Article on Eating Disorders Contained Inaccuracies

To the editors:

We write to express our concern about two serious inaccuracies in the piece "Reacting to a Friend's Disorder," (News, March 19).

The article states, "The first thing to remember is that an eating disorder is not a problem, but only an attempted solution to a problem." Make no mistake: An eating disorder is a serious problem. An eating disorder compromises one's health and well-being, can strain and even destroy one's relationships, can lead to serious medical complications and can result in death. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders; bulimia nervosa, too, can be fatal. People with eating disorders often have difficulty acknowledging how serious the risks of an eating disorder are, and so it is potentially very confusing for them to read than "an eating disorder is not a problem.'"

Our booklet, "What Should I Do?: Guidelines for Friends, Lovers, Roommates, and Relatives of People with Eating Disorders" states, "But it is worth remembering that an eating disorder in not only a problem but also an attempted solution to a problem."

The article also gives as an example of an "I" statement, "I think you are out of control." In our booklet, we use that very sentence as an example of a "You " statement disguised as an "I" statement. People with eating disorders are tyrannized by their own judgments of themselves, by others' judgments of them, and by what they perceive to be others' judgments of them. We encourage those who care about someone with an eating disorder not to express judgments or analysis of the person but to speak to that person with "I" statements, which express one's felt experience of her or him. Examples of true "I" statements include "I look at you, and I see the light going out of your eyes, and I feel like I'm losing you. I miss you. And I'm scared for you."

We appreciate that The Crimson included a piece on the role and responsibility of friends of people with eating disorders, and we very much appreciate the author's acknowledgment that "friends must tailor their response based on individual relationships." But we are concerned that the article contains serious inaccuracies and that it does not make clear that it is essentially a series of excerpts from our booklet. We would have appreciated clearer attribution.

Sheila M. Reindl and Meredith S. Repetto

April 20, 1999

The writers are a counselor and associate director of the Bureau of Study Counsel, respectively.

Comparison Between NSLA and SDS Is Useless

To the editors:

I was dissatisfied with the way in which this weekend's student/labor solidarity conference was covered (News, April 19). The article focused excessively on useless comparisons between the newly-formed National Student Labor Alliance (NSLA) and the ever-glorified Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) of old. I wish to clarify several misconceptions of the NSLA and the conference that could be drawn from that article.

The NSLA should be seen not so much as a new organism but as a collection of over 70 different campus-based student groups which more or less resemble the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) of this campus. The NSLA will act as a network between these various student groups in order to ease communication and fundraising. Through this confederacy, other PSLMs around the country will be able to link their campaigns, participate in national ones, and help students start up their own PSLM-like organizations.

The purpose of last weekend's conference, which I think it fulfilled, was to educate ourselves and others in the community of the many very complicated issues faced by the labor movement.. The formation of the NSLA should not overshadow the importance of the conversations that took place in the conference's workshops and panels.

Will Erickson '00-'01

April 20, 1999

The writer is a member of the PSLM.

Join the Walk for Hunger

To the editors:

Though Dining Services' hunger awareness dinner was cancelled due to lack of student interest (News, April 21), we should not interpret this as evidence of lack of student interest in the issue of hunger. Interest in the Walk for Hunger, a 20 mile walk which raises money for hunger programs, has been great this year, with 17 different Harvard groups signed up to walk so far. Students who want more information on this particular way to combat hunger should visit www.hcs.harvard.edu/~csa/walkforhunger.

Brian C. O'Meara '01

April 21, 1999