Your editorial on Jan. 27 was completely off-base. As a basketball fan, I was one of the hundreds of fans chanting at Pierre Pierce.

Admittedly, chants of “rapist” and “sex offender” weren’t very creative.

The editorial suggested that the chanting made me feel good about myself, instead of taking real action, like studying for the LSAT.

I was not taunting Pierce out of some deep seated desire to make a difference in my community by standing up for victim’s rights.

I, and others, taunted Pierce because we wanted to try to throw him off his game. While most of the credit goes to the Cyclone defense, especially John Neal late in the game, I like to think that the hostile environment contributed to Pierce’s overall poor game.

And frankly, as an all-around sports fan, I don’t have much respect for Bruce Van De Velde when he tells the students how to behave.

We only seem to matter to the athletic department after the high priced boosters have been comfortably seated.

I would instead encourage students to create the kind of atmosphere we had against Iowa during every basketball game.

Certainly we don’t need to be chanting “rapist” at an opponent, but I for one won’t hesitate to delve into an opponent’s past if I think it might affect his play.

Paul Stanley

Senior

Materials Engineering