'Legacy' points only aid those not in need\nMr. Dillon, what you are missing is that "legacy" preferences may well be an example of "disparate impact" discrimination; i.e., a seemingly neutral rule that operates to the disadvantage of a protected group (race or ethnicity in this instance, not gender). Since higher education has been traditionally less accessible to racial minorities in the past, giving a preference to the children of alumni may well tend to perpetuate that inequity. And obviously, every space at Yale that is given to a legacy like George W., who likely would not have been accepted on his own merit, is one less space available for someone else. \nVirginia Boswell Fischer, B.A., J.D. FASE Mentoring Program staff member
College application 'legacy' system unfair\nI was disturbed by Scott Dillon's editorial "Merit? It's Not So Simple" (Feb. 10). Dillon brutally attacks affirmative action policies such as the University of Michigan's, but proudly defends legacy preferences as justifiable means for a student to obtain admission to a college or university. Dillon attempts to defend in several ways, one of which is that legacy preferences are a reward to parents "by conferring a small advantage to their children who ... would generally inherit the same work ethic that made their parents' success possible." \nGuess again, Scott. There is no evidence anywhere that work ethic or intellectual ability is passed on from parent to child. As a matter of fact, many children of very successful parents become held back from being independently motivated because they have been spoiled by their parents' success. Many of them know that their successful parents will always be there to bail them out of trouble or get them an "in" for a job or internship. Students in this situation are often trapped in the mindset that they don't have to work as hard as the rest of the world to achieve success.\nAdmission to a college or university is a reward to a successful student for their hard work and motivation to succeed, not a reward to parents for their past success. Granting admission to undeserving students just because their parents were successful does not do anyone any good. It hurts the student, and it hurts the university. Go ahead and attack affirmative action all you want, Scott, but defending legacy preferences at the same time is completely hypocritical. \nHillary Fais Senior
Peaceful debate better than angry exchanges\nIt's been hard not to hear about this cartoon scandal the past few days. Both sides of the issue have been speaking out in hopes to gain a shred of attention from the public, but no one seems to be offering any forum for reasonable debate. It seems as though this has become less a matter of a controversial issue that needs to be addressed and more a screaming fest of who has the right to say what. The evidence lies in the personal attacks on JP Benitez. Was it a good decision to publish the cartoon without a follow-up response in support of affirmative action? Probably not. Does this mean JP Benitez had no right to publish this cartoon and he should be removed from the IDS staff? Absolutely not. As a journalist, he has the responsibility to publish a wide array of viewpoints that exist in the community. Obviously there are people out there who feel cheated by affirmative action, otherwise the cartoon would not exist. A journalist should also try to spark discussion in the community. Just because he failed to do so, does not mean JP Benitez was not trying to fulfill the duties of his job. The blame lies solely on the public. Rather than complaining about how the cartoon was offensive, talk to those who agree with the cartoon and introduce them to alternative viewpoints. Rather than sit in a hole and think that affirmative action applies only to race, listen to others and educate yourself on the issue. Nothing will come out of pointing fingers and complaining. If you want something positive to come out of this event, learn to debate peacefully.\nChris Wilkerson Junior
Mini 500 not all it was cracked up to be\nl "Tradition put to the side" on Feb. 11, it was time for the Mini 500 to be discontinued. While there are traditions that should be sustained, there are some that should just be retired. The Mini does have a celebrated past but it is best suited for a time before Title IX. You failed to mention that in the days when Mini drew such large crowds, it also included a concert with the likes of the Four Tops or the Jackson 5. All for $3.00. Although the Mini was a coed event it was in essence replaced by the Women's Little 500, which is a much more challenging and suitable event for today's women. \nYour dismissal of the tricycle cost/safety issues only illuminates your failure to grasp the realities of manufacturing a custom machine in very small numbers. Just because you see tricycles in Wal-Mart for $20.00 doesn't mean the Mini tricycles are just a few dollars more. According to AMF, who made the trikes, the cost of manufacturing was over $300.00 per unit, with the majority of the parts having to be custom fabricated. And that was 20 years ago. Remember there are not 4-year-olds on these things. And if they did start breaking, I can just imagine the headlines in the IDS accusing the IUSF of negligence and a total disregard for the safety of the participants.\nThe Mini was a great event whose time has come and gone and while there will be some disappointed trike riders, I am confident that the costume stores will bounce back from the financial crisis you are predicting.\nTom Schwoegler Naperville, Ill.
