Every time I now walk by the Diag the first and last thing I think about it is that the "heart" of this University is gone. This is a tragedy. The University personnel in charge of this operation should have known that the first thing the students w ould want is for the 'M' to remain.
Not only that, but I have no doubt that those graduates in the Class of 1953 would be disappointed to know that the gift that they granted to the University has been removed.
The weirdest thing about all this is that the 'M' was taken to some place in Minnesota to be repaired. Now, it lies underneath all the bricking in the center of campus, but completely out of sight of all passersby. What a mistake.
This is something that the University must reverse as soon as possible. Until this happens, U of M risks losing alumni, parental and student support for something that could easily be changed. Not only that, but the missing 'M' will always loom
the renovation project like a shadow.
Luke Klipp
School of Music sophomore
In this case, that speed was an astonishing 121 miles per hour in 30 mph, tight tunnel! It almost makes me wonder if the driver intended to commit suicide and take his famous passengers with him.
The National Enquirer has refused to buy photos of the crash and urged all other media outlets to do the same. That's good, but we know just how far the press has sunk when it is the National Enquirer lecturing the rest of the press to take the hig h road.
Some photographer will make a lot of money from crash pictures, and so will the magazine that eventually publishes them, because for all the clucking noises everyone is making about how terrible it would be for any such photos to be published, they would sneak a peek at them, given the chance. We just know not to admit it out loud.
Right now the photographers are making a convenient scapegoat. But paparazzi wouldn't have been chasing the car if everyone didn't want to see such pictures.
This tragic death is of course reminiscent of Elvis, Marilyn, or James Dean. If history is any guide, Diana herself will rest in peace, thank God, but public interest in her will multiply tenfold. Now there can be no more new photographs of Diana taken. Every single paparazzi photo that exists has now increased in value and will eventually be published somewhere, many no doubt even in the many publications of tribute that will shortly sell out on newsstands.
Right alongside harsh criticism of paparazzi, no doubt.
Charles Go
University alumnus