Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe
From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp,net.kids,net.suicide
Subject: Yet another letter to 60 Minutes
Message-ID: <32@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 21-Nov-85 16:56:51 EST
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.32
Posted: Thu Nov 21 16:56:51 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 23-Nov-85 10:28:05 EST
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 46
Xref: linus net.games.frp:1859 net.kids:2165 net.suicide:742

20 November 1985

60 Minutes
524 W. 57th Street
New York, NY  10019


Dear 60 Minutes,

Two weeks ago I wrote you a letter regarding the segment you aired on
Dungeons and Dragons.  In it I cited statistics indicating that
teenagers who play Dungeons and Dragons are at least 24 times less likely
to commit suicide than the average teenager.  I'm sorry to say I wasn't
surprised when you failed to respond to it.

Although I think the numbers speak for themselves, it occurs to me that
you may have dismissed me as just another teenage nerd dividing his time
between fantasy gaming and a computer terminal.  In fact, I'm 37 years
old.  I have a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from California State
University, Northridge.  In the course of getting that degree I spent
four years with the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center as a crisis
telephone counselor, shift supervisor, trainer, and statistical computer
programmer.  So you see, when I write to you about teenagers, suicide,
and statistics I have some expertise to draw upon.

I've long suspected that your reputation for honest, even handed
reporting was merely a fabrication of your publicity department.  The
present situation has only served to confirm my suspicions that you are
more interested in sensationalism than facts.  I certainly have better
things to do with my Sunday evenings than watch a video equivalent of
_The National Enquirer_.  If you continue to ignore the facts I've
presented, I'm going to start doing them.


Sincerely,



Jerry Hollombe, M.A.
P.O. Box 5921
Santa Monica, CA  90405-0921

cc: usenet
	net.games.frp
	net.kids
	net.suicide