Lame Excuse
In the February 24 edition of The Spectrum — the weekly student newspaper of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. — there’s a letter to the Editor from a freshman, one Thatcher Hallock, objecting to the horoscope that’s run in the paper. Hallock reminds the Editor that Sacred Heart is a Catholic university, and that horoscopes are “not acceptable for anyone or anything affiliated with Catholicism” (and he quotes the Catechism to prove his point).
The Editor offers two excuses, the major one being that “Horoscopes are provided for entertainment purposes only.”
O.K., we at the NOR can stand to be entertained from time to time, so we turned to that week’s horoscope, which takes up about half a page. We read the whole enchilada — and put it down feeling cheated. But don’t take our word for it. We’ll quote a representative segment: “Leo (July 23Aug. 22). Shared money could cause confusion this week. Don’t gamble on Monday, even if it looks like a good deal. You’ll work hard for what you get on Tuesday and Wednesday. Do what your partner wants on Thursday and Friday. Figure out a way to pay off an old debt over the weekend.”
Is this entertaining?
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