McLeod: War hits home

I sympathize with Ms. McLeod and applaud her candor on this important matter.

I am curious as to how she is a "senior in journalism and Middle Eastern studies," when KU has no Middle Eastern Studies program, nor any such department.

Perhaps she is minoring in Arabic? Religious Studies? Political Science? History? Or might she be getting her Master's degree in International Studies?

If she is indeed majoring in Middle Eastern studies at the University of Kansas, then I applaud her incredible talent: few students can major in a program that does not exist.

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• Posted by feivel_w on November 16, 2007 at 12:21 a.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

Unfortunately, putting "and a co-major in International Studies with an emphasis in the Middle East" takes up too much space on the byline, jerk. Find something more worthwhile to do than ragging on columnists' bylines.

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• Posted by elmtreeku on November 16, 2007 at 7:27 p.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

I think what you actually wrote, at least considering the message that was e-mailed to me was:

"The user elmtreeku sent the following message to you via The University Daily Kansan:

==============================

thanks for your nice comment about my column, the one where I POUR MY HEART OUT ABOUT MY FIANCE COMING HOME FROM WAR.as for my incredible major, unfortunately, putting "and a co-major in International Studies with an emphasis in the Middle East" takes up too much space on the byline, jerk. Find something more worthwhile to do than ragging on columnists' bylines.

==============================

Please do not reply to this e-mail message. To send elmtreeku a response, visit this Web page:"

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• Posted by feivel_w on November 17, 2007 at 10:38 a.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

I am a wife of a US Marine. We live out in Camp Pendleton, CA. Because you are in Kansas, away from all the other Marine families, that is the reason why you are not really finding the support you need. Out here with the other Marine wives, its easy to find support and understanding of what you are going thru. Semper Fi & Rock Chalk

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• Posted by mrsjayhawkl on November 19, 2007 at 10:18 a.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

Its both thousand-mile and thousand-yard. Look it up.

And that was the whole point of the column, that because I'm in Kansas and on campus, we (myself and the other people here on campus) don't get the support we would elsewhere. Yes, I would imagine finding support at Camp Pendleton (where my fiance is stationed and where I lived for three months) is easier than finding it among college students.

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• Posted by elmtreeku on November 27, 2007 at 12:35 p.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

Um, as a journalist, McLeod seems awfully defensive. She better get used to people criticizing her - it's what people do to the media. Calling people jerks, telling them to look stuff up, and snippily pointing out the "point" of her column won't endear her to any readers - without which, she won't have a job.

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• Posted by LaughingAtYou on November 27, 2007 at 5:01 p.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

I don't want Ms. McLeod to be defensive on this point, but she might be. And, I make my point with good will. College writing in college newspapers should be meticulous. So, here goes:

I don't know how accurate it is for a college senior in 2007 to say that her parents burned draft cards and that her grandparents rationed sugar. This may be true in Ms. McLeod's family.

But I'm pretty sure the average parent age for the average college undergrad is early to mid-40s, meaning that people in that age group would have been barely in their teens when the Vietnam War ended in 1975. The draft had been abolished for a couple of years by that time.

It's more likely that the grandparents of today's college undergrads were burning draft cards, etc.

Nit-picking? No, just some constructive advice for accurate college newspaper writing, in hopes of making a quality article even stronger.

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• Posted by differentdrummer on December 3, 2007 at 4:08 p.m.
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McLeod: War hits home

First of all, Ms. McLeod's column is very good and it's obvious she put her heart into it, which makes her defensiveness understandable. At times, as a journalist, she will need to defend/justify what she writes, and she will need to do so without the prickliness evident in her responses. That will come with time and experience. However, there are colunmists who write with acid tongues and they do have loyal followings. Depends on the writing and the audience.

As far as the comments, one must be careful what s/he writes so as not to come across as either shallow, ignorant, or both. Concern about a writer's by-line is trivial at best.

Feeling of isolation outside a military community is the point of the column. I find it interesting that the pain of a war that is supposed to be such a threat to our way of life is only being felt by less than 10% of the population. We need to be supportive these families no matter where they are.

Regarding the age of Ms. McLeod's family, I would say she is correct as she would know her family's history. Don't forget, women of the 60s and 70s were the first feminists (remember hearing about the ERA Amendment?) and many delayed having children until their late 20s and early 30s, if not later. I would guess that many of KU students' (especially seniors and beyond) parents are in their late 40s and early 50s (many of the ones I know are) - which would've put them in the thick of the war protests (or at least been aware of them) in their junior high/high school/college years.

All in all, good discussion is healthy for a free press!

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• Posted by yourmom on December 11, 2007 at 6:58 p.m.
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