Public overreacting about anthrax
I would like to congratulate Josh Brown on showing just how overdramatic people can be. According to his letter (“Anthrax cartoon shows poor taste,” ODE, 10/29), Brown has a problem with an editorial cartoon that was printed in the Oct. 19 edition of the Emerald. Well, I hate to break it to him, but the cartoon was an editorial and did not necessarily convey the feelings of the paper or its staff.
Brown believes that there was no comedic value to the cartoon. On the contrary, I believe it spoke volumes about just how many people are running around thinking the sky is falling. Take, for example, the plane that was grounded in California following the first anthrax diagnosis because someone believed that confetti from a greeting card was anthrax. Or consider the casino that was evacuated and closed because of salt spilt on a table and believed to have been anthrax. We used to be able to punish those that screamed “fire” in a crowded theater, but I have come to realize that one cannot punish stupid people. They are just born that way.
So when the sky doesn’t fall, what are we supposed to do with all those that believed it was going to?
Another question for Brown: Should a newspaper be held responsible for being “distasteful” for publishing?
Christopher Ouellette
senior, political science
