrobe choices. Much more polarizing words about political and social issues that actually affect people's lives have been written on this page and haven't yielded even a fraction of the response that Tsaltas' column did. What does it say about this University that criticizing someone's political views or their religion does not stir passions of any sort? It took attacking leggings and frockets to heat up emotions. If there was any real tragedy in last week's column, that was it.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen, we can do better.
Honestly, we all can.
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