No Sweat! urges fight against Cintas\nRecently, Cintas Corporation came to the internship fair, scouting students who were vying for an internship. What many who might have given their resume did not know was that this laundry, cleaning and uniform company has "dirty laundry" it does not want you to know about. A few NoSweaters recently went to the National United Students Against Sweatshops conference in Los Angeles, and they heard the terrible accounts of violence and abuse of a Cintas worker in Mexico. The atrocities however, also happen at home in America. Cintas is a brutally anti-union company that refuses to let its workers organize with vicious anti-union campaigns, though so many workers have expressed sentiments in favor of a union. They are also notorious for discrimination, cheating workers of overtime pay and dumping hazardous pollutants in the neighborhoods it inhabits. Despite record profits, Cintas workers have seen the price of insurance go to unbearable highs, do not have a secure retirement plan and cannot get fair raises. Indiana University should not give any support to a company that repeatedly and egregiously breaks labor and environmental laws. We should not be encouraging students to work for a company that has no regard for its employees or the communities the factories inhabit.\nGoodrich Gevaart for NoSweat! Freshman
A dialogue for affirmative action will go a long way\nA controversial cartoon in the Feb. 5 issue of the IDS raised many concerns this past week. This cartoon, negatively critiquing the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy, instigated many people to write letters to the editor voicing opinions that the cartoon was inappropriate and offensive. A letter from B. Afena Cobham even urged that assistant opinion editor JP Benitez should resign from his position for choosing to include such "unethical material." \nGeorge Lyle IV printed an article in which he stated the these letters were the "sort of dialogue (that) is exactly what is needed here, and elsewhere." He is exactly right. The purpose of the opinion section is so that people can express their concerns about what is going on in the world and the university. Our reactions to the cartoon have done exactly this for the past week. An important dialogue is taking place. Is the cartoon controversial? Yes! Were people offended? Yes! Should someone be forced to resign for including a piece of art that motivated people to get out from behind their desks and tell someone how they felt? No! As Benitez affirmed, we need to find a way to "balance the line between insensitivity and political opinion." Lets place the focus on the issue at hand and take this opportunity to make the ensuing dialogue worthwhile. \nThe inclusion of this cartoon points out a serious problem we have in the U.S. today. Affirmative action is a concern. The need for its presence reminds us that there are serious problems in the equality of our educational system. But to try and solve these problems by lowering the bar is like being stabbed in the stomach and trying to bandage the wound without removing the knife. We need to find a solution to the cause of the problem, not its effects. If Dan Carino's controversial cartoon had not been included in our paper, this opportunity for dialogue may not have come up. So let's use the opportunity to talk about ideas instead of wasting it on our hurt feelings. \nNiki Green Senior
Black male organization united against Carino comic\nAs members of Bloomington's Commission on the Status of Black Males, we feel we must strongly and publicly denounce the Indiana Daily Student newspaper's choice to publish what we consider an insensitive and offensive cartoon in its opinion page (Feb. 5 ). Assistant opinion editor John-Paul Benitez's selection of this cartoon can be characterized as inciteful and journalistically questionable. The cartoon in question depicts a large African-American male whistling and appearing somewhat aloof while standing next to a much smaller white male who appears perplexed and confused. The white male holds a placard stating "Perfect SAT score -- 12 points," while the African American holds one stating "Being a minority -- 20 points." There is one last placard, held by neither, stating "Feeling entitled to special benefits -- Pointless." This is an obvious attack on the use of race in affirmative action policies, which is only one of several criteria considered.\nWould Benitez's decision have been different if he understood that white women as a group have been the greatest beneficiaries of affirmative action policies across our nation? Why would Benitez toy with the feelings of minorities seeking fair and equal access to educational institutions and employment opportunities, as well as, those who may feel all minorities are given unfair advantages? Our commission seeks ways and practices to uplift the underrepresented Black male in our community and to minimize the associated societal ills affecting this group. Positive strides made by our commission, and other commissions and committees who may have specific group focuses, we feel, lead to a more positive, educated and equitable society in general.\nLet's hope journalism such as this does not discourage underrepresented people from seeking to attend Indiana University or from living in our community by fostering the notion that they are not only undeserving, but unwanted as well! We quote Benitez ("Call me Crazy, not Racist," Feb. 7), "Let me tell you, white people don't worry about their advantages. Why should minorities?"\nThis statement in and of itself clarifies why we as a commission denounce Benitez's choice to pick the scab of racist insinuations.\nBloomington Commission on the Status of Black males
