Your Voice | PennApps made it “public,” not Cavitch

Tuesday’s article on Penn Course Review was fraught with contradictions and unnecessarily one-sided. From the melodramatic use of “attacks” in the headline (“criticizes” would probably be a more accurate description), to the inflammatory quotes from those involved, it is unfortunate that The Daily Pennsylvanian chose to run the story without a more balanced perspective.

In the comments, it is very clear that English professor Max Cavitch’s use of the term “mothballed” is egregiously misunderstood by students. What he calls for is not the eradication of PCR, as many seem to think, but rather a temporary suspension (the actual meaning of “to ‘mothball’ something”) of the new beta site until its errors have been fixed. Nowhere does he call for the old PCR website (which is still up and readily available) to be taken down — only the new beta version.

As for the criticism that Cavitch went about this in a very “public” manner, it seems that it is actually Engineering junior Amalia Hawkins, marketing and operations director of PennApps Labs, who opened these originally private emails to the DP and the public. The letter originally sent to the English majors and minors listservs was meant as a warning to those connected to the English Department as they go about choosing classes during course selection period.

Furthermore, it is not the responsibility of Cavitch, nor really any professor, to know off the top of his head who taught which class and when within the past few semesters. Should PennApps need it, all of this information is readily and easily available on the English Department’s website, faithfully compiled by Department Administrator Loretta Williams each semester.

By taking such a skewed stance in this article, the DP has only served to reinforce and perpetuate this “us against them” mentality.

Janet Chow
College junior

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.