It never crossed my mind in the past three years that I would write a letter to the editor of the Crimson in order to try to "clear things up." I've never done this before, so I'm going to start by telling a story.

Close your eyes and think back to Frosh Week: the mixers, the lines at the Union, the massive tent with a gazillion organizations railing at you to sign their lists. Remember the dizzying confusion? Remember signing up for the strangest clubs centered around activities you never even knew existed? Remember thinking "we-ell, I guess I might be interested in that, I'm not sure, I never tried...," scribbling your name on a sheet of paper and dashing for the exit of the tent?

Yeah, well, that was me. That was how I was introduced to the conservative publication Peninsula. My first year, I thought I might go into politics, and because my parents are registered Republicans, I figured I must be, too. I went to oh... about two meetings of the magazine in October and one meeting of the Republican Club. Soon thereafter I became entirely disillusioned with the whole political scene on campus and in Washington, abandoned any thoughts or desires to actually be associated with that whole travesty and decided to look into things that actually help people (I'm thinking about working with latino women in the inner-cities of the northeast or South America).

Since I amputated my involvement in any of those organizations rather early in my college experience, I was quite surprised to find out in late June this past summer that I was on the masthead of Peninsula (I'd thought it had gone under in the spring of my first year). Even more so when I remembered that I hadn't submitted a word to them, ever. And that I bluntly told the staff my first year that I wasn't remotely interested in being involved, at all.

It was even more surprising and distressing to learn on October 14 that I'd been criticized in the Crimson quite vociferously for being part of an organization I didn't know still existed and with which I was not in any way associated. I, truth be told, haven't seen the latest issue...and I'm pretty certain that if I did, I'd want to assail the contributors myself, so I'm not too eager to do so. But what I would like is some sort of recognition that I haven't the slightest business in this whole hoop-la, maybe an apology from the Crimson and the Peninsula, and then to fade merrily back into my blissfully uninvolved life. --Christine Folch '98