LETTER: Skewed Priorities

To the Editor: I'm glad I didn't cram my studies between long practices or trek miles by bus nearly every weekend to compete against other schools. I'm glad I didn't expend any effort to win an Ivy League championship, capping off a nearly perfect season with a 4-0 win over Yale (DP 11/2/92). The DP's coverage of the game dismissed the extraordinary success of this team with appalling brevity. The women's field hockey team can only view Monday's article in the DP as a reflection of the skewed priorities of this school -- assuming, of course, they could find the article. Certainly, they should know better than to look on the back page, under "Sports." Both the article and single photograph, which did not depict the entire team, were wedged into one-half of an inside page. Although the resurgence of our football team from mediocrity deserves commendation, the press coverage by our student paper should not eclipse the accomplishments of Penn's many athletic teams. The paper should aspire to represent the interests of the entire student body. When a particular athletic team captures the highest honor in its league, the DP has an obligation to acknowledge that team's achievement with proportionate "Penn Pride." The DP felt enough pride to allot half the sports page to a photograph of one football player -- yet, in the same issue, the announcement of a championship title is relegated to the confines of the back pages. Pride seems unfairly appropriated. The editors of the DP should be cognizant of their journalistic power. The DP sends as clear a message through what the editors choose to print as by what they exclude. They need to exercise responsibility and consideration for these students, male and female, who merit recognition for excellence. Ivy League champions deserve to be lauded as such. ADELE WATSON College '93

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