Letters to the Editor

Cultural debate

To the Editor:

It is encouraging to see that there is a debate going on how to incorporate a Cross Cultural Analysis Requirement into the Penn curriculum ("Requirement comes under fire," DP, 12/8/05). However, I think that both sides are greatly missing the mark.

While the faculty's decision to only require the study of foreign cultures does seem to stray from the original purpose of the CCAR, Engage Penn Locally's desire to shift the focus to individualized domestic minorities is equally troubling because it perpetuates the view of minority cultures as autonomous novelties that are separate from the nation's culture as a whole.

In place of a requirement that requires the study of foreign or domestic minority cultures, I propose that Penn require its students to take a course on the white, middle-class, Protestant majority culture. The American majority has too long thought of minority cultures as things that can be analyzed without realizing itself as a culture, capable of analysis along the same terms. Such an analysis could reveal the historical and cultural circumstances that shape how the majority views minorities today.

While such a requirement is unlikely, it would go a long way in overturning an imbedded American racism that both the EPL's and the faculty's proposals fail to adequately address.

Ben Crair

College junior

Proper conduct

To the Editor:

As past chairwomen of the University Honor Council, we have been lucky to have had the opportunity to work closely with the members of the OSC. These individuals arguably have the most difficult job on campus, and have dedicated their professional careers to helping students, and serving as advocates for civil liberties.

Penn's guidelines, as described in the Code of Student Conduct, allow students to make mistakes without ruining their lives. The University holds us to higher standards than the law, however, and the OSC has the difficult job of upholding such standards.

What has been most striking to us in the press surrounding the disciplinary process is that those individuals who have worked closely with the OSC have commented on its fairness, responsibility and thoughtfulness. Yet many who have never had significant involvement with the office are attacking the OSC's personal character and authority.

Whether or not you agree that the students involved in the nude photo incident should be punished, the determination of the guilt or innocence of the parties should be left to the University-established disciplinary process. Removing the proceedings from the hands of the Office of Student Conduct would result in this decision and future decisions losing legitimacy and consistency, and will ultimately do greater harm to the rights of all members of the University.

Leslie Schwab & Rachel Kohn

The authors are former co-chairwomen of the University Honor Council

Fans should grow up

To the Editor:

It's time for Penn basketball fans to grow up, in particular as it relates to various derogatory cheers directed at Quaker basketball opponents.

I was at the Palestra last night to see the Penn-Navy game, which was a spirited, cleanly fought contest that Quakers eventually won due to their superior athleticism. In attendance were a few senior Navy officers and some enlisted personnel that were cheering on the midshipmen. At the end of the game, the Penn student cheering section did their usual chant which ends with: "You Suck."

After graduation, the players on this Navy team will be serving in positions that may place them in great personal peril, on ships in various military theaters of operations around the world and as members of the Marine Corps, while the Penn students may be in grad school or at Goldman Sachs. As an alumnus and longtime Penn basketball fan, I'd like to tell the student-cheering section that Navy does not "suck," but your creativity does.

Michael Aronson

Wharton '78

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