hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (11/22/85)
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