Letters to the Editor

Point of clarification To the editor: Wednesday's article on the pilot Block Project (" Pilot Block Project to kick off in the fall," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 2/19/03) attributed Undergraduate Assembly Representative Jason Levy as saying that College House Computing would be donating replaced computers to the program. However, this statement is simply not true, and such a proposal was never discussed with our office. When newer computers replace older ones in the college house labs, they are donated to West Philadelphia schools and organizations through several service programs, including Penn's Center for Community Partnerships. In addition, our office organizes a service project for our student staff with Habitat for Humanity and communicates other volunteer service opportunities. We have no intention of abandoning our current community service outreach. While we are flattered that the pilot Block Project is interested in replicating our Information Technology Advisor program, our energy will be solely focused on providing assistance to college house residents. Mike LaMonacaThe writer is the associate director of College House Computing. More complicated To the editor: I found the DP's coverage of the pending Supreme Court ruling concerning affirmative action at the University of Michigan ("Penn supports U. Michigan in court cases," DP, 2/19/03) misleading. The DP calls Michigan's admissions policy "race-based," while its policy is actually based on much more. There was no mention of the other factors that Michigan's admissions takes into account, such as socioeconomic status and geographic diversity. Incidentally, socioeconomic status "counts" just as much as race in the university's point system. As an Asian American, I am part of an overrepresented minority group that gets no help from race-based affirmative action policies; however, I am also socioeconomically disadvantaged, and Michigan's policy does address the need to consider this. Its system is imperfect at best, but that just means we need to reform affirmative action, not abolish it. Lynn HuangCollege '04

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