Eric Hiatt has done a courageous service by putting himself on the line and giving passionate expression of a desire for justice and basic human rights. I am elated to see a young person get angry about something that really matters, instead of little local issues such as the name of a building or dry Veishea. I am only surprised that others do not join him.

The only responses I’ve seen so far are the predictable ones from the jingoists.

Eric’s attackers seem to reject the idea that American society becomes better and stronger through open criticism and an open examination of past mistakes and present faults. The most comical attacks in effect said “Your right to free speech has been bought with blood. So shut up and enjoy it!”

A true patriot would seek to make the nation better instead of stifling its critics. After all, there is plenty to fix.

Starting with the fact that the majority of young people do not seem particularly concerned or informed about what goes on in their own communities or in the wider world.

It is not just that government censorship has been alive and strong during wars, for example, during the recent Gulf War. More insidious is total corporate control of the media and the gradual banishment of serious information from television and radio.

The last holdouts, Public TV and Public Radio, are under constant attack from the conservatives in Congress. As a result they have had to rely more and more on corporate sponsorship and accept the corresponding loss of independence. It’s been a long time since I saw something relevant and eye-opening on Public TV.

Fortunately the United States still has world-class newspapers such as The New York Times, but I wonder what minute fraction of students follow newspapers.

Timo Seppalainen

Associate prof

Mathematics