I don’t have unreasonably high expectations of the News, since I know we are all full-time students juggling many activities, but arrogance and snide comments are qualities I would not expect from the News. And given that the piece I’m referring to is from scene, I recognize that it is probably more personal than journalistic, but I still hold higher expectations for a Yale newspaper than this.

The article “yalemusicscene.org — a thing?” (April 3) has an unprofessional tone and is full of disrespectful comments and uncalled-for personal attacks. This is exemplified in phrases like “That’s a bit sad” when referring to the fact that 12 Yale bands actually found the precious free time to create recordings of their music, and “Then keep working, M-Boy” at the end of the piece, an immature way to denigrate the interviewee with an insulting pet name. This is in addition to the whole tone of the piece, which smacks of pompous disdain.

It’s clear from the quotes in the article that Michael Waxman ’10 knows what he’s going for, where the organization stands and what lies ahead. The open-mic events he has hosted have been well-attended (around campus and at Blue State Coffee), and the weekly concert series has been growing in numbers. WYBC even held auditions for this year’s Battle of the Bands in the same room where the Yale Music Scene hosts its weekly Timothy Dwight concert series, using the very same equipment left over from the previous night’s concert (“The Stars Be Mute,” featuring Vlad Chituc ’12). Waxman purchased most of this equipment with his own money; the same goes for most, if not all, of the recording equipment in the TD recording studio.

Would the Yale Music Scene–WYBC collaboration not be a sign of recognition or campus cohesion? Does Waxman’s adding links to Volume, WYBC and even scene not count as synergy? Given that we are only here for four years, and given the great amount of work that goes into creating and running the Yale Music Scene Web site and organization, is it really worth heaping this much criticism on a student organization during the first few months of its existence? I would expect better judgment from Yalies.

Until the News actually tries to support the Yale music scene (or create its own), pours thousands of dollars into equipment and expenses, and creates something that even resembles “functional,” I hope it will learn the difference between journalism and constructive criticism and unnecessary faultfinding; perhaps the paper might even send someone to review one of the weekly concerts or open mics? Maybe we’ll see a reporter at this weekend’s free concert in the basement of TD.

Maybe. Or maybe I should lower my expectations.

T.J. Smith

The writer is a junior in Ezra Stiles College. He is a member of Yale Music Scene and a contributor to the organization’s blog.