Frat is a derogatory word, not a proper abbreviation

Editor,

The Daily Lobo's insistence on using the pejorative "frat" in its reporting about fraternity activities on the UNM campus is a disparaging action, one that also leans toward journalistic bias.

Labeling these organizations as frats is akin to the Lobo's readers using derogatory phrases to describe the newspaper. Uncomplimentary terms such as rag, scandal sheet and yellow journalism are not words a journalist wants to be associated with, any more than a fraternity man wants to be considered a member of a frat, or a frat boy.

I urge the newspaper to stop using this dyslogistic term and instead use the accurate representational word - fraternity - in all future reporting.

David L. Mathews

Daily Lobo reader