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To the Editor: The cartoon dated 9/13/95 depicts bikes locked to a bike rack and insinuates that the picture represents a West Philadelphian's "gift shop." The cartoon dated 9/14/95 displays two Penn students talking about the upcoming Oliver Stone visit. The punch line of the cartoon is that Stone is coming to West Phila. to "research." The cartoon portrays the corner of 42nd and Walnut as dirty, run down, and dangerous (four people carry guns in the drawing). Clearly, a majority of Penn students are afraid to venture into West Philadelphia and thus they miss out on wonderful restaurants, parks, housing and human contact. I do not deny that crime exists. Certainly, we can all realize why crime affects Penn, an island of opulence in a lower-middle class neighborhood. I do argue that dirty streets around the campus are more of a result of students than of long-term residents. More importantly, I argue that the gross exaggerations and generalizations made of West Philadelphia and of its residents, and apparent in the two cartoons, create an unrealistic fear in students that is detrimental to both Penn and West Philadelphia. Craig Simons College '96 'The Red and Blue' Libels Group To the Editor: A brief comment on the editorial by Thor Halvorssen concerning the Latin American Living and Learning Program (LALLP) in The Red and Blue magazine. The editorial was libelous and irresponsible. It misrepresented the LALLP and was nothing but a vain attempt at demagogy. Libelous and irresponsible comments, such as those by Halvorssen, whose only intention is to offend and cause controversy do not merit response. However, I invite anyone who questions the LALLP to debate its purpose and goals in a manner which emphasizes respect, openness and intellectual pursuit. It is shameful that intellectual debate is stifled by stupidity and irresponsibility. I was surprised by the fact that the person who wrote the editorial was the editor-in-chief of The Red and Blue. This can only lead to two conclusions: Either he had absolute authority to publish it and, in his own narcissism, could not realize his own stupidity or the magazine cannot be taken seriously for its lack of responsibility in publishing such unfounded misrepresentations of the LALLP. As the RA for the LALLP, I am proud to say that our residents are free to put posters in the hallway of whomever they choose. This is called freedom of speech. Such freedom can flourish only in an environment of understanding, openness and respect for other people's ideas. I conclude by extending an invitation to all the members of the Penn community, and particularly to Mr. Halvorssen, to visit the LALLP on the 15th and 16th floors of HRE. Our Domingos Sociales, held every Sunday at 7:30 pm in the 16th floor lounge, would be an excellent opportunity for anyone interested to learn more about the program. Jorge Armenteros Law '97 Resident Advisor LALLP Misinformed on Netscape To the Editor: I happened to stumble across the announcement from Netscape on the security breach before reading your article ("Penn InTouch pulled off line," DP 9/20/95). It is because of this, I would like to point out some mis-information from your article. According to Netscape's release (the URL was given in your article), "With this knowledge, an experienced computer programmer could decrypt messages sent by Netscape Navigator to other computers in a few hours of computation time." This is in contrast to the "within a minute" quoted in your article. While this does prove to be a security risk, it is not as easy as it sounds. First you have to intercept the information to be able to decrypt it. And it is not very easy to just grab certain information off the Internet. Then you need "moderate" amount of computing power to have this done in a few hours of time. I read "moderate" as being more than a PC. This then quite limits the number of people able to do this. It was a good idea to pull Penn InTouch off line, but it may never come back on-line. The security problem is not with Penn InTouch, but with the program people use to view it. It is very hard to make everyone upgrade to the newer, more secure version. There will still be people accessing Penn InTouch with non-secure versions of Netscape. This poses a security risk to the students doing this. I liked the idea of Penn InTouch and hope that the University decides to bring it back, maybe this time with a warning telling people to get the most current version of Netscape and if you don't, you are using at your own risk. Bill Napier University Computer Consultant Objectification of Women To the Editor: This is in response to Arnshea Clayton's letter ("Unfounded Chauvanism" DP 9/20/95). I am so proud of Mr. Clayton for attempting to respond to a letter he characterized as "anti-humanistic" and "chauvinistic" by smearing dirt all over himself through some very ignorant and?dare I say chauvinistic statements. I would like to give him a big handshake along with the "Most Offensive Absurdity of the Year" award, for presenting Playboy as an innocent celebration of nudity. Mr. Clayton, first of all, nudity and sexuality are not synonymous. Playboy is not a magazine which glorifies the undeniable beauty of the female body. It sells sex to men who feel there is no "moral dilemma" in ogling women with their legs spread. I am not in any way criticizing workers in the sex industry, but Playboy is part of the very lucrative institution of pornography which caters to sexual hunger, not any Grecian appreciation of physical (don't even try to bring in mental) perfection. For you to equate this with the general social okay for men going shirtless in hot weather is absolutely ridiculous. What are you talking about? Of course our gender-biased taboos about nudity are lame. But when Playboy parades centerfolds as celebrations of beauty -- and you buy into it -- do you think the women around you would feel comfortable being topless? Public nudity is not an option while people like you confuse it with a chance to get excited. You may go ahead and capitalize on your own physique however you choose, Mr. Clayton. But do you truly believe that there is no moral dilemma in men capitalizing on women's physiques and sexuality? Just an observation on the psychology of porn: Heterosexual men are not the only ones who find women attractive, but you don't see quite as many lesbians buying Playboy. Clare Bayard College '97

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