Perhaps Tim Murphy’s column on Scav Hunt’s supposed niche appeal (“Picking Off Scavs,” 5/12/2009) was, in a way, “a refreshingly honest and revealing take” on the Maroon. Obviously intended only for the newspaper’s regular readers, it showed the Maroon’s Viewpoints section as it exists to many students: “an eccentric, insular, and often incoherent curiosity.” More than any other section, Viewpoints polarizes, rather than unites, the student body. For some, it’s a way to pass time over a meal somewhere on campus, or a cup of coffee somewhere else on campus. For others, it’s a valiant effort to mimic a professional newspaper’s opinion pages without actually having anything to say. In the last issue, other than picking on the world’s largest scavenger hunt for not including people who aren’t interested in it, Viewpoints chose to weigh in on the fact that the graduation speaker is usually a professor (“Don’t Lecture Us”)—an entirely novel topic!—and the “skanky” way young people today are dressing come springtime (“A Springtime Strip”). “Fascinating, to be sure, but not all that enticing to the uninitiated.” Perhaps the Maroon should try opening up its Viewpoints page to submissions from non-readers, much the way Scav is open to submissions from anyone applying to be a judge. Cancel my subscription, if I have one.

Sam Feldman

Class of 2010