I am sure that this isn’t the only letter you have received that expresses incredulity at the front page of last week’s issue of The Weekly, but I certainly hope it will help in the discussions that will inevitably follow. I would first like to comment on the article itself.

It was a very well-written article, it presented the phenomenon of Case Day from a variety of perspectives, and I was proud to be quoted in it. This is what The Weekly should be doing consistently. However, I feel that the value of the article itself has been compromised by your incomprehensible decision to advertise it, as you have done before, in bold colors on your front page.

In light of the controversy caused by last year’s Case Day issue, which was tame in comparison to this week’s, I can only assume that the image on The Weekly’s front page is meant as an act of defiance. I can think of no other motivation, other than that the colors look very pretty. The front page is certainly very attractive, and I should certainly hope that a similar effort towards quality is visible in your other, less controversial issues.

Having said all that, I am saddened and embarrassed, as a former contributor to The Weekly, that such an effort has been spent in such an unprofessional way. The decision to release an issue that is sure to be more incendiary than it is informational is sure to reflect poorly on The Weekly as an organization. The readers of The Weekly, which may be expected to diminish in number, will believe that The Gustavian Weekly has compromised what journalistic integrity it once possessed in pursuit of an unprofessional, petty goal. I sincerely hope this is not the case, as I’m sure the other readers of The Weekly do as well, but I’m afraid that last week’s issue set itself up to be viewed in that light.

Ethan Marxhausen ‘12