To the Visor:

Your embarrassing lack of sense has led me to the conclusion that your editorial staff is nothing but buffoons, blowhards and cheap fishrag hacks. Your newspaper's quality is poor, your readership limited.

Jam Master Jay's death is extremely meritorious of coverage, whether or not you choose to acknowledge it. You cannot ignore important issues that would interest your readers. You shouldn't choose to ignore this monumental event. You are not granted that freedom as an impartial student publication. You are not a political commentary magazine. In fact, when you feebly try to assert some sort of political thought, you stumble at the starting block. Your stories should have importance to high school students (specifically Hoban students). The amount of journalistic fluff you pass off as important sickens and disgusts me. You are a high school newspaper. Jam Master's death, however unimportant you mistakenly believe it to be, carries FAR more relevance than having a personal interest story about what senior girls eat for lunch. The fact that you have TWO reviews of a movie by Eminem (another rap figure) just points out your hypocrisy. Changes need to be made, and I cannot stress this enough.

Jam Master Jay was a pioneer. As a member of the excellent and groundbreaking rap group Run-DMC, he was responsible for many of the biggest hits in music history. He provided the beats and scratches for such awe-inspiring songs as "Rock Box," "My Adidas," "King of Rock," and the classic collaboration with Aerosmith, "Walk This Way." Jam Master Jay, whose real name is Jason Mizzell, died Oct. 30. The world is missing one of its greatest performers now that he is gone.

On Dec. 15, VH1 aired a touching tribute to Run-DMC. Chuck D (leader of Public Enemy, and one of the best MCs to touch a mike), Kid Rock (of Devil Without a Cause fame, among other albums), and Grandmaster Flash (a godfather to the DJs) went through a medley of Run-DMC's numerous hits to the tearful delight of Run-DMC's surviving members, Darryl ÔDMC' McDaniel and Joseph ÔRun' Simmons. The tribute helped cement his greatness in my mind. There was nothing like Run-DMC before; there will never be anything like them again. The passing of his seminal rap group's DJ merits SOME sort of coverage.

If Steven Spielberg died, would Bob Taylor devote his column to his death? Absolutely. Is that more important than the gruesome murder of JMJ? No. Spielberg is a director of blockbuster films. Yet, was he the first director to make a million dollars, like JMJ was the first DJ to? Was he the first director to be world famous? He is a great filmmaker, but he did not make anything close to the colossal socio-political impact JMJ did. JMJ was so influential in Japan, when Run-DMC landed there for a tour, thousands of Japanese youths had Adidas waving in the air (because Adidas was what Run-DMC wore). Jam Master Jay lived a good life, made good music, and was a good Christian man.

--Christopher Clem Jr. '03