Thompson should keep his verbal diarrhea to himself

Editor:I was appalled by a recent editorial in The Daily Utah Chronicle (“Get out of my face, private!” Feb. 12) in which the haughty columnist Andy Thompson whined about having to hear the cadence shouting of a U ROTC unit exercising around campus. His comments reminded me of other groups who also shout around campus, including anti-war protestors and anti-Bush demonstrators. I am proud that we live in a country where people can overtly speak their minds, from enthusiastic soldiers to whiny columnists.Those brave soldiers exercising around campus are training to pay the hefty bill for our “free speech,” and Thompson has the audacity to complain about a little noise? Those cadences fall under the same “free speech” that demonstrators and columnists enjoy. Is complaining about and denying the “free speech” of the very soldiers who train, fight, suffer and even die defending it a worthy use of Chronicle space, or did an upcoming deadline and an inconvenient case of writer’s block cause Thompson to develop a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth?

Michael PayneElectrical Engineering