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To the Editor: The administration has to realize that some people live on campus for the convenience, for the Resnet services and for the security. Not all of us care about college house programs. I currently live in High Rise South (or Harrison House, to be politically correct) and although I don't love it, I do enjoy the convenience. I am not interested in community or house activities and quite frankly I am sick to death of all the cheerleading the administration is doing in support of its wonderful new residential living programs. Perhaps the layout of the high rises at present is not an obstacle, but a benefit, as not all of us want to experience dorm-style communal living. I prefer the apartment style floor plans of the present and I do not wish to see such an option disappear for the student who likes the security of campus housing or whose parents simply won't let him/her live off campus. Michael Biercuk College '01 To the Editor: I am writing in response to your story on the mixing, or lack thereof, of classes in the new college house system. Your article, while informative, glossed over a very important fact -- the college house vision has already been achieved in at least one of the college houses. This house, ironically, is the one that is currently facing destruction. As a freshman in Stouffer College House, I have spent a good deal of time socializing with the people with whom I live. While it is true that I spend a great deal of time with other freshmen, I have many friends in the sophomore, junior and senior classes. In fact, I have even made several friends who are now living off-campus, but lived in Stouffer in years past. At Stouffer there is a very strong community atmosphere and there is nothing in the way of the "class cliques" which were described in your article. I think that it is important that the administration, if it is truly interested in the college house system, pays attention to the place where this vision truly comes into fruition. Stouffer residents are interested in working with the administration in planning for the new period of consrtruction, but so far have been offered nothing but empty promises. Michelle White College '02 The wild kingdom To the Editor: As I was walking down Locust Walk in my usual eager-to-eat-lunch, post-class manner yesterday, I happened across a crowd staring at a large hawk devouring a pigeon in front of the Penn Women's Center. My friend and I soon became profoundly disturbed by the conversations taking place around us, a striking commentary about the sheltered lives so many of the students have led. One only slightly confused observer identified the bird as an eagle. Others had more trouble with the prey. Someone commandingly summed up the situation to a late arriving friend as a hawk eating a squirrel. Another asked where it came from. "It just fell from the sky!" someone replied. The same female added that she felt sorry for it since it "didn't have any friends." The most striking comment was when a child of the television age pointed out that watching this was "like watching the Discovery Channel, only live!" Have we drifted so far way from appreciation and knowledge of nature in our urbanization that reality has become a shocking substitute for television? As the hawk finished its meal and flew to a nearby tree to clean itself, my friend stated, "It really is beautiful." "Yeah," I replied, as we went on our way. Matt Thornton College '01

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