Statue a blunder

This letter was written in response to Michael Donohue’s comments, which appeared in the Nov. 5 edition of The Northern Star

I have been an editiorial cartoonist for the Star for six semesters, and one of the issues that I have tried calling attention to is Dann Nardi’s “sculpture” of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the commons. Although I have never been compelled to write a letter to the editor before, I think that some of Donohue’s recent comments deserve a rebuttal.

Donohue claims that NIU has “one of the most conservative, right-winged, closed-minded group of students.” He continues, assuming that “everybody seems to want a nice, neat, cliched sculpture of King himself and feels that the physical representation of King is more substantial …”

Then Donohue drops this bombshell: “It’s all too easy and rewarding to one’s ignorance and lack of ideals to slam the appearance of the sculpture. “

Say Michael … who is really being ignorant (and arrogant) here?

First of all, I have never advocated the construction of a statue that looks like Dr. King, but I think that the Nardi sculpture is a poor representation of what King did stand for … equality. King did not stand for a concrete monolith choking on a bed of weeds. The Nardi sculpture looks more like something that the “Garden Weasel” might stand for.

I’m also not a “conservative, right-winged, closed-minded student,” but a liberal who is totally disillusioned with the entire process that went into the construction of the statue. From the referendum to the final judging, the Nardi statue has been a total disaster.

As a journalist, I feel that it would be rewarding to YOUR ignorance to slam elements of the media, as well as students-at-large, who feel that Nardi’s scuplture is a tragic conglomeration of cracked concrete and herbal undergrowth.

How can you argue that people who hate this statue are “ignorant” and have a “lack of ideals?” Do you know everyone on this campus on a first-name basis? Are you the “big man on campus” here at NIU?

If anyone has a closed mind about this issue, it is Mr. Donohue, and not the press or anyone else who feels that Nardi’s statue is a blunder.

Charlie Passut

Senior

Political Science

Journalism