When I started my column, my sole purpose was to mock the high-horse ignorant judgments that plague our media. I chose to talk only about myself and my experiences because those are the only things that I can claim to know anything about. Josh Perlin’s March 1st Daily Sun sports column “Seligmann Not Worth The Hassle” affirms why I have written in the fashion that I have and also forces me attack someone that I do not know personally. The article details the aspiration of Reade Seligmann, one of the accused players in the Duke lacrosse case, to attend Brown University. The errors in ethics, judgment and sheer writing ability in Perlin’s column prove to be one of the worst cases of journalism that I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

To begin with, Perlin worries that “the team, the University, collegiate lacrosse —anything and everything at Cornell — would have been under incredible scrutiny from the media and the public” if Reade came to Cornell. He goes on to say that, “Reade Seligmann may be innocent — for all we know, he may be a great person to build a program around — but is one athlete really worth all of that trouble that could follow him?”

Right on, Mr. Perlin. It’s a good thing that people in history have strayed from doing things that are right just because it would bring attention to the cause. It’s a good thing Martin Luther King shied away from leading the civil rights movement given all of the “incredible scrutiny [that he received] from the media and the public.” (And, no, this is not different. While Dr. King worked to free thousands of oppressed people from the ignorant and unfair clutches of racism, Perlin’s column is furthering the unfair and ignorant oppression of these three boys.)

What does Perlin believe in? Whatever is most popular? Whatever is easiest? Was he one of those who rushed to judge these three students before any of the facts came out? It has become quite clear that those who prejudged these students are truly the guilty in this case. They were the ones who decided to abandon their sense of justice and to join the mob-mentality lynching that has taken place. They were the ones who have gotten a coach that they know nothing about fired. They were the ones who decided that they knew the character of these three boys well enough that it would be right to tarnish their reputations regardless of their blameworthiness. Josh Perlin, you are worried about Cornell’s reputation — what about Reade Seligmann’s reputation? I guess a person’s life is not worth damaging the Ivy League’s “reputation.”

Furthermore, now that Perlin’s article is on Insidelacrosse.com, not only has he damaged Cornell University, Cornell Lacrosse and The Cornell Daily Sun’s reputation, but he has also single-handedly decided to make us Cornellians look like judgmental, exclusive jerks. He thinks that this case has “reinforced some negative stereotypes about lacrosse players?” Well, his column reinforces many of the negative stereotypes about Ivy League schools.

The cowardice of this column continues. Perlin states that, “I don’t think I have a right to judge” in the matters of the case … right … nice hypocritical cliché copout. Clearly, he is the one who should be worrying about the lacrosse team since he must be a member of it. Oh, he isn’t? I suppose he is like the thousands of others who have talked about the Duke Lacrosse team as if they were members of it or as if they were there that night.

And not only does Perlin misjudge those he doesn’t know, but he has also incorrectly depicted the sole person that he interviewed for his column. “I regret the way in which I was portrayed in an article that I did not agree with,” said Coach Tambroni, head coach of the Cornell men’s lacrosse team, in response to Perlin’s column.

Perlin’s column really proves that he is “tired of this case … I’ve had enough of people taking one side or the other, the media blowing it out of proportion and (this is my favorite part of the quote) generalizing the ramifications. I’m sick of the implications and everything else brought on by the media.” Well said. In no way does this contradict the rest of his article. And in no way has he added fuel to the immoral fire that he “wishes” to put out.

I wonder if Josh Perlin would like it if he or someone close to him had to pay millions in legal defense, withstand unthinkable/undeserved cruelty from most of America and wait for an indefinite amount of time to see if he had to be punished for a crime that he never committed. And then also have to read from some college sports “columnist” (whose writing style and content are not original) about how the writer thinks that Perlin or someone he loves is not deserving of being a member of “his” community?

When the case first broke, most Americans were quick to judge. One of the multiple goods that I hope will come from this debacle is that people will not waste their time criticizing others and instead decide to focus on making themselves better people. I guess I cannot be in this group because of my disapproval with Perlin’s article, but I am O.K. with that.

Finally, I do not have time to go into detail about all of the overwhelming evidence of the three boys’ innocence, but Reade’s phone calls to his girlfriend, ATM receipts and video tapes, and the testimony of a cab driver that prove that he wasn’t at the party when the accuser claimed to have been raped, come to mind. I am almost certain that the justice system will prove these boys’ innocence (and district attorney Mike Nifong’s unethical actions), but I don’t need a jury to tell me that they are innocent when the fact is already obvious.

If anyone thinks that this response to Josh Perlin seems a bit overblown and unwarranted, I would have to reply that it would pale in comparison to the unjustified attack on three boys, a college team and an entire sport. And one last thing — I am proudly a member of the Cornell lacrosse team, so I took Perlin’s prejudicial comments personally.

Andrew Webb is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at amw68@cornell.edu. Confessions of a Mental Patient appears alternate Mondays.