To the Editor: The night of Oct. 27, GasWerks Bar employees were dressed in costumes for a Halloween party: Two of the bartenders wore costumes depicting a slain Virginia Tech student and the killer of the April 16 massacre. A friend of mine asked the manager/co-owner of the bar, Eric Fortney, to please tell the bartenders to change their costumes. Fortney laughed in his face, and told him that they were “just costumes.”

I am a 2005 Virginia Tech graduate, and my sister, a sophomore there, lost three of her friends to the tragedy. I was nearing the end of my first year as an Ohio State veterinary student when the events of April 16 unfolded, and although far removed from my beautiful school and fellow Hokies, I felt comforted by the wealth of support that OSU students and the Columbus community provided following this tragedy. The tragedy at VT was one which could have occurred at any college campus in the country, so to hear of such insensitive and cruel “jokes” being made at the expense of 32 victims and a college that will forever bear this pain was despicable.

Interestingly enough, a Columbus Dispatch article was published in February 2006 about several Arena District bars banning sports jerseys on off-gamedays, to maintain a certain dress code. Fortney of GasWerks was quoted as saying: “We want to make sure that the quality of customer … stays at a very high level.” Perhaps Fortney should check his own quality of character, and remind himself that the dress code starts first and foremost with his own employees.

I want to alert the rest of the OSU community about this incident and leave it in your hands to decide what to do. There is currently a group on Facebook titled “Ohio State Hokies Boycotting GasWerks Bar.” I urge you to join and boycott this bar in honor of those who were so senselessly killed at Virginia Tech. As a Hokie, I will forever feel saddened by the loss of 32 bright and innocent students and faculty. It was through the support of the nation and communities such as Columbus that the Hokies have been able to heal. I feel a great amount of pity for a public business that cannot decide between right and wrong in such a clear display of heartlessness.

Christina CanisColumbus, Ohio