Editor:

I am writing in respect to the poor quality of the paper as of late. Your staff does not even keep the facts straight in the span of one article.

Matt Homer wrote in his column (“Utah: The last bastion of male domination: U gender-degree gap defies positive national trends,” Oct. 11) that the gap between female and male college graduates is widening, while conversely the national average is narrowing. Surprisingly, he cites actual numbers. The national average is 58 percent female graduation and in Utah is 55 percent male graduation.

Homer proceeds to state that Utah has a growing problem because Utah is not like the rest of the nation. Apparently that problem is too much male graduation. I am failing to see how Homer can laud the rest of the nation while denigrating Utah. The national graduation average is WORSE than the Utah average. I may be just some dumb male, but I thought 50 percent was the goal. That makes the national 8 percent off target compared with Utah’s 5 percent.

Homer doesn’t stop there; his article goes on to fight the evils of the gender wage gap. I have to admit it looks pretty bad; women get paid 67 cents on the dollar, I hear. For those reading (especially you business majors), I ask you, would you hire someone at?$10 per hour or save $3 and hire someone at $7 per hour? Honestly, if the wage gap really existed, don’t you think a lot of women would be putting a lot of men out of jobs? There is no businessman that would pass up higher profits in favor of pure, unadulterated sexism. The fact is, women in “equivalent” jobs on average get paid $1.07 for every dollar their male counterparts rake in.

In closing, I’d like to state that at this moment, I have things clinging to the inside of my toilet that command more critical thought than you, Homer.

Ryan Dark

Mechanical Engineering