Editor:

I attended the March 10 debate on minimum wage sponsored by both LUCAP and the Economics Club. I was sickened by it. It was like hearing an oversized Dolly Parton dragging her super-sized fingernails down a gigantic chalkboard.

But my disgust had nothing to do with the topic or either speaker. In fact, I think that both James Ianelli and Jacob Steubing should be applauded for the preparation they put into the debate and the professional way in which they handled themselves.

As a member of the Loyola Society of Civic Engagement, I strongly believe that students should be allowed to hear both sides of an argument so that each person may make decisions and form opinions that align with his or her own beliefs. That is, of course, the basis for critical thinking, which is something we plaster on Loyola sweatshirts, isn’t it? I think that the debate was a wonderful idea, bongos and all, and both organizations deserve credit for p—lanning the event.

I was also proud to be part of the student audience watching this debate. Aside from one of Ianelli’s fraternity brothers harmlessly yelling out “I love you” every time James got up to the microphone, there were no disruptions of any kind from the students. However, during the question and answer portion of the debate, a professor employed by Loyola posed a question to Ianelli.

To protect myself from a frivolous lawsuit, I won’t quote the professor, but this question was nothing more than a shameless attack against Ianelli. This professor was not the dignified academic that I am used to encountering on this campus.

What makes a professor feel the need to make a political point at the expense of a student? How is that not stifling someone’s critical thinking?

Ianelli did not waiver once as the unprofessional professor made personal attacks against him during what was supposed to be a civil debate.

I don’t even know James Ianelli, yet I was proud of how he handled himself. I mean, as intelligent as he is, he’s only an undergraduate.

There is absolutely no reason why he should have been able to make this professor look like an idiot in front of the student audience.

And yet he did.

Amie St. GermainMarketing senior