Affirmative action should account for the financially challenged\nDemocrats in our society seem to feel that as "liberals," they have to bash every decision our President makes. I sympathize, and disagree with most of his ideas. Bush is thoroughly justified, however, in his recent prosecution of the affirmative action program at the University of Michigan. As recent opinion guest columnist B. Afena Cobham stated, our politicians should "preserve and increase the civil liberties of individuals who never entered the playing field on equal footing." No one achieves this by giving a college application 12 points for a perfect SAT score and 20 points because a non-white race box was checked.\nWhen I was in high school, I knew an upper middle class girl whose father was Hispanic. As a citizen of her economic stature, she had every opportunity her white friends did. When she applied to college, she received very large scholarships based on her race and matriculated at a top private University; I, a white student of the same economic background had to turn down my first choice school because of a lack of financial assistance. \nStudents whose family's income is smaller have fewer opportunities to pad their resumes or spend time studying, therefore schools should adopt a new policy of affirmative action, based on economics. This policy will help minorities rise, instead of giving a needless advantage to those who have already been born into opportunity. As Governor of Texas, George W. Bush put into effect an "affirmative access" plan that guaranteed every student graduating in the top ten percent of his or her high school class admission to the state university. This program has nothing to do with race, but because some schools are primarily minorities or tend to serve poorer communities, it is effective; those who really need the advantage get what they deserve, and upper-class minorities get into college based on their resumes. \nI think it's clear by now that we liberals need to stop letting ourselves be brainwashed by the Democratic media and start listening to our President's speeches. At least we can get a laugh out of the malapropism of the day\nSara Wolfe Sophomore
Steinem lecture questioner's motives still in question\nI agree wholeheartedly with Y. Jack Fan's (Jordan River Forum, Feb. 11) comment that listening wholeheartedly to an opposite viewpoint can strengthen your own. I was present at the Steinem lecture and witnessed what happened when the crowd became excited by the last questioner's comment. Let me say in the crowd's defense that only some were jeering him, but most others were cheering on Ms. Steinem so loudly that his voice couldn't be heard over the din. This isn't an excuse for not allowing him to speak, but I think it's possible that most of the applause and cheering was due to the intense feeling the crowd had for Ms. Steinem. I also cheered along with the crowd; but now, I feel remorseful. Yes, the last questioner seemed to be hostile to our viewpoints and a bit disrespectful. He talked for a long while without really making his viewpoints known, and then when he made them known his comments were a bit misinformed (or at least misunderstood by the crowd). However, it is no credit at all to our cause that we stop listening to opposing viewpoints. I know how frustrating it can be listening to the "other side," especially when the other side is often grossly misinformed and disrespectful. To repay them with the same disrespect may be justified to some, but I believe that if we act with good hearts toward all people, while steadfastly remaining true to ourselves no matter what, it is so much more of a credit to what we believe. "Faith that can keep silent" is not inactive faith; rather, it is believing so strongly in an idea that one doesn't feel everyone else must be made to believe or be silenced. \nFor my own part, I wish to apologize to the young man who was silenced by the voices of an enormous crowd, one of which was mine. I can't possibly know how bad it must have felt to be drowned out by a crowd of such number, and afterwards endure insults hurtled at you. I can't say that I agree with the things you said (in fact, some of your points were quite misinformed), and I felt your demeanor at the microphone was a little disrespectful towards the audience and Ms. Steinem. What your deep intentions were I can't know; for everything I felt, I could be completely wrong and your air of disrespect could have just been nervousness to speak before a myriad of people. I am very sorry for how you were treated, though, and I want you to know that, for whatever this letter is worth. \nThade Correa Sophomore
Student was annoyed at advances during Steinem Lecture\nUnfortunately, I was not present throughout the entire Q&A exchange involving the final questioner at the Feb. 6 Gloria Steinem lecture, "Sex and the Feminist Revolution." I am able to recall, however, that I tried to discourage this controversial questioner's continuous efforts to converse with me in a manner that could be construed as flirtatious (e.g. "I like your shirt") while standing behind me at the microphone queue throughout Ms. Steinem's replies. The questioner needs to observe discursive etiquette if he expects to be heard with the respect he failed to show Ms. Steinem and her enraptured audience.\nHiromi Yoshida Ph.D. Student
Geelhord's reviews a welcome to the IDS\nAfter reading review after review of musical events occurring in the School of Music, I've become skeptical of every article I now read. This was, of course, until I read Mr. Geelhoed's recent review (Feb. 11) of an orchestra concert. I must say how nice it is to read an informed opinion on the subject of music. As a graduate student in music, I've grown tired of reading reviews that do everything but review, especially in the case of operas. So if I had to give one piece of advice to the editor: Keep Mr. Geelhoed on staff, and send him to more performances. It will be nice to look forward to music reviews with substance once again. Thank you for your time.\nSamuel Spade Graduate Student
