LETTER: Internet term papers not within our rights

To the Editor: While dealing with the law of the land, the greatest possible danger is that we may lose sight of the goals of its framers. We would be doing exactly that by continuing to allow the practice of selling term papers on the Internet. Ostensibly a service to assist students in their writing, it is quite clear that these companies' trade is actually plagiarism. Freedom of the press does not extend to copyrighted material, and neither should it extend to these companies. To those students who do not use this service, I implore you to let your voice be heard. Do not allow the value of your degree to be degraded in this way. Let it be known that you refuse to tolerate this reprehensible behavior. To those students who employ the use of these papers and pass them off as their own work, I condemn you. You, who keep these companies in business, are the reason our educational system is a farce. The companies aren't to blame for attempting to fill the demand, you are the one who has created it. To those students who use these papers fairly, taking care as to properly represent themselves in their work, I have nothing to say; for there is nobody there to listen. Mario Lucero Wharton '99 Energize the Quaker To the Editor: In the article "Penn's Quaker needs updating" (DP, 2/13/98), Josh Callahan correctly describes the deficiencies of the present Quaker mascot at inciting crowd participation at athletic events. The solution, however, is not as simple as giving the Quaker a fuzzy head and a better flagpole as Callahan suggests. While the current flagpole is unwieldy to handle (as evidenced by the Quaker's exhausted state after running once around the Palestra and numerous falls), the mascot needs to be played by an individual with enthusiasm. The current Quaker has seemingly lost all interest in rousing the crowd since his unsuccessful attempt at lighting the Princeton Tiger on fire at Homecoming. Since then, he has taken a back seat to the cheerleading squad. While the cheerleaders have implemented a halftime dance routine, among other things, the Quaker has resorted to moping around behind them during the game. Every once in a while, he throws a shirt to the crowd or runs around with the flag, but mostly he wanders around aimlessly. The Quaker had a golden opportunity last Friday to energize the crowd during Penn's struggle and subsequent comeback against Yale. Instead, he did no more than usual and left it to the cheerleaders and the crowd themselves to encourage the team. The Quaker has another opportunity Tuesday against Princeton, but it seems unlikely that he will rise to the challenge. What we really need for our mascot is someone with an outgoing, spontaneous personality. He must come up with stunts and routines to energize the crowd without regard to how he looks at the moment. Unfortunately, the current mascot receives indifference from the crowd. Perhaps a fuzzy head would encourage the Quaker to inspire fans more. But it's not the costume that makes a good mascot. Kyle Kloc College and Wharton '00 Support across barriers To the Editor: In the article "Love Is More Than Skin Deep," (DP, 2/13/98) I was dissapointed by the first line, "Sometimes love just ain't enough." When it comes to crossing racial, ethnic and religious lines, if love is not enough, what is? It seems that there is an unwillingness among students to cross these lines when obstacles stemming from differences and attitudes are present, even when there is a strong attraction or even when there is love. On what levels are we willing to overcome these obstacles? Will we draw the line at acquaintances, at friends, at close friends? I can't think of anything greater than love to drive us to overcome dividing differences. As a white female who has dated guys of different races, I understand the difficulties and pressures influencing inter-racial couples. I admit that my experiences in inter-racial dating may have been unique. Unlike the students mentioned in the article, my family and friends were supportive of my relationship with an African-American man. Instead of looking at it as "weird," they saw it as a part of my personality. And as a result of that experience, I have a better understanding of what I value most in my relationships. The University community needs to be more supportive of inter-racial couples. Hopefully this will bring about greater interaction among different racial, ethnic and religious groups. Katie Kalbach Nursing '00 More than attendance To the Editor: Each of The Daily Pennsylvanian articles in the past few weeks regarding the Undergraduate Assembly or University Council has focused mainly, and in some cases entirely, on the fact that attendance at these meetings has been below par. As a UA representative, I have been at each of the UA meetings covered and, admittedly, we have had some trouble reaching quorum in the past month. But the DP continues to gloss over or even ignore the issues discussed at these meetings, such as the upcoming cultural discourse series or the distribution of the good neighbor pamphlet to West Philadelphia residents. Also, in the coverage of the most recent UC meeting, there is no mention of the productive discussion on student-police interaction, only a lengthy essay on how no one shows up to the UC meetings. I think the DP has made its agenda quite clear in that it wants to inspire responsibility in UA and UC members by embarassing them with their lack of responsibility. But in its quest to increase responsibility, it has failed to report to the students what actually happens at the meetings with the members who do attend. Theo LeCompte Engineering '01