LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Affirmative Action Revisited

To the Editor: These are those ethnic groups which John Ogbu refers to as "involuntary minorities." Unlike Han's family, these are ethnic groups, such as African Americans and Native Americans, who never chose to be a minority in our eurocentric society. Perhaps due to this involuntary status, these groups have never been allowed the benefits of our society. Unfortunately, most Penn undergraduates have never spent any times in the schools of West Philadelphia. If they did, they would see the gross inequities that exist in our society, for which affirmative action is supposed to correct. Affirmative action was not created to give certain groups a head start, it was created to make up for a few of the handicaps that exist for certain minorities from the start. Han is not a member of one of the groups, and therefore, cannot claim to speak for them. No people are more anxious to make affirmative action obsolete than those whom affirmative action targets. This will, however, require a major facelift for our society. Han is misguided, racism is not "the belief that race is the determining factor of our abilities." Rather, it is a complex blend of societal and personal factors which seek to maintain the current power structure. Affirmative action seeks to level out such factors as unfair selection criterion (such as the SATs) as well as unfair societal conditions. In doing so, affirmative action may transfer some of the power in our society, and that is what seems to have a lot of people running scared. Emily Gold Graduate School of Education '96 College '95 Hold Students Accountable To the Editor: I am quite disturbed by the trend in thought regarding civil discourse at this university over the past three years. From the infamous "Water Buffalo" incident to the article in The Red and Blue last fall vilifying Haiti, it seems to me that the majority of people have abandoned the old precept "If you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing." What's worse is that the majority of people seem to condone such behavior in an institution which supposedly upholds the idea that all of its members are to be treated with respect and dignity, especially when it comes to the "free exchange of ideas." Along with this trend is the perception, in the words of Mike Nadel, that we should "have a judicial system that protects students instead of victimizing them" ("The Provost's Court," DP 9/26/95). Or in other words, a system of justice which, in all honesty, allows students to avoid the consequences of their actions. This scenario should, to anyone with a modicum of common sense and basic moral values, be totally unacceptable. While I may agree that the provost's power over the judicial process should not be as extensive as his proposal intends, the charter itself is not to be a mechanism which students who violate the Code of Academic Integrity and Code of Student Conduct can exploit to their own advantage, which is what Mr. Nadel implicitly suggests. Justice is concerned with what is right and fair, and if a student violates the rules which govern life at this university, then it is only just that they suffer the consequences of their actions. In the words of St. Paul, "what a man sows, that shall he also reap." This is the ultimate goal of any judicial system. William Walton College '96 Gambling on Justice To the Editor: To me, the fateful day of Oct. 3, 1995, marked the end of civilization as I knew it. The hot topic was O.J.'s impending verdict, and as 1 p.m. loomed nearer and nearer, I was struck by how the gravity of the case, in and of itself, had been lost on the majority of the public. My friends started debating whether or not O.J. was guilty -- and then started wagering on the outcome. Bets went from $5 to taking the other out to dinner. Then my friends starting becoming frisky as they waited for me to reluctantly end my meal. I was sickened at the detached pleasure they were taking from this case, and realized that its trivialization had hit rock bottom. It became an event, like the drawing of lottery numbers or the announcement of Miss America. The families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, regardless of the verdict, are the ones I feel the most sorry for. Their losses will barely be a footnote in future discussions of the case. They will never know what happened to their family members -- at this point, nobody cares. And the industry that sprang up from this case was despicable. Whole programs devoted to it, with their own graphics and theme music and regular time slots; the many books and excruciating Kato Kaelin appearances -- all these, along with the media's frenzied desire to give us every single minute of the drama unfolding -- has only made us numb to the facts of the case. Two people died senselessly, and nobody knows why. Now, nobody cares. To all of you who bought into the media myth of the O.J. spectacle, I hope you have gained financially, politically, whatever. It's refreshing to know that something so mundane as a double homicide and one man's fate can still provide so much entertainment for the masses. I'm not saying I'm better than you are, or more moral. On the contrary, I suffer from the lack of a sophisticated sense of humor, which deprived me of the nervous anticipation in waiting for the verdict, that adrenaline rush when my favorite defendant is acquitted/indicted, and the desire to party my face off in celebration. Maybe someday I will also know of these pleasures. One can only hope? Benjamin Kim College '97 The Chaplain Speaks To the Editor: Please accept my appreciation for the fine article about me in Tuesday's newspaper ("Chaplain values spirituality," DP 10/10/95). Your reporter did a fine piece of work in sharing my background and my vision for the Chaplain's position and role in the future. However I would like to make several minor corrections. As an interim, it is not my place to "revolutionize" the office, but to work with the administration and local religious communities to implement the goals and ideas contained in the report of the Committee chaired by Dr. Lowe. If the responsibilities and focus of the Chaplain's Office change in a revolutionary fashion, it will be as the result of collegial and collaborative work, not of my own doing. An example of this collegial approach is, as your reporter stated, that I regard religious leaders on campus as integral resources for the work of the Chaplain. I am eager, and feel qualified, to work with all persons on a spiritual journey, but when I feel that a person's search is in a tradition with which I am not familiar, I will rely on the clergy to provide support, education and service for the individual. Finally, I do not limit myself to having the background to work only with Episcopalians, but with all Christians. It is my hope that all members of the University community will feel comfortable to approach me because I understand the Chaplain's Office to be one of many which provide support services. Thank you again for the article which has provided me with a forum to communicate with the University community. Frederic Guyott Interim Chaplain