To the Editor:
I was saddened to read The Herald's article "Early retirement popular choice for longtime staff" (Feb. 15). What upset me was not the news of the buyout — I had known about it for months and had come to accept it as somewhat inevitable — but rather the way in which the title of the article misrepresented the buyout as "popular."
From what I know, many staff members chose to retire this year because they were told that if they chose to come back they would receive no severance package. Forced to choose between two undesirable options, staff members took whichever they decided was less painful. Such details are nowhere to be found in the article or in the interview with Phil O'Hara ("SAO Director O'Hara '55 to take early retirement," Feb. 15).
I understand that the University needs to downsize in order to survive this economic downturn, but I can't accept the fact that The Herald chose to portray the buyout as "popular" among staff members. Perhaps the word was chosen because 139 members of the Brown community, over 50 percent of the people who were offered the package, decided to take it. But the way I see it, the word appears to have been chosen primarily based on Beppie Huidekoper's statement, quoted in the report: "The individuals who chose to take it are really quite pleased." I'm disappointed by the fact that The Herald didn't try hard enough to find out how those individuals actually felt before deciding the early retirement package was, in fact, regarded with approval by those who took it.
I realize that O'Hara was interviewed to give voice to those who took the package, but he is only one of the 139 people. There are 138 other people you could have also contacted who probably would have been glad to tell you how much they loved this place and how they wished to stay a little longer, longer than just one more year. Many of them, like O'Hara, might have told you that they felt "blessed" they were at least offered the early retirement package. But not many of them would have told you they were "quite pleased" with the situation. From the looks of the interview with O'Hara, even he doesn't seem pleased with this tragedy.
Chris Suh '10
Feb. 15
