To the editor:
I'd like to voice my opposition to the opinion piece dated August 29, 2007 on the Distinguished Speakers Series line-up for 2007-08. While I agree that the screening of audience questions sometimes stifles interesting debate between a speaker and an audience member, I do not agree with your characterization of this as a "largely homogeneous group of speakers."
James Earl Jones will no doubt discuss, in part, how he overcame a stutter to become the voice of Darth Vader. It is likely that Tina Brown will talk about her latest book, which examines the life of Princess Diana. Steven Levitt is liable to discuss Freakonomics, in which he takes no particular political stance. Ishmael Beah's work on behalf of child soldiers can hardly be construed as homogeneous with any of the other speakers.
So I am forced to conclude, then, that it is the lectures of Michael Moore and Harold Ford, Jr. that lead you to label the entire 2007-08 series as homogeneous. This is an unfair characterization insofar as you use two of six speakers to vilify the series as a whole.
It is also strange because Moore and Ford take very different positions on many issues. Progressives such as Moore are worlds apart from Democratic Party centrists such as Ford. It is both surprising and dismaying that this subtlety was lost in the article. But then again, Bill O'Reilly isn't exactly known for his subtlety or his careful attention to detail, so perhaps this was not of concern to the author.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
