LETTERS: The value of fair representation

To the Editor: That research would have to entail far more work than just examining numbers from "numerous articles printed in The Daily Pennsylvanian." Perhaps if he'd spoken to real people instead of numbers, he'd have a better understanding of the issue. Bressler states in his article that, "By comparison, the groups that complain the most about underrepresentation actually have lower matriculation rates." After obtaining this type of information, you must ask yourself, Why are the matriculation rates for certain minority groups so low? The other reason is the comfort zone that is not created by the University for many minorities. The notion of being only one of approximately 35 black or Latino men in one's class is reason for a prospective student to feel uncomfortable or even unwanted -- which leads me to question Bressler's motivation for writing the column. Was it written strictly because he generally would like to see more white Christians at our University? Or was it because he would like to see less minorities and people of color at Penn? If Bressler really wants more white Christians here, then why didn't he feel the need to attack the efforts put forth to raise the numbers of underrepresented minority groups? Perhaps the author does not realize the great contribution that minorities have given to this University -- ranging from W.E.B. DuBois and his works to Olympic athletes to many things happening at our University today. Look at the different organizations, groups, fraternities, sororities, teams, offices, etc., here and imagine how they would be without minorities there. Another problem that I had with the column was the blatant disrespect of the Asian population at our school. By making comments like "[Asians] remain overrepresented at the University as a whole," Bressler is doing the same thing that many have done for years -- grouping all Asians into one category. There are a number of cultures and nationalities within the Asian population that are often left out of statistics such as the suspect ones that Bressler wrote about. If Bressler wants to talk about reflecting society, why doesn't he take it a step back and have Penn reflect just its neighborhood -- or maybe the city. If that was the case, then Penn would be 62 percent black, but the author wouldn't want that, would he? That would be too many people of color; we're fine with the 5 percent black, 3 percent Latino and .4 percent Native American population, as well as a number of Asian cultures, that are underrepresented, right? Bressler's article was very cruel and very wrong. As stated before, I am not sure of his motives for writing it -- a heartfelt yearning for more white Christians, a sincere desire for less minorities or maybe he just wanted to stir up a little controversy and make people mad as certain Penn publications have done in the past. This type of behavior is not needed here and only hurts our University's progression. Chaz Howard College '00 Chairperson United Minorities Council