2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Chronicle
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: Opinions
Poor behavior leads to embarrassment at vigil
I attended the candle light vigil to honor and remember those slain in the Virginia Tech tragedy. There were some kind words and sincere hearts that spoke. But sadly, this event felt a bit more like a public relations move than anything else.
Now, I'm not trying to diminish those affected by this tragedy, but I am shaking a finger at those who turned this event into something other than honoring the dead.
Shame on you, photographers. Is it proper to take pictures at a funeral? No. So why did you show up at the candle light vigil?
Shame on you, International Studies. If the killer wasn't a South Korean national, would you have gotten up in front of everyone and spoke? No. So why did you turn this into a race issue?
Shame on you, guy that talked about the Sartell school shooting. I know school shootings suck, and they are hard to understand, but was an audience assembled for Virginia Tech the appropriate audience to talk to about music for sale as a fundraiser for Sartell High School?
To everyone who attended, and to those who didn't, I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner. It angers me that people choose to use national tragedies as spring boards for their own agendas. And what's worse, nobody says anything
Dan Bodin
English major
Fifth-year student
Equal pay story lacks wage statistics for men
Your article on Equal Pay Day neglected to put the commonly cited wage gap statistics in context. While you correctly noted that average annual earnings for woman are 77 percent of average annual earnings for men, your only explanation for this difference was gender discrimination.
However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men work an average of 12 percent more hours over the course of the year, which accounts for much of this difference. A recent study by the American Association of University Women, cited in an e-mail earlier this week sent to SCSU faculty via the SCSU-announce list, notes the "wage gap" as an effort to display how much women are discriminated against.
However, the study goes on to explain that 3/4 of the wage gap can be explained by hours worked, education and job characteristics. Thus, when accounting for factors that should affect wages, this 77 percent figure jumps to something closer to 94 percent.
While there is a difference between wages for men and women, and discrimination may play a role in explaining this difference, the 77 percent figure is patently misleading.
Even worse, sometimes it is reported that women earn 77 percent of what a man earns "for the same job." This statement is not just misleading; it is a lie.
David Switzer
Assistant Professor
Economics department
I attended the candle light vigil to honor and remember those slain in the Virginia Tech tragedy. There were some kind words and sincere hearts that spoke. But sadly, this event felt a bit more like a public relations move than anything else.
Now, I'm not trying to diminish those affected by this tragedy, but I am shaking a finger at those who turned this event into something other than honoring the dead.
Shame on you, photographers. Is it proper to take pictures at a funeral? No. So why did you show up at the candle light vigil?
Shame on you, International Studies. If the killer wasn't a South Korean national, would you have gotten up in front of everyone and spoke? No. So why did you turn this into a race issue?
Shame on you, guy that talked about the Sartell school shooting. I know school shootings suck, and they are hard to understand, but was an audience assembled for Virginia Tech the appropriate audience to talk to about music for sale as a fundraiser for Sartell High School?
To everyone who attended, and to those who didn't, I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner. It angers me that people choose to use national tragedies as spring boards for their own agendas. And what's worse, nobody says anything
Dan Bodin
English major
Fifth-year student
Equal pay story lacks wage statistics for men
Your article on Equal Pay Day neglected to put the commonly cited wage gap statistics in context. While you correctly noted that average annual earnings for woman are 77 percent of average annual earnings for men, your only explanation for this difference was gender discrimination.
However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men work an average of 12 percent more hours over the course of the year, which accounts for much of this difference. A recent study by the American Association of University Women, cited in an e-mail earlier this week sent to SCSU faculty via the SCSU-announce list, notes the "wage gap" as an effort to display how much women are discriminated against.
However, the study goes on to explain that 3/4 of the wage gap can be explained by hours worked, education and job characteristics. Thus, when accounting for factors that should affect wages, this 77 percent figure jumps to something closer to 94 percent.
While there is a difference between wages for men and women, and discrimination may play a role in explaining this difference, the 77 percent figure is patently misleading.
Even worse, sometimes it is reported that women earn 77 percent of what a man earns "for the same job." This statement is not just misleading; it is a lie.
David Switzer
Assistant Professor
Economics department