LETTERS: Thursday, November 4, 1999

Athletes, not stereotypesAthletes, not stereotypesTo the Editor: I can only assume from this sort of plea that attendance at their games has been lacking of late. While I applaud their efforts to increase attendance, I find their tactics disappointing and, quite honestly, irresponsible. If increasing attendance means arousing interest, I would hope they would want that interest directed toward their athletic ability and not solely toward their bodies. While invitations such as the one I saw today may seem harmless or cute, they deny women athletes the ability to earn respect as athletes and perpetuate stereotypes of femininity. I am writing now not to deliver an angry reprimand to the team, but instead to offer them an invitation of my own: Take up the challenge of providing a positive model for all Penn women by refusing to portray yourselves as anything less than talented team members who deserve support. Marla Braverman College '00 Illegal to drink responsibly To the Editor: As a nation, the binge drinking rate has increased over the last few decades while the legal drinking age has risen from 18 to 21. Might not there be a connection? Jack Hitt, who recently addressed the issue in The New York Times Magazine, asks, "Why do college students drink so stupidly?" And he answers with perhaps the most accurate assessment I've seen to date: "Because drinking intelligently is against the law." Hitt's piece details his introduction to drinking during the 1970s, when professors treated students to pitchers of beer and parties served to teach teenagers how to drink responsibly and in a social manner. He sees the current college world as the antithesis of his experience, concluding, "By denying the obvious pleasure of drinking and not teaching it by example, is anyone really surprised that we've loosed upon the world a generation of feral drunks?" Penn has failed, and continues to fail, to provide an environment where students can learn to drink responsibly, but I guess the University should not feel too bad: An entire generation of college administrators across the nation -- who enjoyed the benefits of in loco parentis and free booze in the '70s -- have failed to recognize that a drink or two at a party is not a sin. Evan Fieldston Medicine '02