TO THE EDITOR: The Way It Works

I was genuinely interested when I read the "news" portion of Mark Tonsetic's January 23 column. He retells the story of two Penn students who were apparently rudely refused entrance to the Penn Club on account of their casual dress. Unfortunately, the "opinion" portion of the column displayed a remarkable ignorance for the ways that the University does and should operate. I was genuinely interested when I read the "news" portion of Mark Tonsetic's January 23 column. He retells the story of two Penn students who were apparently rudely refused entrance to the Penn Club on account of their casual dress. Unfortunately, the "opinion" portion of the column displayed a remarkable ignorance for the ways that the University does and should operate. This University is in the business of educating students. It is a business because it costs money, and because this money is not provided freely by anyone. Various groups contribute, such as students, alumni, and government, but presumably each one is contributing the total amount of what they are willing to contribute. I was genuinely interested when I read the "news" portion of Mark Tonsetic's January 23 column. He retells the story of two Penn students who were apparently rudely refused entrance to the Penn Club on account of their casual dress. Unfortunately, the "opinion" portion of the column displayed a remarkable ignorance for the ways that the University does and should operate. This University is in the business of educating students. It is a business because it costs money, and because this money is not provided freely by anyone. Various groups contribute, such as students, alumni, and government, but presumably each one is contributing the total amount of what they are willing to contribute. Tonsetic fails to recognize this reality. If all Penn had to do to raise the money to finance the Revlon Student Center is ask for it, I would bet that they would do just that. Tonsetic points out that an equivalent amount of money was forked over by "friends of the University" to build the Penn Club in New York. Of course they're going to pay the money! They're the ones using the damn Club! He additionally charges that the administration is diverting $15 million of its own funds to pay for the Penn Club. Keeping "friends of the University" happy is good business. They send a lot of checks to the University, which finance a lot of education. Besides, this money is a mortgage, not a gift. The real cost of this mortgage is probably just a small fraction of the $15 million. The Revlon Center, while a worthwhile project, is a sunk cost. I was genuinely interested when I read the "news" portion of Mark Tonsetic's January 23 column. He retells the story of two Penn students who were apparently rudely refused entrance to the Penn Club on account of their casual dress. Unfortunately, the "opinion" portion of the column displayed a remarkable ignorance for the ways that the University does and should operate. This University is in the business of educating students. It is a business because it costs money, and because this money is not provided freely by anyone. Various groups contribute, such as students, alumni, and government, but presumably each one is contributing the total amount of what they are willing to contribute. Tonsetic fails to recognize this reality. If all Penn had to do to raise the money to finance the Revlon Student Center is ask for it, I would bet that they would do just that. Tonsetic points out that an equivalent amount of money was forked over by "friends of the University" to build the Penn Club in New York. Of course they're going to pay the money! They're the ones using the damn Club! He additionally charges that the administration is diverting $15 million of its own funds to pay for the Penn Club. Keeping "friends of the University" happy is good business. They send a lot of checks to the University, which finance a lot of education. Besides, this money is a mortgage, not a gift. The real cost of this mortgage is probably just a small fraction of the $15 million. The Revlon Center, while a worthwhile project, is a sunk cost. The interesting question, in my mind, is whether the action of excluding casually dressed students from the Penn Club can be justified. After all, Mark, no student thinks that he deserves everything in the world just because he goes to Penn - or do they? I was genuinely interested when I read the "news" portion of Mark Tonsetic's January 23 column. He retells the story of two Penn students who were apparently rudely refused entrance to the Penn Club on account of their casual dress. Unfortunately, the "opinion" portion of the column displayed a remarkable ignorance for the ways that the University does and should operate. This University is in the business of educating students. It is a business because it costs money, and because this money is not provided freely by anyone. Various groups contribute, such as students, alumni, and government, but presumably each one is contributing the total amount of what they are willing to contribute. Tonsetic fails to recognize this reality. If all Penn had to do to raise the money to finance the Revlon Student Center is ask for it, I would bet that they would do just that. Tonsetic points out that an equivalent amount of money was forked over by "friends of the University" to build the Penn Club in New York. Of course they're going to pay the money! They're the ones using the damn Club! He additionally charges that the administration is diverting $15 million of its own funds to pay for the Penn Club. Keeping "friends of the University" happy is good business. They send a lot of checks to the University, which finance a lot of education. Besides, this money is a mortgage, not a gift. The real cost of this mortgage is probably just a small fraction of the $15 million. The Revlon Center, while a worthwhile project, is a sunk cost. The interesting question, in my mind, is whether the action of excluding casually dressed students from the Penn Club can be justified. After all, Mark, no student thinks that he deserves everything in the world just because he goes to Penn - or do they?Christopher S. Jones I was genuinely interested when I read the "news" portion of Mark Tonsetic's January 23 column. He retells the story of two Penn students who were apparently rudely refused entrance to the Penn Club on account of their casual dress. Unfortunately, the "opinion" portion of the column displayed a remarkable ignorance for the ways that the University does and should operate. This University is in the business of educating students. It is a business because it costs money, and because this money is not provided freely by anyone. Various groups contribute, such as students, alumni, and government, but presumably each one is contributing the total amount of what they are willing to contribute. Tonsetic fails to recognize this reality. If all Penn had to do to raise the money to finance the Revlon Student Center is ask for it, I would bet that they would do just that. Tonsetic points out that an equivalent amount of money was forked over by "friends of the University" to build the Penn Club in New York. Of course they're going to pay the money! They're the ones using the damn Club! He additionally charges that the administration is diverting $15 million of its own funds to pay for the Penn Club. Keeping "friends of the University" happy is good business. They send a lot of checks to the University, which finance a lot of education. Besides, this money is a mortgage, not a gift. The real cost of this mortgage is probably just a small fraction of the $15 million. The Revlon Center, while a worthwhile project, is a sunk cost. The interesting question, in my mind, is whether the action of excluding casually dressed students from the Penn Club can be justified. After all, Mark, no student thinks that he deserves everything in the world just because he goes to Penn - or do they?Christopher S. JonesFinance doctorate student