Editorial: Haters Gonna Hate

"Men walk on moon"-The New York Times

"Shuttle explodes, survivors unlikely"-The Louisville Times

"Army rift reported in Beijing...Bush bars arms sales"- The New York Times

"Terror's toll"-The Herald Dispatch

Rhymes, alliteration, and puns are literary devices which, when used properly, are very effective at capturing a reader's attention. Their use is not uncommon in newsprint journalism headlines and is certainly not "unscholarly." These devices are not only common in national papers, but also in respected college papers:

"Expelling work, embracing entitlement" – The Yale Daily Review

"Body disappointed in board"-The Daily Collegian

As of Wednesday, the Castleton State Spartan's website featured five out of eight lead stories with headlines that contained alliteration and/or rhyming.

I could go on.

Many of the strongly rhymed and alliterate headlines that appear in The Critic are seen on the entertainment pages, which have a greater leeway with these literary devices due to their fun nature. Some of the most well-known weekly columns have titles that utilize these devices (‘Ask Amy'-The Chicago Tribune, ‘Savage Love: Straight Answers'-syndicated columnist Dan Savage). Often alliterate headlines are key to remembering a columnist's name, "Angry Ani" and "Ryan's Review" work well for name association.

Being assaulted with too much alliteration and rhyming would be horrible in one headline, but the layout of a paper allows for space between these headlines. I will admit to making the mistake of too much alliteration in one headline (Midnight Munchies for the Studious Student), but for the size of our staff and the amount of time we have to put a paper together, I stand by the overall product we produce weekly. We are a student paper, we learn by experience, and there will always be some mistakes.

The staff of the Critic works very hard (often working until one a.m. Thursday nights) to bring the Lyndon State Community a quality publication every week. Let me assure you, we do not just "print anything." I could go on for many paragraphs listing specific news articles, opinion columnists, and reviewers that have enriched the quality of the writing printed in The Critic.

As the semester ends, I hope people judge the Critic. Not only do we have some amazing student writers, but we have a fresh new layout. I am proud of this paper and its staff and don't regret a single minute of work.