I write in response to the article ("Gang nicknames get more sinister," July 14) on the increasingly sinister nature of gang names in the city and the impact these names have on criminal defense in the courtroom.

The article gives one concrete example of the impact of "sinister" nicknames and then rattles off a list of aliases that are as benign as they come. Zitty? Slinky? Tink? Is Archie or Jughead the mastermind behind this syndicate? Moreover, the last lines of the piece make clear that nicknames do not have an impact in the courtroom.

We can easily dismiss this article as just sloppy and under-investigated filler, but its attempt at sensationalism does damage not just to the integrity of The Baltimore Sun, but to the reader's understanding of the life and problems of the city.

While the article nobly attends to what language communicates and what words enact (an angle which, somewhat ironically, is widely underreported in news media), it does so in a shoddy and unfinished way. Yes, names shed light on the way we constitute ourselves and envision our relationship with the world. Done well, an investigation of nicknames could prove to be a useful keyhole into the complex world of street gangs in exactly the same way we use such studies to understand any group or community.

Likewise, any attempt to unravel and disarm the problems and dangers of the city are helped by a more complete appreciation of who we are here in Baltimore and what we think of ourselves. However, in the same way that such an article done well aids in our understanding of the state of violence here, a piece like this done so poorly does real damage to that same understanding.

At best, this article is a missed opportunity for The Sun to render a novel, honest, and meaningful vision of life in Baltimore. At worst, it is another example of the way media consistently misrepresents the problems of the city and fails to contribute to their resolution.

Katie Kavanagh O'Neill, Pittsburgh, PA

The writer is a doctoral candidate in rhetoric and cultural studies at the University of Pittsburgh