I wanted to comment on Rhaason Mitchell’s article on Jan. 22nd.

Consider this:

First: Pratt IS a major sports figure, so of course it was picked up upon and published. And sent through the AP. Any popular figure has to realize that he’s in the public eye all the time.

Second: There is a reporter who checks the police blotter every night and every morning. This reporter is assigned to the police beat and picks up anything that he considers newsworthy. Pratt is newsworthy.

Third: This state has an extreme policy on drunk driving, and it is aggressively enforced. Pratt was driving drunk, so he got arrested.

Fourth: Just because his was the only OWI that got filed that night means nothing. All it means is that it was the only report that officer got filed before his shift was over. Police work means lots of paperwork, and it doesn’t all get done immediately. Just call it “luck of the draw”.

Fifth: I agree with your comment about the reporting. This paper very rarely reports the positive. But then very few papers report the positive. Who wants to read about the millions of people who led normal lives today? They’d rather read about the guy who did go nuts and blew half the neighborhood away.

And just so you know, I get watched suspiciously when I go out for a walk late at night, and I’m a white female. And it’s even worse if I happen to be walking with my kids after 10 p.m. in the summer.

It’s life in a college town, and life in today’s paranoid society. Too bad society is so uptight about anyone who doesn’t fit its perfect mold.

If we all tried to see the best in each other instead of the worst, life could be really good.

So on that note: Hey Rhaason, I think you’re a really good writer. Keep it up!

Lisa Keipp

Senior

History