Letter to the Editor

Last week as I was walking through the Union I was excited to see a new edition of the Thorn available despite the short school week. However, my excitement soon turned into puzzlement as I opened the pages to reveal an article entitled “Recycled Garbage.” As I read the article in full, I was shocked to see such hateful words and painful comparisons regarding the show.

Similar to Mr. Schultz, author of “Recycled Garbage,” I also attended the Recycled Percussion show. When I arrived and watched the seats of Hatfield Hall fill up, I soon realized that students didn’t pick up their ticket to the sold-out show simply because it was free. They actually showed up and were excited to see the show. Then, as the show began and the audience stood, I was amazed by two things. First, the audience remained standing for the entire show and screams of excitement could be heard throughout. Furthermore, the sound of the music was loud enough that I could feel the vibrations from the bass. Then I thought, this is the closest thing to a real “Pop Culture” concert ever sponsored on campus. I’ve never experienced these occurrences at previous Rose-Hulman events. At the conclusion of the show, the packed auditorium soon turned into a crowded lobby as students waited in line to purchase merchandise, talk to the performers, and get autographs.

The experiences I had during the show led me to believe that it was a successful event and students loved the show. However, I do realize that no matter what the show or event is, no audience will be 100% pleased at its conclusion. Yet, I still define a show’s success based on the overall reaction of the entire audience. This must not be the case for the writers of the Thorn. Time and time again, I have been disappointed to see negative articles about campus events regardless of the event’s outcome.

There are students, faulty, and staff on this campus who work extremely hard to provide such a diverse and entertaining schedule of events. All I ask is that the writers of the Thorn give an accurate reflection of these events. There are portions of the Thorn available for personal opinions; however, the main articles are not such a place. The Thorn staff is composed of campus leaders just like the several other students who work hard to provide great things for the Rose-Hulman campus. We should all be supporting each other’s efforts to make this campus as involved and exciting as possible.



Jenn Cringoli

Biomedical Engineering

Class of 2007