LETTERS: Friday, February 18, 2000

Nobody's fault Nobody's faultTo the Editor: To write about a tragedy -- especially one so recent and devastating -- using unsubstantiated details is grossly negligent and offensive. As a close friend of one of Kathleen's roommates, as well as an acquaintance of Kathleen's, I know that you could not be more wrong about the characterization of these women as "terrible people." Furthermore, to use their tragedy -- an event after which none of them will ever be the same -- to further your own career is outrageous. Who are we to judge their decision process or what really happened on that sad night? The only person who knew what occurred was Kathleen's boyfriend, who killed himself thereafter. All that we do know is that while the murder took place in the middle of the night, most of her roommates were asleep, not "talking to one another" or "checking their e-mail." None of us were in this situation, nor do we know what we would have done. I know that my friend and her other roommates are compassionate, friendly, giving people who lived, as all college students do, in an environment where music is played loudly, girlfriends fight with their boyfriends and arguments not involving oneself are best left alone. The bottom line is this: What happened at Columbia two weeks ago is a tragedy. It was no more an act of self-absorption on the part of the roommates than it was anyone's fault. For Ms. Horn to portray our loss as anything but a tragedy is disgusting and I think that if we are looking at self-absorption we should only look at Ms. Horn, who seems to be self-absorbed enough to believe that a tragedy such as this is nothing more than an exploitable commodity. Brooke Jenkins College '00