Every week I read The UWM Post in exactly the same way. First, I flip to the back to do the crossword, then I skim from front to back for articles I find particularly interesting. (Who got busted drinking at the dorms? What's the SA up to? How's the UWM hoops team doing?)

After I've read what I deem to be of any worth, I always find time to read Devon Marie Wiesend's weekly column on Sex and Relationships.

Sometimes, these articles are insightful and provide me with a very honest look into the mind of this horned-up college female. Other times, the articles range from her laundry list of partners to morning breath and whether you should hump first or brush, and from one-night stands to stuffed-animal fetishes.

There's more, but these are the ones I can remember from off the top of my head. I don't know if I really like these articles or if I just have to hear what she's going to say next, but they're effective in that I read them weekly.

On that note, I loved her latest column: "Do these jeans make my labia look big?" (Page 5, Nov. 27). It taught me a lesson, and I'll never tell a woman her labia is anything but beautiful.

I didn't, however, enjoy another column from the Post titled "Let me conversate with you" (Page 12, Nov. 27). If you haven’t read it, this article is a rant against the non-word "conversate". The author goes on to say, rightly, that conversate is overused and annoying.

Then the author of the article goes on to complain about the general behavior of our student body as a whole, saying, "If you are wearing anything with UWM printed on it, or are on a bus route that leaves the university, please watch your use of the English language, swearing and your volume. You are making our school look bad."

Some pretty self-righteous stuff, right? Guess who wrote this article? Did you guess yet? Devon Marie Wiesend.

Where does she get off (pun intended) telling anybody how to represent our school? If a non-UWM student were to pick up the Post for their bus ride home, do you think they would be more appalled at the behavior of the students or the headline "Do these jeans make my labia look big?" My guess is that most people would tune out the noise around them and try to figure out what this article could be about.

My point is this, Devon: Don't pretend to be a beacon of light rising from the ignorance of the student body around you. You have a weekly column that people enjoy because it is often smutty, trashy and fun to read.

We can respect you for that, you have a gift. But when you turn around and try to tell us how to act and what is an acceptable way to present ourselves, I have a problem.

Nobody questions whether it's acceptable for you to write a sex column with the diciest of topics that might fall into the laps of our neighbors on the East Side. We don't even tell you that your articles are usually at the level of the stuff we used to talk about during third-grade sleepovers.

Either keep writing about sex or start writing about proper etiquette, but you can't do both.

I hope you continue with the sex column. You aren't quite so grating when you stick to what you know.

Dan Monfils

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