Car vandalized after letter printed

At about 10:30 a.m. Friday, junior Abram Hess walked outside to his car and found the word "homophobe" written in white-out across the windshield. \nHess believes the vandalism was in reaction to a letter he had submitted to the Indiana Daily Student. The letter, in which Hess questioned the idea of "islamophobia," appeared in the newspaper the day before the incident. \nThe letter, titled "'Cogniphobia' seeping into students' minds," ran in the March 2 edition of the Jordan River Forum. \nIn an excerpt of the letter, Hess wrote: "In any intellectual conflict, accusing an opponent of having an irrational fear adds nothing to the substance of the discussion, but speaks volumes about the one who makes such an allegation. The man who labels a contrarian view as a 'phobia' reveals that he is thoroughly entrenched in his own view to the point that he will not even grant his opponent a hearing." \nIn the letter, Hess called the idea of "islamophobia" a "carbon-copy of the same tired, old tactic used by the homosexual community."\nHess continued in his letter: "They long ago gave up any sort of cogent intellectual debate in favor of simply labeling their opponents as 'bigots' and 'homophobes.' \nHess said he believes the opinions he expressed about the gay and lesbian community made him the target of a crime. \n"It doesn't make much sense otherwise," he said. \nCordell Eddings, IDS opinion editor, said he was surprised by the news of the incident and found it counterproductive to the concept of the forum. \n"No one has mailed any letters to us in protest (of Hess' letter)," he said. "So (the offended party) handled it in other ways, which of course, we don't condone." \nHess said he did not receive any other similar comments about the letter throughout the day; the vandalism was the only response of that kind he received, he said.\nEddings said when he read the letter, he considered the fact that it might offend some of the readers. \n"I knew there would be many people who would disagree with the writer's point of view," he said. "However, the Jordan River Forum is for the exchanging of ideas, and so we ran the letter." \nEddings said he hopes this is an isolated incident and that believes the IDS readers should not be afraid to express their own opinions. \n"Even though (Hess) wrote the letter himself and attached his name to it, I think the backlash was unacceptable," Eddings added. \nHess said he feels the reaction only further proves his point. \n"If this act of vandalism is indeed connected to the letter I wrote, it would be rather ironic because the letter specifically condemns something like this, where people give up academic means and just label people as 'bigots' and 'homophobes,'" he said.\nHess filed a report with the Bloomington Police Department at about 10:40 a.m. Friday.\nPolice say no new information has come to light on the case.