To the Editor:

It is distressing to see that the errors in judgment made over the years with regard to the use of inappropriate analogies to Holocaust imagery, (for example, the recent debate over health care reform), seem to have poisoned the Student Government elections at the University of Florida ("Fliers stir controversy by comparing Alliance Party to Nazis," Feb. 18).

Fliers that were disseminated around campus comparing a student government party to the Nazi party with images of a swastika are deeply offensive and cross the line of appropriate public civil discourse.

The use of Nazi symbolism is outrageous.

American politicians, whether federal, state, local or student should be able to reasonably disagree politically without resorting to such abhorrent imagery.

Inappropriate Holocaust comparisons ultimately serve to diminish and trivialize the degree of the Nazis' crimes against humanity, and the annihilation of six million Jews as well as millions of others who perished in the Holocaust.

College campuses should be places for free discussion, open forums and wide acceptance, but unfortunately, college campuses are not immune from lack of civility.

The offensive fliers create a toxic environment and are akin to the crosscurrents of anger and hostility that have swept certain sectors of the country over the last year.