The 'Sorry Punks' Respond

I debated whether to respond to the Viewpoint, "The Problem with Tufts," (Tuesday, Oct. 14) because I did not want to prove how much it had infuriated Tufts undergrads. However, I felt it was my responsibility to defend the student body from a dismal and snobbish attack. Is it really so offensive to finish our tests even after time is called? Maybe if there were not as many post-bacs in our classes breaking the curves because they are not taking as many classes as the pre-med undergrads, we would not feel as pressured. Oops, I just made a grossly unfair and generalized accusation. Gosh, I feel like an idiot.

First of all, this viewpoint intentionally angered a lot of people. I can understand where the author is coming from; obviously, there are a lot of people here that I do not particularly like either. However, venting these pent-up emotions in the student paper solves nothing. Are there problems with the student body? Yes, of course, but someone who leaves their trash in Hotung is not going to throw it away now because they have been insulted.

"It's a lot more fun to blame things than to fix them," said one of the greatest minds of our day, Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes. In this strip, Calvin plans to always be uninformed so that he can say the system doesn't represent him when it fails in the future ("An ingeniously self-fulfilling plan," remarks Hobbes). He is right, as the column has so beautifully demonstrated. Unfortunately, if Calvin were a peer, not many people can honestly say that they would want to be friends with him. Someone who points out someone else's flaws in a non-constructive way is not helping, and most of the time, the criticized party will continue his or her flawed ways in spite of the criticizer. Maybe I'll try to bring a Slurpee into the library next time I go, even though I don't drink them.

And second, I am quite confused at how sports got thrown into the mix. One minute, the viewpoint addresses littering, and two sentences later, it compares these people to those who cheered for Manny Ramirez hitting the most important ball of the year for the Red Sox. How in the world could these two issues be considered similar?

Manny is called unsportsmanlike, in so many words, and described as undeserving of special acclaim. Before that homerun, such a view might have been right. But at that moment, Manny was the greatest player in baseball, and he knew it. Sure, we can all say, "If I were Manny, I would have had more class and just trotted the base-path." And some of us really would have done so. But others recognize Manny's superstar status and would want to embrace it. Sprinting around the diamond does not excite people the same way that strutting it does. That is just the way baseball works.

I won't defend Kevin Millar for not hustling out a base hit. But believe you me, the majority of Sox fans must have felt sick to their stomachs seeing him get thrown out. Look, there are a lot of lazy baseball players, but badmouthing the people who cheer for those players is just the wrong thing to do. Sometimes, rooting for a team means forgetting about past mistakes, especially during the most important games. Being loyal to your team is a good thing; in fact, it is one of the hardest things to do as a fan. A good Sox fan should cheer at the sight of Barry Zito grimacing in disgust after Manny's three-run blast.

Oh, and lastly, how could every reader of the previous viewpoint be compared to Barry Zito? Six thousand undergrads may have read those words, and six thousand undergrads may have already accomplished something worthwhile in their lives. Who knows, maybe one of them has done something more important than Barry Zito being a pitcher for the A's. It just might be possible.

To conclude, I do not ask for a retraction of the viewpoint. Like Rush Limbaugh, the author obviously meant what he said, and the accuracy of his words is not what is at stake. Just understand why all of the "spineless sycophants," and the "immature and spoiled prima Donna[s]" who might have read the viewpoint are probably going to ignore those contemptuous comments.

Apologies to the TA's out there who might receive some backlash due to Mr. Williams' comments.

Josh Cohn is a sophomore majoring in Music