I am responding to the editorial in the Jan. 23 issue of the Daily Egyptian about the shirt police. I think that an ordinance requiring shirts in a public place is not at all out of line. Prominently displayed on the doors of many of the businesses in Carbondale and Chicago are signs saying No Shirt, No Shoes, No service. Why not in a bar? I understand the point that a man can sunbathe, mow his lawn, go to the city pool and even walk down the street without a shirt, but all those places are outside.

What about aesthetics? Not all men have a pleasant looking body by Atlas. I have seen too many men that are so skinny that they look as if they are in the end stage of tuberculosis. I have seen too many men that look like elephant seals because they are so heavy. Putting those extremes aside, look at all those over the belt gang fellows parading about.

One last comment:If the friend only focuses on the shirt police and goes away thinking Carbondale is backwards, it does not say much for the friend. I for one think that Carbondale is not backwards. I believe it is right up there with the big cities on this matter.

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Ph.D. student, plant biology