2008 Woodie Awards
letters to the editor
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Opinions
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To the Editor:
In response to Alex Garlick's piece criticizing Al Gore's award for the Nobel Peace Prize, I am curious as to why he chose not to criticize the 2004 award to Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan woman who won the award primarily for her environmental activism in Africa, and only secondarily for her overlapping mission to improve the lot of African women. While the author of the piece saw fit to draw attention to those who more obviously work for what is thought of as peace, i.e. non-war, he conveniently chose to exclude someone whose work deepens peace in an area that he apparently regards as already peaceful. The Nobel Peace Prize is designed to honor those who work for a better world, not just in areas of violent conflict. Honoring a man and a woman who are working to get people to change their lives to be more friendly to the planet that sustains us is certainly as worthy of that prize as someone who works to stop people from blowing each other up. Indeed, as Americans, we should be proud of the fact that one of our own has won the prize, and that six of the 12 Nobel Laureates this year were from our country. Repudiating one of our own for working to make the world a better place seems more than a little inappropriate.
Sincerely,
Jason Siegel '06
Bloomington, Ind.
To the Editor:
New Middlebury College Book Store Manager Bob Jansen has adopted trendy guerilla advertising methods to promote the store. These include a heightened presence on Internet-based networking sites and merchandise discounts to students who join an "Idea Group" or win contests. While these methods do indeed generate publicity and increase sales at the Book Store, Mr. Jansen seems to forget something - such marketing tactics are only really necessary in highly competitive marketplaces. The Middlebury College Book Store is the only Middlebury College Book Store on campus, and thus should focus the use of its capital on better service and lower prices for students rather than unnecessary, elaborate stunts. Oversight is necessary to ensure that whatever reduced prices the Book Store can provide are shared equally by all students, and not selectively handed out to those who most vocally promote the store. Such word-of-mouth advertising is clearly artificial, and will occur naturally if the store truly excels at catering to the College's needs. Mr. Jansen's effort is admirable but his methods are misguided.
In response to Alex Garlick's piece criticizing Al Gore's award for the Nobel Peace Prize, I am curious as to why he chose not to criticize the 2004 award to Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan woman who won the award primarily for her environmental activism in Africa, and only secondarily for her overlapping mission to improve the lot of African women. While the author of the piece saw fit to draw attention to those who more obviously work for what is thought of as peace, i.e. non-war, he conveniently chose to exclude someone whose work deepens peace in an area that he apparently regards as already peaceful. The Nobel Peace Prize is designed to honor those who work for a better world, not just in areas of violent conflict. Honoring a man and a woman who are working to get people to change their lives to be more friendly to the planet that sustains us is certainly as worthy of that prize as someone who works to stop people from blowing each other up. Indeed, as Americans, we should be proud of the fact that one of our own has won the prize, and that six of the 12 Nobel Laureates this year were from our country. Repudiating one of our own for working to make the world a better place seems more than a little inappropriate.
Sincerely,
Jason Siegel '06
Bloomington, Ind.
To the Editor:
New Middlebury College Book Store Manager Bob Jansen has adopted trendy guerilla advertising methods to promote the store. These include a heightened presence on Internet-based networking sites and merchandise discounts to students who join an "Idea Group" or win contests. While these methods do indeed generate publicity and increase sales at the Book Store, Mr. Jansen seems to forget something - such marketing tactics are only really necessary in highly competitive marketplaces. The Middlebury College Book Store is the only Middlebury College Book Store on campus, and thus should focus the use of its capital on better service and lower prices for students rather than unnecessary, elaborate stunts. Oversight is necessary to ensure that whatever reduced prices the Book Store can provide are shared equally by all students, and not selectively handed out to those who most vocally promote the store. Such word-of-mouth advertising is clearly artificial, and will occur naturally if the store truly excels at catering to the College's needs. Mr. Jansen's effort is admirable but his methods are misguided.
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