Published Feb 21, 1996 in The Daily Tar Heel.
(The campus newspaper for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

"We Can't Lick Indecency Clause By Being Ineffectual"

TO THE EDITOR:

In response to Sarah Louise Woods' letter ("Write Smut on Internet to Fight for First Amendment," Feb 15), I must wholeheartedly agree with her denunciation of the Telecommunications Reform Act as censorship and will gladly expand upon her commentary.

We must come together to prick holes in the stiff front erected by Congress in this attempt to assert their dominant position over the submissive Internet-using public. We need fast action to keep from being hung by the thrust of this legislation and the penetration of our effort must not climax until it reaches each and every member involved in these hard decisions. Our ejaculations of disapproval must not be flaccid and ineffectual -- let's not blow this chance to show Congress that we aren't going to swallow this poorly-conceived law. The information superhighway should not get the shaft because a few legislators have managed to ramrod a moral issue down the throats of their colleagues. Let your voice be heard clearly, because we can't lick this by being soft.

Derek Maus
GRADUATE STUDENT
ENGLISH