If "BlackJerryGate" had to happen at all, it's a real shame that everything came to a head right before finals. There's a pre-finals phenomenon during which students block out anything that isn't on a test; last year's Palestinian art removal seems to have been an exception.It's a shame because only the directly involved parties, media and minority groups, actively talked about the controversy; most people were too worried about not failing, which is fine given the timing, but not preferable. This should not just be an issue for campus publications and campus minorities: This whole Gravity fiasco could have really given everyone the opportunity to talk about what they think about the "minority experience" and also what they expect from their publications.

But to generate serious discussion and change, people need to be on the same page, and oddly, not all are. There are major differences between Gravity and The Blowfish, and the The Hoot and the Justice. The "truth" (The Hoot and the Justice), though it may be more hurtful than a joke, must be presented. (This is why the Justice reprinted the ad in its pages so that people could see it and form their own opinion).

But the timing was also unfortunate because the community did not get to discover what's being done to address what happened. Indeed, while campus publications held preliminary discussions about the situation, they were a little superficial because of the impending three-month break and our own need to not pass our classes-another reason why I wish Gravity hadn't come out at the end of April.

Finally, there are a few issues raised by this whole episode that merit discussion-from all sides. And no, I don't think any one of them has to do with "free speech," because it's a loaded term that most of the people using it don't understand. It all boils down to the complete lack of common sense that is so prevalent on this campus.

Everyone dropped the ball here: The issue of Gravity itself was either not funny or too subtle to be funny, but the campus reaction missed the point and went too far.

The problem with this whole thing, of course, stems from the subjective nature of comedy: The people at Gravity thought they were funny, and many at Brandeis didn't.

The reason the Avenue Q song "Everyone's a little bit racist" works (besides, perhaps, the catchy tune) is that the audience is in on the joke. The readers weren't in on the joke with the BlackJerry ad, which was, according to its author, that the white guy was racist. With that intention in mind, the joke, I think, deserves a mild chuckle. Without it, though.

It's all well and good to lump together every complaint about the magazine, but not all of them merit equal weight.

The hastily compiled Student Union resolution released some weeks ago cited, among other "overtly racist, sexist, and generally offensive articles, statements and images," the "Deisrael" article, which compared the campus to Israel. Here again, maybe, more context was needed, but to me it was clearly a joke about the strong pro-Israel environment at Brandeis,

But I think the reaction to the magazine went too far in particular, and is indicative of how the Union messed up, big time.

The making fun of Union Treasurer Choon Woo Ha's '08 name is not "egregious dehumanization," as the Union resolution claims, but merely an immature name joke. The resolution also refers to the mockery as "slander," when it would actually be libel-if it were actually libelous.

That second point is undoubtedly nitpicky, but it goes to show that the Union must not put out a four-page "emergency" resolution-five, with all the signatures-when passions are high. If it makes little mistakes like slander vs. libel, it loses credibility. And "you know what was meant" does not cut it when it comes to government, even when it's the Union.

And this is the main reason why I'm disappointed people drop everything for finals: Criticism only went one way within the public arena, and now that it's nearly a month later, writing an article is the only way to point out flaws in both sides, however feebly.