Editor, Daily Nexus:

I was appalled by the full-page advertisement from Duffy’s that you chose to publish on Page 8A of your Thursday, March 1 edition. The ad featured three infants sleeping (unconscious?) with empty Heineken bottles next to them, one of these infants having been “tattooed” on the forearm with the word “Duffy’s.” The ad’s text reads: “Some of us are just born with it!”

This is one of the most irresponsible and cynical ads I have ever seen. A high number of children are indeed “born with it”; namely, with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is sometimes called the “hangover that lasts a lifetime.” Alcohol has a direct toxic effect on the developing fetus, and can damage the nerve cells of his or her brain. Alcohol quickly crosses the placenta and enters the fetus’ blood in the same concentration as in the mother’s blood. Fetal alcohol syndrome encompasses a cluster of disabilities that includes mental and physical retardation, learning disabilities, tremors and peculiar facial characteristics.

The Daily Nexus is the official student newspaper of an institution of higher learning. I find it extremely troubling to see in its pages a repulsive advertisement, which, in the best case, testifies to the advertiser’s ignorance, or, which is more likely, to his absolute cynicism.

ELISABETH WEBER