Celebrate non-conformity, or else!
Now before I get too far along, I want to make perfectly clear that not only is the piece I’m writing now a column (opinion), but so was the piece in question, “Why Put a Bumper Sticker on a Ferrari,” in which Assistant News Editor Lisa Khoury said she despised tattoos.
Many readers took Khoury’s article personally and upbraided me, my staff, even the university (which operates separately from The Spectrum) for allowing such an opinionated piece in the paper.
Yes, it was biased. Yes, it was her opinion. That’s why it was placed on the opinion page and clearly marked opinion on the URL.
Now that we have that all cleared up, I want to apologize. I want to say I’m personally sorry to the thousands of people who were offended by Khoury’s stance on tattoos
Readers’ comments have nearly destroyed her and it’s awful.
What has baffled me more than anything is how much people care about this issue. Last month, we reported that this university gave money illegally to (then) County Executive Chris Collins’ political campaign and that UB President Satish K. Tripathi broke SUNY regulations. We got almost no response.
I respect people’s attachment to their tattoos and the personal and emotional value they hold for many.
But as a student hoping to make my career as a journalist, I would also like to believe that the public cares about issues that extend beyond themselves.
***
But they don’t, son.
And remember, everybody:
Every single on of these young people will vote to relect Barack Obama.
