LETTERS: Monday, November 15, 1999

Title IX a priorityTitle IX a priorityTo the Editor: I question exactly how committed the Athletic Department is to closing the gap between men's and women's athletics. I am appalled that Steve Bilsky, Penn's director of athletics, would say that "men's sports are simply more popular than women's." This stereotype is passZ and only serves to perpetuate the problems of gender inequity. I would hope that Bilsky and other Penn administrators realize that it is only relatively recently that women have been encouraged to participate in a variety of sports. Attitudes like Bilsky's hurt the movement towards equality for men and women. I think that one of the biggest problems within the Athletic Department is that they spend too much time looking at graphs, pie charts and "annual reports." The overall satisfaction of players and coaches may be better understood if Bilsky were to hear directly from them on a regular basis. This type of communication would create a system of accountability that seems to be lacking at this point in time. Not too long ago, Penn was confronted with a lawsuit concerning Title IX violations. Penn's continued failure to adhere to the law is absolutely incomprehensible. Bilsky ought to hold becoming Title IX compliant as one of his highest priorities. Penn should be embarrassed by the substantial discrepancies between the overall budgets for men's and women's athletics. Emily Goodman College '01 Exploitation U. To the Editor: Penn has once again found a way to exploit student affluence and its accompanying indifference ("U. to cut modem pool service next summer," DP, 11/10/99). Charging almost $35,000 per year, the administration, in its insolence, continues to invent additional costs for the Penn experience. The latest? In the future, students living off-campus will be required to pay for Internet access. The University has decided not to provide the service, and so we, the students, must foot the bill and find our own ways of getting "connected." How should U.S. News & World Report rank a university that does not even readily provide such a basic commodity as Internet access to its entire student body? How much longer will students continue to accept utter degeneration? First the fitness center, now Internet access. Soon we will be paying subscription fees for the DP and entrance fees to stroll down Locust Walk. Marcel Benjamin College & Wharton '01 Kinder, gentler Fiore To the Editor: Having read Mark Fiore's asinine opinions on financial aid recipients only a few weeks ago, I would have never thought he was capable of voicing such a well-informed and assertive stance on the issue of gun control in America ("Guns kill people, stupid," DP, 11/10/99). I would have expected him to title a column regarding this controversial subject anything from "Guns kill stupid people" to "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Instead, I was more than pleasantly surprised by his column appropriately titled "Guns kill people, stupid." In fact, it was one of the best pieces of journalism that I have read in the DP so far this year. Fiore eloquently pointed out that the Second Amendment is antiquated in addressing the role of guns in today's society. Clearly we should heed his advice when he suggests that in order to reduce violence in this country we must not only seek tougher gun control laws, but we must also strive to better enforce current and future laws. Brian Cope College '02