There is also no mention of the fact that the distance medley relay team earned All-American honors with a fourth place finish. Fourth in the nation! If it were a football, basketball or hockey team accomplishment, it would have found its way to the front page. Instead, you buried us in the Sports section to make room for the uninteresting stories of an underachieving hoops team.
I would like to say "hats off" to the hockey team with their continued success, but Gardner won a national championship! Why is that not worthy of winning "Athlete of the Week?" You are missing the point time after time. Perhaps you should spend mor e time researching your stories instead of coming up with cheesy analogies that have little or nothing to do with our sport. You are not going to win a Pulitzer Prize for an article in the Daily, so at least try to get your facts right.
There are stories here, but you missed them by trying to fancy them up. Our sport is about dedication, determination and perseverance. All of these things contributed to a strong performance at the NCAA Championships. Write about that.
Scott MacDonald, Co-Captain, University men's track and field
LSA sophomore
But despite his confident reassurances, the Daily Sports section, particularly Josh Kleinbaum, still insisted there were underlying problems with this team ("'M' women's swimming close to collapse," 2/12/97). A week before the Big Ten championship, Kleinbaum wrote about the team's position, saying "the Big Ten powerhouse is ready to fall." Now, they have defied the predictions and won the Big Ten as they were preparing to do all along. I know what kind of quality swimmers this school really ha s. So congratulations again, ladies. And disregard the ignorant few who choose to misrepresent you to the rest of this school - they just don't know any better.
Jeff Bartz
Engineering sophomore
The University holds its system dear and there is no change in the foreseeable future. The University hails itself not only as a top learning institution, but as one with a diverse atmosphere as well. This is all fine, for as a student who would fal l into the category "white," I would not like to attend a school that looked only like myself. The point I would like to address is the meaninglessness of the school's diversity.
After being here for nearly two years, I feel I have gained a pretty good feel for the environment of the University. Living in Markley residence hall last year was my first taste of the segregated University. I first noticed that most students had roommates of the same race or ethnicity as themselves. Finding white Jewish students together, white Christian students together, black students together and Chinese students together was the norm.
I had a roommate who would be classified as Asian, his parents being from India. We got along fine, but he seemed to hang more with his Indian buddies and I with my white Jewish buddies. When we ate in the cafeteria, the black students sat in their own section, the Chinese in theirs, and so on.
It seems that these racial borders stay as the years go on. Now, in a fraternity, I have further separated myself from others. There is nothing wrong with these organizations - they bring people together. Perhaps if the start had been different, stu dents would remain in contact with people of other races. Growing up, I was always around kids of different races, citizenship and cultures. I was not expecting what I got coming to the University. The school's claim to diversity is meaningless with out people getting along. Perhaps its emphasis should be not on diversity, but on living together. In this respect, the University has failed.
Stephen Tepper
LSA sophomore
It seems that for every small step forward, there is always an equal or greater reactionary force to cripple progress towards peace. Such a reactionary stance on the part of the masses is expected and frequently occurs. However, for a political lead er to yield to such pressures is a true disappointment not only to those he represents, but also to those he is working with and with whom he has established a strong and trusting rapport.
For him to turn around and essentially "give away" what the Palestinians had claimed as the capital of their hoped-for state is completely antagonistic to whatever progress has been made thus far. His actions are a clear slap in the face to both the Palestinians and Arafat and will lead only to increased conflict among the Israelis and Palestinians.
Anita Azzu
LSA junior
What happened to the 'C' in NCAA? An NCAA team goes to regionals and finals without a single student being able to buy tickets? This is a serious bummer, since I haven't missed a finals since '91.
John Crowe
Rackham