Criticism of music reviews not always warranted\nI would like to respond to the criticism that musical reviewer Adam Sedia has been receiving. It seems that these critics feel that Sedia's current course of study automatically disqualifies him and negates any opinion he may have about certain pieces of classical music. \nI would like to point out that (classical) music was and should still be intended for all people, not just a "select" few who happen to be musicologists and/or theorists. Have these critics ever considered that Sedia may have a relevant interest in this genre, that he may have studied it all of his life, that he may have been listening to it for many years? Of course, I don't know this for sure, but judging by his manner of reviewing and the elements of music that he describes, it is very clear that he has experience with listening to music. He doesn't have to be a declared music major in order to enjoy/dislike and critique the music! I would suggest that these critics remove their self-appointed halos of "scholarly" superiority and not misconstrue an unfavorable opinion as a lack of knowledge.\nHeather Myers Junior
Lazy students heed no more outlandish conveniences\nThe Crimson Ticket's proposal for a library drop box only perpetuates laziness among students. Why do students believe that they must drive to campus to do anything having to do with school? Take the bus! Walk! It is a constant problem that students drive to campus and take precious parking spaces from those of us who work here. I was a full-time student here once. I never felt compelled to drive my car to campus, especially during the day. I always took the bus or walked to and from class. Why must today's students drive everywhere? Did anyone really think about why students get parking tickets? My guess is no. Please think before acting upon this ridiculous proposal.\nMandy Renschler IU alumna and current staff
Nicotones' reviewer slung ink like mud\nWhen I opened up Michael Tapscott's Feb. 13 review of the Nicotones' show, I looked for a rational discussion of the night's music. I found instead a verbal vendetta against the band. Tapscott is entitled to avenge a poor show with a poor review, but the IDS music page gives no license to ill will. Bloomington's bands deserve coherent critique, not splatters of ink.\nIs a critic privileged to burn a band under his lens? Only if he gives ample evidence of disaster. Tapscott throws punches point-blank, but his evidence falls short. He squanders the review by belittling the band, leaving only a paragraph for the night's music. Musicians merit even-handed appraisal, not knee-jerk ridicule. Tapscott's opinions stumble past us, leaving our basic questions in the dust: Did the audience enjoy the show? What songs did the band play (besides the two the review steps on)? Was the band in tune? In sync? The reviewer slings plenty of ink but never tells us. He spotlights his contempt but keeps his readers in the dark. If sympathy and taste balanced his bitterness, Tapscott's review could carry weight. But when he drips his pen across someone else's stage he slips in his own ink. Next time he's tempted to smear a local band, I suggest he step away from the keyboard and do something constructive.\nEric S. Roberts Senior
Chancellor Brehm needs to break in \nher snow boots\nAfter reading the article about the Blizzard-like conditions affecting Monroe county ("Winter Headaches Continue on Campus, Feb. 17) I decided to ask fellow students how they felt about not receiving today off from school. One student, who previously read the article and learned that the chancellor has "ultimate authority over whether classes are cancelled" thought that we should contact the chancellor and see if she would grace Bloomington with her presence this morning. After speaking to sources close to the chancellor, I came to discover that the chancellor was not in attendance this morning, nor did she plan to arrive at any point later in the day. It was made apparent to me that she was "out of town." Now, I feel that the person who has "ultimate authority over whether classes are cancelled" should at least be in attendance herself on a day like this to witness these conditions. Furthermore, I believe that while she makes the assumption that the school has taken necessary measures in making our walking conditions safe, a decision like this can only be made while witnessing such conditions first hand.\nKaveh Rahmani\nJunior
A helping hand was all we needed\nThe bad part of the movies this weekend was the ice on the incline going out. My fiancee and I got stuck on said incline and no one would back off so I could get my car out of the way. Instead they insisted on honking. It really helped change the situation at hand (sarcasm, wink wink). But out of the blue, two people who weren't utter wastes of human space decided that other individuals might be in need of some help and came to the rescue. A man and his significant other offered to push my car a little bit while I gave my car some gas. Voila! Problem solved! The other jerks, I mean drivers, just sat there in humiliation I hope. It only took 15 seconds for two people to make a difference and help some people they didn't even know. I just want them to know that their hospitality is really appreciated and wasn't forgotten. The two looked to be about the same age as I am, and so I figured I would write the IDS because I think they are students and might see this. Thanks for helping out.\nJay Reynolds Bloomington
