Unfair to Silber

OOZING with distortions and hyperbole, the staff opinion looks more like the cheesy garden casserole reviled in its opening paragraph than a sensible analysis of the Democratic gubernatorial primary. And despite the puffed-up rhetoric and tasty criticisms which it hurls at John Silber, it fails to address the issues most pressing to Massachusetts voters: the economy and crime.

While we do not endorse either candidate, we find the staff's treatment of John Silber unfair and irrelevant. True, Silber has clumsily offended groups whose support he desperately needs to win the governorship. But in its rush to paint Silber as a backwards racist, sexist and anti-Semite, the staff fails to recognize that Silber's gratuitous comments are nothing more than the unpleasant biproducts of his "straight-shooting" personality and his inexperience with the mass media.

Furthermore, the staff emphasizes the controversial aspects of Silber's presidency at Boston University instead of the indisputably postive things he accomplished there. We do not approve of the some of the bareknuckles tactics which Silber used to accomplish his goals, nor are we enthusiastic about the restrictions he placed on student life at the university. But his methods and personality notwithstanding, Silber did transform a faltering "safety school" into a thriving world-class university. If our colleagues on the staff can't appreciate this recovery, they need only talk to the upbeat students at B.U. or browse through one of its newly constructed buildings. More than being an "able administrator at B.U.," Silber deserves considerable credit for this transformation, instead of the cynical nitpicking he receives from the staff.

In addition to their mistreatment of Silber, the staff position ignores the most important issues in this campaign. Instead of addressing the state's most devastating economic downturn in years, the staff position is preoccupied with the environment, consumer issues and abortion rights--all of which merit attention, but which are nowhere near as pressing as the state's current fiscal crisis. A more thorough analysis of the candidates' plans to revive the sinking economy is conspicuously absent. Perhaps the inhabitants of the Ivory Tower have forgotten that thousands of people stand in unemployment lines while we attend classes.

Just as surprising is the majority's failure even to mention the severe crime epidemic that has spread through the streets of Boston and its surrounding communities. How would the candidates ensure the safety of residents too afraid to walk the streets? Which candidate has proposed a more coherent plan to put criminals behind bars? Would either candidate do what New York Governor Mario Cuomo has done and call for the hiring of more police officers? Who knows? The staff doesn't seem to care.

More concerned with character bashing and peripheral issues than with the true concerns of Massachusetts' voters, the staff has served our readers a distorted and confused dish, unsuitable for any dining hall.