Letters to the Editor

Women's Basketball team portrayed wrong\nI must take issue with the biased reporting of the first women's exhibition basketball game in the article by Sarah Trotto in Thursday's IDS ("Team drops first game"). The article seemed to be written from the perspective of the opponents rather than the Hoosiers. \nI think a one-point victory does not merit "scorched" as a verb describing the victory of the Reebok Lady Stars, but rather "edged out" or "eeked out" would be more accurate verbs to describe the nature of the contest. \nI thought the Hoosiers played well against a tough team dominated by two WNBA stars, holding their own in their first time out. As a fan of IU women's basketball for 10 years, the team I saw play on Wednesday night demonstrated considerable improvement in a number of areas, including intensity, passing, turnovers and running set plays. I am positive about our prospects for this season, and I hope other IU fans will join us to cheer on this team this year. Come out and see for yourself at the next home game Nov. 23. \nKatharine V. Byers\nFaculty\nAthlete insulted by article's claims\nI am writing in response to an article, "Athletes' comments in check," that appeared on Nov. 7 and was written by Katie Schoenbaechler. I am a senior athlete here at IU and on countless occasions have given of my time to answer IDS sports reporters' questions. I understand that sports columnists often criticize athletes' performances on the field. While it isn't appreciated by many of us, we understand that it is part of your job. However, when an IDS reporter insults our intelligence by reporting that sports information directors tell us what to say in interviews, she goes overboard. This same reporter called me asking for an interview at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, concerning the same topic (she reported IU SID's "told student-athletes what they should be saying"). The questions I had to answer that night were so obvious and unoriginal for a 10-year old kid to tell me what to say, let alone a sports information director.\nAthletes on this campus take time out of their hectic schedules to give you interviews on various issues every single day. While it might be part of our job description, we do not have to do it. Rest assured this athlete will never give Katie Schoenbaechler another interview again. \nKatie, you need to get back to your job and report on actual sporting events. IDS columnists can even criticize our performances in a game you and your counterparts have never played at a Division I level. But never again insult our intelligence as student-athletes of this great university.\nGibran Hamdan\nSenior\nIU Athlete\nKerasotes lacks respect\nIn response to your Oct. 11 staff editorial, the "failure" of the Von Lee theater is not a "sign of the times." Visit Cinema Treasures, a Web site devoted to movie theater preservation and awareness. On Oct. 1, the site founders announced that their online database had grown to include more than 1,000 historic movie houses, the majority of which are either open for business or renovating. \n"AMC is a good example of a theater chain that respects the history of movie theaters," says Ross Melnick, a founder of Cinema Treasures. "They moved the old Empire (in New York City) down the street and it became the lobby of their new 25-screen multiplex, with beautifully restored murals and the outer facade left largely in tact."\n"There is a way we can all work to save the past," concludes Melnick.\nThe only "sign of the times" is Kerasotes' lack of respect.\nMelissa McReynolds\nGuest Services\nIU Auditorium