To the editors:

Sometimes opinion writers make invalid assumptions, sometimes they needlessly offend people, and sometimes they misuse big words. Alex Slack has managed to commit all three sins in just one article (“The Easy Way to Fix Fly-By,” comment, Oct. 6). First, if he truly believes that all cotton garments are equally non-abrasive, I suggest that he try sleeping on denim sheets for a night. Second, although I myself am a frequent flyer-by, I haven’t seen any evidence of the innate lasagna-spooning inability he reports among short females. Finally, unless Fly-By has been closed down in the last day, I suggest he consult a dictionary regarding the meaning of the word “erstwhile.” I wonder what he thought it meant.

DOUGLAS T. MCCLURE ’06

October 6, 2005