Editor, the Gauntlet,
[Re: “Fascism holds sway in foodcourt” November 10th 2005]
Editorials of high quality are a product of valuable investigative work. Unfortunately, the author of this article failed to search for the truth when reporting about the incident in the food court, and jumped to false conclusions that were based on emotion rather than logical thought and reason.
If Ms. Green would have interviewed the appropriate people and searched for the facts, she would have realized a number of truths: the employees involved were those of the Students’ Union, not Chartwells. Also, the incident was described in a sensationalist manner and quite simply inaccurate and not a true reflection of the events which took place. I cannot speak for Chartwell’s, but I find it outrageous that the Gauntlet published an article which draws comparisons to German soldiers the day prior to Remembrance Day.
The unfortunate truth is that Ms. Green failed to talk to either of the students involved, the SU employees involved, any Chartwell’s representative, myself, or even the author of the article which appeared in the previous week’s edition of the Gauntlet.
Perhaps if Ms. Green would have taken the time to craft a well thought out, researched article she would have mentioned the appropriate actions taken in response to this reported incident. Both students had personally thanked the SU for its timely attention to this matter within 48 hours. The SU now has a procedure specifically for students who have ethics approval to conduct research and surveys in MacEwan Student Centre, which will still ensure that rampant commercialization and product peddling will continue to be kept away from students who wish to simply eat their lunch.
Furthermore, I wish to address my disappointment at the disrespect in which SU employees were blindly labeled with. Writing such a piece without any knowledge of the event, or experience with those involved lacked journalistic integrity and credibility.