To the Saint Michael’s Campus Community,

I am writing this letter in response to the editorial published in the Defender regarding the Shaun Bryer and Mariusz Misiaszek campaign for SA President and Vice President. I am tired of the negative publicity that the Bryer/Misiaszek campaign is receiving by members of this community, specifically our campus media, and feel the need to offer a different, more justifiable opinion.

I was very disturbed by the manner in which D Executive Editor V chose to offer her negative support and questions regarding the integrity of Bryer and Misiaszek to the entire campus. These libelous words were publicized without having contacted the two candidates who have been the subject of public mockery and insult for the past month. This lack of communication gave neither Bryer nor Misiaszek an opportunity to offer explanation or defense against the accusations that V brought forth in her editorial. And so, yet again, are these two candidates left with more opposition from the campus that they wish to represent and help to make a difference for the future.

My question is this: Why do people on this campus feel the need to attack candidates who are trying to change our student government for the better? Furthermore, how can a media resource that shows such extreme bias against certain candidates be at all justifiable in their professional role as journalists on this campus? I personally feel that many inaccurate assumptions were made related to the integrity of the beliefs and goals of Bryer and Misiaszek in their campaign and, more importantly, to who they are as individual members of this campus community.

Allegations that Bryer promoted his own presidential campaign and neglected his responsibilities as SUPC Co-Chair by not justly advertising the election process to other possible candidates are erroneous. Not only did Bryer and fellow SUPC Co-chair Chris Carolan advertise the election process through email and the SA meetings, they provided a detailed outline of the entire election process on the nomination forms that the candidates picked up in the SA office prior to collecting signatures from fellow students. Perhaps if the Defender had a representative present at the SA meetings instead of a proxy, this misunderstanding could have been avoided.

With regards to the controversy surrounding Misiaszek’s resignation from his position on the e-board last month, many assumptions have been made concerning his reliability for the future. I will point out that his decision to step down from his position was a difficult one and that much contemplation was placed into his letter to the campus community. Misiaszek was looking to make a difference and felt that his association with the current e-board was not as effective as it could have been and therefore left to prepare for possible future endeavors. Misiaszek simply decided that it was time for his voice to be heard and that he no longer wished to be associated with the executive board this year. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you feel is right, especially when you are a majority of one.

I have the utmost respect for both Bryer and Misiaszek, not only as candidates for the SA executive positions, but also as two very respectable and hard-working young men who I have the honor of calling friends. I am deeply disheartened by the way that some of the members of the campus community that they both love and are working so hard for have turned so harshly against them. I myself considered running for office, but decided against it because I truly feel that both Bryer and Misiaszek have the initiative to accomplish their goals and change the Student Association. Therefore, I chose to postpone my own possible candidacy for future elections and to give Bryer and Misiaszek my full support in their campaign for the elections this year.

Finally, to the student population of Saint Michael’s, I ask that you to let your voice be heard on March 20th and 21st. As members of the student association, we all have the right to elect representatives who will be there for us and listen to our concerns and ideas. Where I believe that Bryer and Misiaszek are in fact the best candidates for the positions they seek, I can only ask that our community finally unite and elect a president and vice president who will work together for us and make a difference for our campus community.

Thank you,
A Concerned Student

if you have the guts to send something like that (from an off-campus email address, no less, thus playing upon exactly one of the points i criticized in the editorial), at least have the courage to post your name. i give the other girls props for standing behind what they had to say. this is just cowardice.

i stand behind what i wrote 100%. as the editor of the defender, i am open to any comments that students want to make about what i wrote. but don't think that throwing around accusations of me being libelous or slanderous (at least C.S., as i will call the nameless one got the terminology right and spelled my name correctly) is going to get me to take back what i said or aplogozie to anyone.

not guh--not gunna do it. not guh--not gunna do it...

and, my response to C.S. :

"Concerned Student":

I am dropping a line to encourage you to forward your campus-wide email to defender@smcvt.edu. As editor of The Defender, I enjoy seeing discussion about any content in the newspaper--editorial content or otherwise--and would like to be able to put your letter in the "Letters To The Editor" section in our next issue. All letters should be submitted by noon tomorrow. Please feel free to forward the email to the staff account.

Please keep in mind, however, that our policy states we will not run anonymous letters. Therefore, if you do send it to the newspaper, include a name and class year.

Thank you for reading The Defender.

Sincerely,
V

a quote for the evening: "Once we start worrying too often or too deeply about what certain individuals and what certain groups think about us, then we might start selling our souls for the sake of expediency. I suggest if that day ever comes, then the press has had it. -- Otis Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, 1969"