I am writing to Renee Thessing in response to the article “The culture clash,” to which I was so fueled with disgust that I would like to respond. What could have been an interesting look at students from different areas of Illinois is instead a poorly constructed ethnographic joke on why one student has a problem with Chicago suburbanites.

First of all, you ask us to allow you to “dismantle the stereotypes” about students from southern Illinois. While you make a compelling argument that you don’t wear overalls and shoot guns, you then proceed to state the stereotypical thoughts you have of Chicago suburbanites. You speak of “us” like you know “us,” but do you really take the time to look past the stereotypes? So I live in a suburb, root for the Cubs (always have and always will) and yes, I own a North Face (heck I own two, and a backpack), does that really make me a bad person? Perhaps if you got to know me better, you might see that I attended a very diverse high school close to Chicago, I have indeed been camping many times and that I was in constant interaction with other diverse people my entire life. I have traveled to many different countries and seen what lies outside of Chicago and Illinois, my only question is have you? You act like we “suburbanites” conspired to bring in the better restaurants of the town just to make you mad. And worst of all, you “blame us for segregation on this campus,” something I find a ridiculous accusation to which there are many other factors involved.

So next time you decide to take a cheap shot at something you see that you don’t like, you might want to do a little more than point fingers and actually step back and try to take a different look at it all. You may actually feel a little ashamed at the things you said.

Nora Kaufman

Junior in Communications

Proud Suburbanite