Letters about Public Issues

You spot the following news item in the December 12 edition of the Campus Gazette-Chronicler, a local daily newspaper.

Community Groups Protest Park Renovation

At a contentious Community Board meeting, neighborhood and student groups challenged the city's plan to renovate Jefferson Park. While opponents of the renovation raised a variety of objections, including questions about the mayor's business ties to the no-bid contractor in charge of the renovation, most objections centered around plans to renovate the park's historic fountain.

"For the past five decades, the fountain has been a meeting place for this community," said Andrew Gallagher of the Save the Fountain Coalition. "In the 1960s and 70s, the fountain was the site of student protests for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam. Folk singers like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez held impromptu concerts in the fountain. We think that these events are more than enough to have the fountain declared a historic landmark."

According to the city, the entire purpose of the renovation is to restore the fountain to its former glory. "Since the 1950s, the fountain in Jefferson Park has been dry because the plumbing associated with it has been in disrepair," explained Parks Commissioner Edward Walsh. "Our main objective with the renovation is to restore the fountain to its original condition, as when it was first built in 1902."

Community groups refute the city's claims that they are simply "restoring" the fountain to its original condition, noting that the renovation plan calls for the fountain to be moved from its original location and completely rebuilt. However, even if the renovations were limited to simply restoring the fountain's water supply, some renovation opponents would still object. "One of the reasons the fountain became a community meeting place was because the water didn't work-since the fountain was dry, people used it as an open-air theater," Gallagher said. "During the anti-government protests of the past, I'm sure that the Parks Department would've loved to have been able to just turn on the water to disperse the crowd. Functioning waterworks would destroy everything that made the Jefferson Park fountain so special."

The community board is expected to vote on the issue at next week's board meeting.

Consider the guidelines for writing letters about public issues, and answer the questions that follow.

1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate subject line for an e-mail to the editor of the Campus Gazette-Chronicler about the article and the issue of the park renovation:

a. Community Groups Protest Park Renovation, December 12

b. A Heartbreaking Disregard for the History of the Protest Generation of the 1960s and Their Many Accomplishments.

c. Fountain

d. The Mayor's corrupt relationships with developers and contractors

Letters of Complaint and Praise

Your trusty laptop, the Little Fromage from Big Cheese Computers, has been a constant companion for five years. Yesterday, the hinge that attaches the laptop's screen to the keyboard broke, rendering the screen unusable. You took the computer to one of Big Cheese's retail outlets, where Meghan Brie, a friendly customer service clerk, informed you that because the laptop was past the warranty period, you might have to pay to have the computer repaired. However, she explained that the broken hinge might be a manufacturing defect that would qualify your computer for free repair or free replacement with a newer Little Fromage model. Meghan was looking up the possibility of offering you free repair when her manager, Fred Stilton, interrupted her. He inspected your laptop and declared that the hinge broke because you mistreated the computer. Accordingly, even if the computer had been under warranty, you wouldn't have been eligible for free repairs. When you protested that you've taken excellent care of the laptop, Stilton was rude and dismissive, saying, "You kids all say you're being real gentle, then the second you're out of the store you throw these things around like frisbees." Stilton then told you the repairs would cost $900, which he pointed out was just shy of what it would cost to buy the latest model Little Fromage. He assured you that if you elected to buy a new laptop, the store would transfer the contents of your hard drive to the new laptop, free of charge.

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Not being prepared to spend that kind of money, you went to the library and did some research. After you conducted a quick online search, you found a number of forum posts about Little Fromages sold the same year you bought your laptop, many complaining of laptops that suffered broken hinges. The Web site for Big Cheese Computers explains that the proper procedure for lodging a complaint is to e-mail Director of Customer Satisfaction Linda Havarti, and that the e-mails of all Big Cheese retail employees are listed in a directory.

2. Which of the following would be most appropriate for a customer complaint letter?

a. The thing is, Linda, you and I both know the little scam you guys are playing here, and it ain't funny.

b. I have been a loyal Big Cheese customer for many years (my first computer was a Cheddar Wheel desktop), which is why I was so disappointed by what happened when I took my Little Fromage to your store for service two weeks ago.

c. I have for too long ignored the fact that your products are badly designed, poorly constructed, and overpriced, and that your stores are staffed by smug, empty-headed hipsters.

d. I demand an upgrade to the top model Little Fromage Pro, as well as a $500 cash payment for inconveniencing me, or else I will go to the media about this fraud, and then start a class-action suit that will break your little company in two!

Planning Your Research

Research can take on a life of its own. At times, each Web site we visit seems to open up multiple new leads to pursue, and each book we open references others of interest. At those times, research feels like a free-form activity, more a matter of inspiration than perspiration.

Effective research, however, requires planning. Consider what you will need to know to plan your research effectively as you answer the following questions.

3. Which of the following documents would be considered a secondary source?

a. a collection of letters exchanged between Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten

b. the original drafts of Hughes's collection of poems, The Weary Blues

c. an interview with photographer Roy DeCarava about Hughes

d. Arnold Rampersad's multivolume biography, The Life of Langston Hughes

e. all of these choices