Letter has empirical, logical inconsistencies

First of all I would like to thank Mr. Longman for his well-researched opinions; however, I am of the opinion that Mr. Longman's letter has some empirical and logical inconsistencies.

To begin with, the validity of Bell and Weinberg's results seems questionable at best. The data in this study was not gathered randomly (it was gathered mainly in gay hang-outs), lacks a comparable heterosexual control group, and includes bisexual as well as homosexual statistics.

Some statistics I came across were that homosexual men had a mean of 6.5 partners with only 10.3% having more than 10 partners while heterosexual men had a mean of 7.8 partners with 23.3% having more than 19 partners (Billy 1993 and Fay 1989). I don't doubt that Bell and Weinberg's data are invalid, they are just not indicative of the entire homosexual community. It's like taking a sampling of single heterosexual professional athletes or pop artists and claiming the conclusions are general.

However, it is not only the data, but also the conclusion that homosexuality is inherently irresponsible. Where in Mr. Longman's letter does he support this claim? Furthermore, how can one claim a minority group is any less responsible than the majority group in general without looking at statistics of BOTH groups as well as considering the concerns of each group (i.e. pregnancies in heterosexuals as well as disease). This irresponsible assertion seems fueled by intolerance and bigotry to me.

I know a few homosexual people, and most of the older homosexuals have life partners. I don't know, but they don't seem any different to me than anyone else I meet. I just warn the reader against thinking that they inherently are.

Brandon S. Zerbe

Senior, School of Science

Students should stay occupied

Bush administration exhibits poor judgment

MARTINS: comic

Letter has empirical, logical inconsistencies

Scientific data should not yield moral judgments

Professors should cancel classes for job fair

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