LETTERS/YOUR VIEW: Getting out the student vote

To the Editor: Jack Lewis Assistant Director African-American Resource Ctr. Fostering diversity To the Editor: Pops to Malik Wilson! ("Sighing and smiling today," DP, 2/24/99) Howard Gardener's concept of multiple intelligences hints at the limitations of the SAT and its tendency to overlook many who will be successful. Malik speaks for not only racial minorities but for artists, musicians, athletes and others whose "one talent that is death to hide" is not part of the SAT-and-grades model. The fools who believe that the population of a college campus should be determined by tests and grades alone should consider attending those schools who have made that fatal mistake. I am certain that most of you at Penn have considered those schools and decided you would be bored there. Penn needs to find ways to increase the number of folks who do not fit the simplistic profile (suburban, comfortable, private school, high SATs) whose lives as suburban lawyers, doctors, businessmen and teachers will be really quite unremarkable. Use the money generated by the pass through of upper-middle-class and wealthy zeros to support the creative spirits who will form the future. Joe Konn College '69 MP3 awareness To the Editor: Congratulations on your new interactive edition. Nice work. Dailypennsylvanian.com readers are not well served, though, by your Technology Today column, "Where to Get the Best MP3s" (http://dailypennsylvanian.com/exclusives/tech/990221_mp3.html). No mention is made of the legal problems associated with MP3 recordings. MP3 is an audio compression format capable of packing an entire CD-quality song into a three- to four-megabyte file. The problem is, usually these files contain copyrighted recordings. Uploading or downloading copyrighted MP3s without the permission of the copyright owner is a violation of U.S. law with civil and criminal penalties. Granted, fair use doctrine sometimes provides a defense against infringement charges but uploading and downloading full-length copyrighted recordings without permission almost certainly is not fair use. When we receive complaints about MP3 file sharing on student computers they are investigated. Cases of copyright infringement are referred to the Office of Student Conduct as a violation of University policy and U.S. copyright law. Thank you for your help in making DP readers aware of this. David Millar U. Information Security Officer Katz responds To the Editor: Your article on my campaign drew a faulty conclusion as to my position on the importance of education in this year's race for mayor ("Katz is lone GOP contender, DP, 2/26/99). I have consistently stressed that education, along with crime and taxes, is one of the key issues affecting Philadelphia and causing the exodus of people and jobs. While public school education does not directly affect most city residents in the sense that only about 20 percent of them have children in the public schools, every Philadelphian is affected by the quality of the system. Problems both within and without the school system cause children to drop out before graduation or graduate without he skills necessary to earn a living. And our school system is frequently cited as a barrier to employers locating in the city and a reason for young families to move out. That is why I advocate taking every possible measure to help improve our children's learning, including: charter schools, vouchers, tax credits, stopping violence in schools and removing disruptive students. No issue will impact employment, crime and quality of life more than will improving education. Sam Katz Mayoral candidate A successful conference To the Editor: I want to congratulate Professors Elijah Anderson and Tukufu Zuberi for convening an outstanding conference, "The Study of African-American Problems: Papers presented in Honor of W.E.B. DuBois," that was a success on a number of fronts. First, it brought renewed attention to the importance and significance of DuBois' substantive scholarly contributions. Second, the conference assembled renowned scholars, from a variety of academic disciplines, whose participation and points of view accurately represented the complexities of DuBois' work. Third, I and many others left the conference with a sense that there is yet much work to be done and with an agenda of issues and questions in need of scientific and scholarly exploration. Finally, and perhaps most important, the conference provided numerous examples of how and why academic research is and can be relevant for addressing real world problems. Eli, Tukufu, Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson, President Judith Rodin and the many other members of the Penn community who made this conference possible should take a well deserved bow for an inspiring act of academic and public service. Kerry Haynie Professor of Political Science Rutgers U. - New Brunswick The other team To the Editor: When