LETTERS: Good idea, wrong metaphor

To the Editor: I would agree that the hotel's offer is arbitrary and objectionable and I laud Coughlan's vigorous work on behalf of his union. Yet I am sincerely disturbed by his analogy -- in the context of a discussion of labor rights -- implying that the systematic aggregation and destruction of millions of innocent men, women and children perpetrated by the Nazis and their sympathizers. To put it simply, such an analogy is a blatant abuse of history and has no place in a discussion of the Faculty Club employees' rights. A union leader does not do himself or his cause any good by using this sort of inflammatory rhetoric. Being in full support of the hardworking Faculty Club employees and their families, I wish the union only the best. I would, however, suggest that Coughlan take a stroll over to the bookstore -- ironically located directly opposite the Faculty Club -- and pick up a history textbook before he makes a complete mockery of himself and his constituents. Benjamin Greenblum College/Wharton '01 Predictably disturbing To the Editor: Mark Fiore seems perfectly comfortable with the University as a corporate business entity, with carte blanche regarding the treatment of the world around it ("The cold realities of capitalism," DP, 2/15/99). Fiore's frequent use of the phrase "Penn -- and its main consumers, the students," confirms his faith in the workings of the University as just another corporate entity. If such is the case, the University might do better if it scaled back or eliminated its educational and civic functions. Fiore would likely fail to notice the change, as he seems untouched by the spirit of intellectual rigor and civic-mindedness that a good education fosters. I look forward to reading "The Right Stuff" each week for this reason: it acts as a perfect barometer of everything that I find disturbing about the University of Pennsylvania. Andrew Zitcer College '00 Mailroom malaise To the Editor: When students go off to college, they must give up certain conveniences. One thing that they should not have to give up, however, is the right to receive their mail. For many students in the Quadrangle, this right has been increasingly eroded. As a freshman living in the Quad, I have heard literally hundreds of accounts of mail never received. Friends have needed to get money wired from home because checks that their parents sent them never arrived. Others report never receiving multiple cards from birthdays and holidays. Recently, students and RAs have approached mailroom workers in an attempt to resolve this problem in a friendly manner. They have been rebuffed, in many cases rudely, and told that their only course of action is to have the senders complete and mail a federal form for each piece of lost mail. Whatever the cause, problems in the Quad mailroom have reached an epic proportion and must be resolved. Michael Hartman College '02