In Wednesday’s edition of The State News, MSU President M. Peter McPherson “expressed his concerns” regarding a recent political cartoon depicting public schools on a cross labeled “Proposal 1.” McPherson claims that he reserves the right to comment, not so much as president, but as a member of the community. Had President McPherson honestly wanted to speak as a member of the community, why did he not ask that his name be withheld from publication, so as to not bias the readers?

In a society that values its freedoms, those who “strongly support free speech,” must realize that the speech needing defense is not the speech with which everyone agrees. People must also understand that the use of a symbol to draw a parallel is not an attack on, or a belittling of, what the symbol may represent.

The cartoon did not make a mockery of the crucifixion, or what the crucifixion represents to certain people, it made a serious statement about the possible results of an issue facing voters. It challenged readers to think about possible consequences of Proposal 1. I, for one, would hope that the president of a prestigious institute of higher learning, such as MSU, would encourage us to think.

Christopher Bowron
computer science senior