Over the years, I have read some fairly ridiculous and infuriating things in the opinion pages of newspapers, but I have never read anything that has filled me with such horror and anger as John Bambenek's column that appeared on Friday.

If Mr. Bambenek had only wanted to exclusively blame local authorities for the response to Hurricane Katrina, I would have questioned his grip on reality and probably have chuckled with derision as I read his column. Instead, Mr. Bambenek made that argument while also claiming that people on the left delighted in the disaster, as it provided an opportunity to criticize the Bush administration. Such a specious and unfounded claim gravely insults me and everyone else of my political stripe that has been wracked with grief over the past two weeks. Rather than acknowledge the obvious faults of his political allies - which I am willing to do in the case of Democrats in Louisiana - Mr. Bambenek turned to using the worst slanders and calumnies against his vaguely defined "Left."

These slanders included lumping Mark Leff, a wonderful professor in my department, into a group he referred to as "campus commies," without evidence or justification. Although I am angry with Mr. Bambenek for his hateful comments, I am even angrier with the Daily Illini for giving him a platform to so unjustifiably insult so many, and to carelessly denounce a respected member of our community. Shame!

Jason Tebbe

graduate student