Letters to the Editor

Daulton's views

To the Editor:

Josh Pollick devoted his last column ("Out of the mainstream, not crazy," DP, 4/17/06) to defending Darren "Dutchie" Daulton against the charge that he is crazy for believing in telepathy, alien abductions and "astral planes" (whatever that means), saying that we should be more tolerant of views that are "outside the mainstream."

Sadly, views like Daulton's are the mainstream. Most Americans believe in ghosts, talking to the dead, astrology and angels who intervene in baseball games while ignoring Darfur. Nearly every single newspaper in the country carries a horoscope, and John Edwards does a brisk trade pretending to talk to our dead relatives. We've got a lot of problems in this society, but a lack of tolerance for muffinheads is decidedly not among them.

Maybe you think all this is harmless; I don't. Our society is presently on a deeply irrational course in almost every sphere, from our out-of-control fiscal situation and the botched war on terror to the planet-wide and possibly irreversible threat of global warming. These various train wrecks-in-progress (and many more) are all the result of disregarding the need for evidence and asserting beliefs because we just want to believe them -- the very behavior that Josh's column is defending. What the world needs now is more rationality, not less.

Josh, you say that Darren Daulton is "just like the rest of us?" Speak for yourself.

Mike Kaplan

Biology professor

Important to know

To the Editor:

Dean Rebecca Bushnell says it is "denigrating" the work of faculty for GET-UP to publicize the study showing only 40 percent of Penn's Arts and Sciences courses are taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty ("Study critical of Penn given to pre-frosh," DP, 4/19/06).

On the contrary, it is important for prospective students, as well as the public, to know that the majority of Penn's faculty are in fact graduate students, adjunct instructors and other non-tenure-track faculty. While these individuals do most of the teaching, they are paid poorly and have inadequate (or no) job security and benefits.

That this two-tiered faculty system also exists at other colleges and universities does not make it fair or educationally sound at Penn

Karen Schermerhorn

The author teaches at the Community College of Philadelphia

Wireless access incomplete

To the Editor:

When Penn decided to make campus wireless, I was thrilled. I could finally leave my apartment, where for many months I had been tethered to my ethernet cord.

I am typing this letter from the lawn outside of College Hall. It's literally a dream come true. The weather is great, the wireless is phenomenal, and I love people-watching. Unfortunately, my laptop battery is dying.

There is about one electrical outlet on College Green. If Penn wants to stay connected and have students utilize wireless access, it must put outlets on College Green and at other wireless locations on campus.

I don't want to go back inside, Penn. I want to stay outside, with a fully charged battery and ...

Melody Kramer

College senior A lackluster effort

To the Editor:

I am shocked at the ineptitude the administration has displayed the past year regarding school spirit.

The men's basketball team competed on a national stage in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year without so much as a congratulatory announcement or a banner from their university. Then, Spring Fling and Hey Day, two of students' most cherished diversions from an otherwise grueling spring semester, played out to a soundtrack of threats from officials about their future.

In an apparent effort to compensate, the Penn Traditions program coaxed a majority of the sophomore class to the Annenberg Center with promises of free food and t-shirts along with some "brief remarks" about the "Penn Experience."

Once there, the impatient and ubiquitous staff instructed myself and others to leave immediately or stay for the entirety of the "brief remarks," which had suddenly blossomed into an all-out reception, before any food or shirts would be available.

If I may make one suggestion to the University's administrators, it is that apathy, hostility, and deception should not be among the methods of an honest effort to instill pride and enthusiasm in the Penn community.

Sean Sullivan

College sophomore

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