LETTERS: Ally McBeal, bad role model

To the Editor: What the authors do not know is that numerous studies have linked television viewing to real-life behavior. These readers say that Wong should lighten up -- it's just a TV comedy. Yet studies show that adult women who embrace stereotypical sex roles to the greatest extent watched the greatest amount of TV during their youth. Psychologists tried to find other intervening variables that might cause such an effect, but there do not seem to be any. Amir Fourazan is right. TV is not a direct mirror of reality. But it does reflect and moreover shape the values and expectations of its viewers. If they like, critics should feel free to believe that they are among the special few who are unimpressionable, but this would be a rather arrogant stance. I return to the original question posed in Tuesday's DP: Is Ally a role model, or just entertainment? Inevitably, she is both. Nicole Kurzer College '00 A necessary evil To the Editor If quotas are simply wrong do you have an ideal that is simply right? ("Hiring quotas: simply wrong," DP, 10/13/99). Face it, people are inclined to hire or admit someone of there own kind. Quotas may not be perfect but they are one way to bridge the gap. It is hard for me to believe if a white employer has a black and a white applicant for a job with identical education and experience that the white employer will hire the black applicant. It will not happen in this day and age. Same rules apply to a black employer. Until we, as a people, realize that we have a fiduciary duty to close the gap between the races, tools like quotas will be used by politicians to help bridge the gap. Dwayne Wyche General Accountant Office of the Comptroller Pinstripe pride To the Editor: Let the death threats be returned to sender. I, Ray Valerio, love the New York Yankees ("Too many reasons to just hate those damn Yankees," DP, 10/11/99). I mean, I really love the Yankees. In my courteous opinion, the New York Yankees represent all that is good about our wonderful country. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Andy Petitte are some of the most pleasant professionals in sports and they play for the Yankees. I wish them and their teammates nothing but the best because they are the best. How much do I love this organization? I own 24 hats, four shirts, three jerseys, two keychains, two cups and I've even been known to paint one of the infamous "ANSKY" letters on my chest for games. I love the stadium and I love the fans. If you've never been to a game in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, you will never understand. Most of all, I love the way that they are the best baseball team in professional sports history. The problem that most non-Yankee fans have is that they are jealous. Obviously, Andrew Exum and his fellow Yankee haters are culprits of being blatantly envious. You know what, I can care less if people hate the Yankees. It just makes me love them more. When the Yankees lose, I can't help but feel passionately upset. But when they win, a euphoric tingle encompasses my entire body. I'm so ecstatic to be a Yankee fanatic. Bring on the Mets! Ray Valerio College '01