Point vs. Counterpoint

Dueling op-ed pieces in the Southern today, presented in "Point" vs. "Counter-point" format.

• The Silent Majority piece we saw in the DE on April 13 was resurrected to serve as the Point.
• Natasha Zaretsky wrote a new op-ed piece attempting to explain, to the Southern's readers, why so many SIUC faculty and staff are upset with the administration's unwillingness to negotiate with campus unions.

I happen to know that Natasha's piece (which she shared with some like-minded folks before sending it off to the Southern) was certainly not penned in response to the Silent Majority, so the Southern's decision to pair it with the Silent Majority qualifies as sandbagging in my book. I don't know the details of the Southern's interaction with Team Silent. Perhaps they had submitted their piece for consideration as Natasha had hers, and the Southern's editor, Gary Metro, simply paired the two together. I would even not object strenuously if he had solicited some sort of counterweight to Natasha's piece (we all know that the Southern's editorial stance is rather more favorable to the administration than to campus unions). What certainly goes too far, it seems to me, is to present Natasha's piece as if it should be responding to a piece it was never intended to respond to.

At least Metro printed it, however. And I think Natasha's piece does an excellent job of presenting these issues in a way that will connect with people in the community who aren't campus insiders.