In response to Melissa Snow’s article “Women: Stand up for

Chivalry,” and in defense of both sexes, I have to say one thing.

You’ve got it all wrong. I am hardly one to wear short skirts or

high heels. In fact, the day you catch me in anything fancier than

a T-shirt and jeans is a rare one. I don’t curl my hair or wear

elaborate make-up or bare my cleavage, yet guys on campus and

elsewhere open doors for me all the time. See, you’ve got some

holes in your theories. You seem to think that guys should open all

doors and pay for all dates and open pickle jars. That’s fine, but

what do you do for them? You said that you rolled your eyes at the

group of boys who were talking about cigarettes and that you were

quite surprised when they held the door for you. Frankly, I’m

surprised, too. I certainly wouldn’t have held the door for someone

who had just rolled her eyes at me.

I agree that women who refuse chivalry contribute to its demise

and that guys might be a little wary of automatically paying or

opening whatever needs to be opened for fear of a “femi-nazi.” I

think the biggest contributor, however, are women who do not

recognize that this whole chivalry thing is a two-way street. Do

unto others, right? No guy had ever offered his seat to you on the

bus. Have you ever offered yours? Politeness should not be expected

only from men. We owe them some respect and consideration, too. As

for why they don’t offer you their seats or open doors for you, I

do not know what to tell you. If you so need to be on that

receiving end and if you believe that it won’t happen unless you

look like Britney Spears, I think it might be a lost cause. But my

trick? I smile and say thank you. And I don’t mind opening the door

for guy once in a while, too.

Jamie Vandenberg

Junior, psychology major

This is a letter in response to Chris Hess’ article in the

Collegian’s “Dish” regarding the film “The Passion.” I commend you

Chris, for writing an objective article about this film. I find it

truly disappointing that members of the ADL and other critics are

picking anything and everything they can out of this movie to

criticize and prevent it from being released. Mr. Zucherman argues

that this depiction of Jews will breed anger and lead to violence

against the Jewish community. However this sort of argument didn’t

stop Schindler’s list from being released for fear of backlash

towards the German community, or that no one should have watched

“Boyz in the Hood” because it would have promoted violence towards

the African American community for their actions in the film. I

encourage anyone who wants to see a portrayal of Jesus that is

supposed to be historically accurate to go see this movie, and for

those of you who feel that you won’t agree with this “religious”

film, don’t go see it, just quit pretending its content is more

damaging to people than other Hollywood releases.

Kellie Keelan

Junior, communication