TO THE EDITOR:
I join with the editorial board in applauding the respectful audience that attended Karl Rove’s lecture. In your editorial (“Respectful reception for Rove,” Sept. 22), however, you mention the “handpicked” questions for Rove. Though I do not necessarily disagree with the necessity to pre-select questions for Rove, I was deeply disappointed in the questions that the moderators chose to ask.
Speakers allow us to engage with topics, hear an alternative dialogue and choose our personal approach to the problems in our world. Questions after those lectures provide the ability to start a dialogue and create a window into the speaker’s own approach and thought processes. Softball questions like those asked Rove, however, do not embrace this opportunity.
Karl Rove is a smart man who was paid a lot of money to appear at UNC. We deserved the best discourse possible for our money and time; challenging, but fair, questions about his party’s economic platform, its firm stance against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and other controversial, meaningful issues would have enhanced the experience for all, Democrat and Republican alike.
Will Bondurant
Senior
History, Chemistry
