So there I was, sitting at work when I heard a co-worker of mine express her disgust about the adult ads in The Daily Aztec. Not being the person she was talking to, I didn’t really listen to the rest of the conversation. Then it hit me. This is not the first time I have heard someone bad mouth the articles and/or ads in The Daily Aztec.
In fact, the more I think about it, I’m not sure there has been a single week that has gone by where I haven’t heard someone complain about the writing standards, or lack thereof, in our school newspaper. There have been countless times in the past six semesters that I have attended SDSU where I have been so disgusted by an article in the Aztec that I swore I would write a letter to the editor to express my opinion. But for one reason or another, I never wrote the letter.
Today is where that ends.
A nerve that runs through my body and my soul has been touched by The Daily Aztec. And for that, I will be silent no more.
Everyone who reads The Daily Aztec or has an e-mail account on campus knows that a young girl, a high school girl at that, was raped on campus in the beginning of April. And Tuesday, April 22, there was an article in The Daily Aztec describing the disgusting event. I am all for rape awareness, but the way in which that article was written made it seem as though that poor girl was at fault, like she asked for that horrible person to attack her. I’m sure she really wanted her privacy invaded; she probably was hoping for the nightmares that will follow, and I’m positive that she was really looking forward to the loss of security she will feel every time she walks alone, day or night, or anytime anyone walks too close behind her. I’m absolutely sure that young girl knew she should beware of rapists running wild on campus!
I should pat the writer of the article on the back for at least mentioning the safety devices we have on campus. But the way in which it was written caused the importance of those devices to be lost in a message of blame that lands on the shoulders of a now traumatized teenager. Too little, too late comes to mind here.
And did anyone else of the 30,000 students here find the adult ads in the April 23 paper revolting? I find it hard to believe that my co-worker and myself are the only two people on this whole campus to get upset by dirty ads in The Daily Aztec. There were three ads in the paper that not only explain why women are raped on campus and why men expose themselves to unsuspecting women, but they seem to support such unacceptable sexual behavior.
I know that sex is a big part of life, especially when you’re talking to college students, but come on! Let’s draw the line somewhere before it’s too late. The first ad of a sexual nature says “Sex fantasies can come true!” “Homegrown Video” it exclaims across the chest of a beautiful women with, of course, a beautiful body to match. The second ad and perhaps the most repulsive of all, is a half page ad for Deja Vu. How fitting it should be that the ad would be placed directly underneath a half-page picture of seven members of the football team.
How many times have I heard of a State football player being charged or accused of rape in the last two-and-a-half years? More than once, in fact. I think I’d have to use both hands if I were to count with my fingers. The third ad, and thanks God the final one, is a little small square tucked into the corner of the paper. Perhaps this is done so no one will notice and write a letter such as this one. Well, I noticed and so did my co-worker, so if that was the plan, it failed.
It failed, just like the integrity of our campus newspaper failed. Is the advertising staff that desperate for sponsors that they should have to resort to such low class? On ad in the paper for a place like Deja Vu is tolerable, but three ads the day after an article of a young high school girl being raped on our campus? Where is your sense of dignity?
Cora Westfaw
business management junior
