Attacking Sara Malkin’s columns

Dan Levin COM ’04 dlevin@bu.edu

I’ll admit, it takes a lot to get me riled up enough that I have to write in attacking a columnist’s work. I used to be a columnist, so I know how hard it is to come up with something original, only to have nitwits try and rip it apart. However, Sara Malkin’s continuous verbal diarrhea has forced me to write in protest. This week’s column about informing a prospective student is the most inane, mind-numbing drivel I’ve read so far this year. The idea for the column was unoriginal and uninspired. I’ve read this bunk a hundred times over. No, BU doesn’t have a campus; no, BU has a harsh guest policy; no BU has no school spirit; no the BU beach is actually a hill. Congratulations Ms. Malkin for pointing out the blatantly obvious! Do you want a cookie? If this is the best you can come up with, I say be quiet. Continuing on the idiocy of this week’s piece, who were you trying to reach? You’re in COM, did you not pay attention in COM101? If you’re trying to make a point, you have to know your audience. You targeted prospective students. Here’s something I bet you never thought of: only enrolled students read the Free Press! What good does it do to tell people things they already know, or knew before they even came here? Do you honestly think that current students are going to read your column, stop, and think: “Hey, I never noticed that six lane thoroughfare running through campus,” or “Gee whiz, I didn’t even realize that the rooms in Warren Towers are like cell blocks?” It’s laughable. I’ve not read a single column of yours that could be considered an original thought. You’ve written about how we depend on cell phones and IM, you’ve written on being naked (a column that appeared to have no point whatsoever), and a column about being independent when you come home for break. I have read a variation on those subjects at least 5 times each since I’ve been at BU, and I’m only a sophomore. It is your job as a columnist to come up with something ORIGINAL, something that no one has thought to discuss. You could have discussed the problems with the Catholic Church, or the problems with Bush calling out countries an “Axis of Evil.” Or even straying from the heavy politics, you could give an insightful opinion on who deserves an Oscar, or your feelings on animal testing. However, you have done none of that. You have simply become a mindless lump that writes because you have to turn in 800 words or less every Wednesday. I hope you’re proud.