Bad Story

By Cathy Buchanan

Editor, the Gauntlet,


Re: “No Virgin Protection,” Nov. 18, 2004


I’ve been a faithful reader of the Gauntlet since my own student days back in 1974. I’ve seen some badly written articles from time to time but NEVER one as bad as “No Virgin Protection” by Ben Hoffman.


Let me give you just two examples. I quote: “…you may have noticed that the argument against copy control measures is rife with many more an edifice”. Since an edifice is a building, I fail to see how an argument can be rife with many buildings…


What on earth was Mr. Hoffman trying to say? Another brilliant sentence: “My net gain is two hours less for my homework, which sits in front of me unfinished with the due date approaching ever- vigilantly.” Does Mr. Hoffman know what “vigilant” means? If not, let me help him out..it means “watchful.” How can a deadline approach “watchfully”? You may think I’m being too picky, but you are all university students. Since you’re bright enough to be here, I feel it’s reasonable to assume you all have a certain level of skill with the English language. The fact that you write for a newspaper makes your literacy even more important. Do any of you actually proof-read your articles? I expect a much higher standard from the lot of you. But if you’re all content with this kind of sloppy writing, then feel free to ignore me.