My Letter to the University

Below is a copy of the letter that I sent to the person in charge of the University of Washington's newspage.


Dear ***** *******,

I am the student that had the letter printed in the Seattle PI regarding the possibility of students being able to carry weapons on school grounds. Despite the fact that I appreciate the Seattle PI printing my letter, I was a little upset to find out that they completely changed the direction of the article in which I had originally intended. What do I mean by this? Well, if you were to read my letter in the opinion section of the Seattle PI you can see that I sound like someone making the same pro-gun argument that we have heard and grown tired of over the years. However, I completely disagree with the manner in which my article was handled. The reason that I say "article" and not "letter" is because of the fact that another newspaper printed my article in its entirety (The News Tribune). The Seattle PI, in my opinion, manipulated my article and my argument in the way that they saw fit. I respect the fact that they are allowed to do this based upon certain business practices by newspapers; however, I feel that, by doing so, they missed the point in which I was trying to convey. My goal, in writing the article, was to suggest a change to and to challenge the current weapons policy of the University of Washington. I was not doing this to gain recognition or to irritate those whose opinions differed with mine. I wrote this article because I really care about this university and I want to help make it better for future generations. I understand that a lot of people may disagree with the stance that I have taken. However, what good is a policy if it has not been challenged?

I have read the listings that you have on the UWnews.org section and I only saw the letter that I had in the Seattle PI and not my article that the News Tribune printed. I just felt that people seeing this page would only see my "manipulated" letter and not the article that did, in fact, portray my actual views and concerns. I feel that this issue deserves to have a balance of views supporting and opposing the current University of Washington weapons policy. In my opinion, it's only fair. I will provide a link to my article that the News Tribune printed on May 25th. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear back from you regarding this issue.

Sincerely,

Matthew Thomas Cornwall

LINK: http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/insight/story/372089.html