I read with dismay on the Internet your staff editorial of Oct. 29, 1996 ("Peninsula's Rant: Staff Culpable, Swastika Harmful") concerning Jose Padilla and the Peninsula. Given the condescension and closemindedness with which you, the staff of a newspaper at one of America's finest colleges, insult and dismiss the views of the Peninsula, it should come as no surprise that someone a little less responsible than you chose to tack a swastika on Padilla's door.

Indeed, that you allowed the column attacking Padilla to run at all without considering the possible defamation involved demonstrates not only that you have difficulty comprehending and tolerating opinions dissimilar from yours, but that you also have scant understanding of the maturity and care required to run a newspaper.

Anyone with an open mind grants the validity of your disagreement with the views of the Peninsula. Your demonization of opinions you deem isolated, especially when millions of people across the country off your Ivy League campus share them, actually marginalizes you, however.

That alone is enough to encourage and justify the existence of the Peninsula, because one cannot envision someone with Padilla's beliefs wanting to join you at The Crimson. If your staff editorial is any sign of how diverse in thought you are and how responsibly you operate your newspaper, just remember that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. --Jeffrey Burk   Publisher, Georgetown Independent; Managing Editor, Georgetown Law Weekly