I am writing this letter to the editor concerning the Parkway Tropics ad in this weeks Lanthorn. I absolutely loved it. I believe advertising such establishments is a great way for the Lanthorn to raise the funds it needs to bring us quality news week after week. Further more the young women who wrote in to the Lanthorn complaining about the ad should know that exotic dancing is a very lucrative business and the young women who are employed there spend 80 to 90 percent of their disposable income in the local economy. In these hard times it is important that we do all we can to help pull the country out of the recession. If the people complaining about the ad had ever spent any time in a gentleman’s club such as Parkway Tropics they would find out that the dancers are some of their peers. Just young women trying to pay their way through college or single mothers trying to put food on the table. I’m sure some Grand Valley students work there and the money they earn goes right back into the university benefiting us all. I feel better about myself when I spend money there. Who am I to deny an ambitious young lady her right to an education or a small child a meal? In one of the previous letters to the editor the writer claimed that exotic dancing was “demeaning” and that the ad space could be used for an ad that hires women for their “skills and knowledge rather than how well they can undress”. Once again, if the writer had spent anytime in Parkway Tropics they would know exotic dancing is an art form and very much a skill. If you’ve ever seen a girl named Chastity pull a full on Leg Hook Dismount on a pole while Motley Crues “Girls Girls Girls” plays, she would clearly see it is a work of art and dare I say, breathtaking. In closing I would like to thank the Lanthorn for reaching out the local area businesses and providing quality advertisements. Keep up the good work.

J.F.
GVSU student