LETTERS-YOUR VIEW: Gifted and talented students

To the Editor: It is not Penn's job to gamble on which of those students with low SAT scores and low grades will turn out to be successful, nor should it be. After all, this is an academic institution, not an artist colony or a sports training camp. Penn is of such a caliber that it can afford to turn away many highly qualified candidates each year. Therefore, it is hardly ever an issue of choosing between the student with the 1450 SAT score or the student who is highly talented in some area other than academics. It is the University's goal to choose the students with both academic and extracurricular talents. No criteria used in admissions will ever produce perfect results. For now, the SAT produces a more than decent one. I am simply tired of people complaining about the use of SAT scores in admissions. It is preposterous to attempt to make people feel guilty for being intelligent. Rosanna Perretta Law '01 Celebration time To the Editor: What is about the Penn Quakers that makes their fans so devoted? Why do students stand on line for days to get season tickets? Why do they paint their chests red and blue? Why do we stand in the sweltering Palestra week after week cheering on our beloved basketball team? For some, the Palestra may be a welcome diversion to studying for endless midterms. Others may just want to scream their brains out along with their classmates while shouting insults at the refs and the opposing teams. Whatever, the reason, there is something about going to a Quaker game and feeling the rush of anticipation, the stress of the competition and the glory of victory. When a friend dragged me to my first game I didn't know anything about basketball rules or the Penn team. Funny thing is I still know very little about basketball rules -- the beauty of sitting in the Palestra is that it doesn't matter why the foul was called or who got called for traveling. The screams and cheers from the fans are all you need to know if it was a call for or against Penn. There's something about walking out of a winning game with the band behind you and thousands of strangers screaming alongside you. I guess my point is there is nothing like Penn basketball. I graduated in December and I came back to Philadelphia for the Princeton game. I listened to Tuesday night's entire game on-line, and I wear my Penn basketball cap whenever I have the chance. So now we're the Ivy Champs and everyone knows that the Quakers rule. From a very loyal fan, I want to thank the team for four years of great basketball (and sometimes not-so-great basketball), diversions from studying and many fun Saturday nights. To sound banal and trite, it was still a great time even if you had lost, but thanks for making my senior year complete with an Ivy championship. On a final note -- to all you Princeton fans -- I guess that's what you get for chanting "safety school" at last year's game. I feel avenged. Rachel Doolitz College '98