Dear The Michigan Journal,

Dear The Michigan Journal,
I would like to thank you for printing the letter that I recently wrote to your editor. I would also like to further inquire as to whether my submission was ever actually seen by the editor. I ask this because not only did you manage to transpose entire words, but also include misspellings that could not be found in my original submission.
Yours in Silence,
Published Complainer


I'm sorry, I posted a link that requires registering. The following is the aforementioned letter, as it appears in The Michigan Journal, Vol. XXXV, No.19


Letter to the Editor: Lack of silent study area on campus
Issue date: 3/21/06 Section: Perspectives
To Whom It May Concern,
As a fifth year University of Michigan-Dearborn student, I feel that I am not out of line in making a general observation. I feel confident that it is accurate. There is absolutely no silent study area/computer lab on campus.

I have searched far and wide, in building after building but alas, corral after corral, lab after lab, I run into the same thing (with the exception of the fourth floor of the Mardigian, which has no computers): rude loudmouths. I find myself each day interjecting an "I'm sorry but could you please lower your voice?" or "Would it be too much trouble to take your conversation out in the hallway please? Thank you."

This is unproductive and insincere on my part. I am not sorry, and each time, the talkers roll their eyes and quiet down for about three minutes before returning to an even louder volume. I feel that the problem lies in the fact that students feel that because they are using the computers to surf, chat or complete a (noisy) group project, everyone else is doing the same.

Computer lab monitors rarely, if ever, ask these people to quiet down and if they did, I feel that they would be ignored. I am writing this for two reasons. The first is that I have been putting up with this problem for a very long time and would be remiss, I feel, if I did nothing to address it.

Secondly, I am composing this because I have given up completing on my Spanish assignment, since there are three girls across the foreign language lab with their lips flapping. I can concentrate just enough to peck my way into an editorial rage. Could I be the only student who wishes to study quietly on campus? I think not. Students of UM-D : SHUT UP!