I read Brian Hindo's column admonishing the Penn student body for not supporting the club men's ice hockey team ("Hockey toils in obscurity, DP, 2/23/99), I was surprised and annoyed to find that Hindo failed to mention the presence of an equally unnoticed women's club team. Hindo charged that many were unaware that a men's ice hockey team existed at Penn. Apparently, even Hindo didn't realize that there is also a women's team. As a member of this team, I can testify that, like the men's team, our funding does not cover the large expense of ice time, making it necessary for us to pay hefty dues. In addition, we have not been afforded the luxury of an outside coach and rely on members of the men's team to assist us, as well as some of the more adept players on our squad. Given the struggles of the women's team, it is disconcerting that Hindo did not so much as acknowledge our existence in his zealous advocacy of ice hockey at Penn. Just think to yourselves for a moment -- Penn women playing hockey. Have to see it to believe it? I'll look for you in the stands next season. Beth Bruder Wharton '02 Food for thought To the Editor: You certainly provided us with an interesting juxtaposition by placing an article entitled "Loveline show steams up campus" directly above the article entitled "Reaction at U. mixed to Clinton acquittal" (DP, 2/15/99). Considering the student response to the co-hosts of Loveline as described, it was certainly surprising to read of the indignation expressed by other students in this second article. It would seem that the moral climate on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania has changed far more over the past several years than has the moral climate in the White House. Marvin Steinberg Professor and Vice Chairperson Orthopaedic Surgery Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Sweatshop concerns To the Editor: We are writing in response to Michael Bressler's letter to the editor ("Made in a sweatshop," DP, 2/24/99). In reference to the production of University of Pennsylvania apparel, Bressler stated that there is an "inevitably higher cost" to the consumer if the apparel is produced in a "more expensive factory." Bressler is not taking into account the outrageous prices that consumers are already paying for goods made in sweatshop conditions by such corporations as Nike and the Gap. These multinational corporations sell their products for hundreds of times over what it costs to produce them. It is the corporation and its stockholders who benefit primarily from sweatshop labor, not the consumer. These corporations could pay their workers a living wage and sell their products at reasonable prices while still making a sizable profit. Perhaps what Bressler intended to say was "I deserve to enjoy my position in the capitalist hierarchy and if people are going to starve and die for me to have cheaper clothing, that's the price they have to pay." All people deserve to work at a living wage. We find it disheartening that Bressler commends Penn for not participating in "the recent hub-bub" of anti-sweatshop activity. It is imperative that Penn, as an institution and as a collective of intellectuals, join together with the activists who have been speaking out against sweatshop labor at other institutions. We all must work to ensure that the Penn emblem proudly represents the ideals of this University, not tears, blood and injustice. Miriam Joffe-Block College '00 Melissa Pfeffer Engineering '00 Progressive Activist Network Committee on Sweatshops To the Editor: I am writing in response to Michael Bressler's letter to the editor. Bressler praises the Penn administration for "staying out of the recent hub-bub regarding sweatshops and the production of Penn apparel". He claims that holding manufacturers responsible for the humane treatment of their workers will only result in higher costs for the purchaser and "those of us who do not share the same moral outrage" about this issue should not have to endure this monetary inconvenience. When I first read Bressler's morally reprehensible and socially irresponsible comments, I was shocked and disturbed. But then I realized that I had no reason to be surprised. After all, as a spring-semester senior here at Penn, I should be used to such a value system by now. There are innumerable ways in which I have encountered this profit-driven, egocentric attitude on this campus over the past four years. Penn students need not look any further than their own administration for an example of how to rationalize such a complete lack of understanding and compassion for anyone or anything outside this protected and elitist campus in which we live. So, how can I blame Bressler for his ignorant comments? He's just a white, privileged Wharton student whose life-long goal of making a lot of money atop the corporate ladder at the expense of others has been well served by the institution of "learning" he attends. Katie Flood College '99