n In response to a letter from last month, (“NU’s cheering inappropriate,” Mar. 2, p. 7) I would firstly like to thank Melissa Batson for standing up for what is right, and secondly, for making me aware of the extremely egregious act a Northeastern University student decided to commit at a hockey game vs. Boston University on Feb. 28, 2007.

This NU student, or the person who was dressed in NU gear sitting near the band, used a bullhorn to call out to the crowd, “If you were a BU student, how would you prefer to die: fire or train?” This was less than a week after two BU students lost their lives in an off-campus apartment fire. Batson very thoughtfully pointed out that this was “a blatant insult to those students, their families and their memory.”

In case this person with the bullhorn doesn’t understand how hurtful words like those can be, I would like him or her to know that the pain involved is so powerful that it has taken me almost two months to muster the courage to begin reading the articles written about the fire in which my own daughter lost her life (“Two BU students killed in fire, Feb. 26, p.1).

When I read this article, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor with disbelief, and I was shocked that another human being could stoop that low for a laugh. So, I would personally like to invite this NU student to a memorial service for this young lady who was just nearing the prime of her life.

BU is hosting this memorial for my daughter, Rhiannon McCuish, on Sunday, April 29 at 2 p.m. in the Trustees Ballroom in the School of Management Building, 595 Commonwealth Ave.

I hope this student has the courage to attend this memorial service and is willing to meet me. The student should not worry about being subjected to a tirade from me. I would just like this individual to watch and listen.

Donna McCuish

Mother of Rhiannon McCuish