Letters to the Editor

Career mindset of LSA students is 'wrong'

To the Daily:

I have long been a fan of Erin Marsh's column "Thinking of 'U,'" and she has long provided an interesting view of life at this University. But after reading her March 31 column ("Almost done at the 'U'? Beware - the party will only last so long"), I feel she has truly demonstrated everything that is wrong with the career mindset of many LSA students on this campus.

I am an LSA student who has endured a fair share of teasing from my many acquaintances in the School of Business Administration and the College of Engineering. While initially, I, too, entertained the thought of transferring to the Business school, I decided otherwise.

I am a student of the dismal science they call economics, and I subscribe to the theory that apart from one's income, there is no better way of measuring one's worth to society.

While it is true that LSA students "cannot answer questions" as my Engineering acquaintances so succinctly put it, our true worth comes in asking the right questions for others to come up with solutions.

It is also true that we will be payed 30 percent less than our fellow graduates from Engineering and Business working for soulless corporation so vividly described by Marsh, but if one looks close enough, we would realize that while the highest-paid employees in soulless corporations are engineers and the chief executive officers are B-School grads, the shareholders - those who had the original idea - are people with a liberal arts background.

We, the LSA students, are armed with our cross-discipline approach to education and can see things others from the glorified trade schools they call the College of Engineering and the School of Business Administration cannot see with their blinkered approach to life.

So please, I plead that all LSA students get out of the mindset demonstrated by Marsh.

Pak Man Shuen
LSA sophomore

Town Hall meeting was 'constructive'

To the Daily:

I would thank everyone who participated in the Campus Town Hall Meeting on Race on April 7. In particular, I would like to thank Lester Monts and the panelists for leading this very important and difficult discussion. I would also like to recognize all of the individuals who contributed their thoughts and their energy to this important dialogue - you made this event possible.

I firmly believe that the University accomplished something that few schools in the nation are capable of - a constructive dialogue about race. It is an emotional issue, a difficult issue and a very important issue. It took a lot of courage for this University to get behind such a discussion, and I am proud to be a member of this University - for this if for no other reason.

I acknowledge that there were individuals and groups who did not agree with the nature and the presentation of this event. I would like to apologize to those individuals and groups who felt their views or interests were not represented and urge each and every one to work with me and with the Michigan Student Assembly in the future to address these concerns in a constructive fashion. I take sole responsibility as the organizer of this event for any problems or concerns, and I hope that the purpose of this event nor the intentions of MSA are skewed by my errors. I am confident that MSA will continue to work to address these important issues, and I welcome everyone - across this University - to help MSA identify the direction to take and join us as we move down that important road.

Brian Reich
LSA first-year student Director, Town Hall Meeting on Race

Lessons from sports carry over into life

To the Daily:

I really enjoyed the column by Sharat Raju in the April 6 issue ("Newest title shows that hard work pays off"). As a University alumna, current Ann Arborite and avid Michigan hockey fan, I felt Raju captured my thoughts and feelings about this year's team perfectly. The article showed great insight into how the lessons we learn from sports relate to all of our lives.

College sports, especially at Michigan, are a symbol of the goals we all strive to achieve. It is so nice to see that even the underdog can come out on top in trying situations, given a lot of hard work and a good coach! It is not a fluke that Michigan is the first school (I think) to win both a football and hockey national championship in the same year and in a year when no one expected either one! The Michigan environment, from the sports to the academics, has engrained in me that no challenge is too great to be overcome. The lesson both the football and hockey teams have taught us this past year is inspiring and invaluable.

Carly Gomez
University staff

Blum missed Seyfried's point in letter

To the Daily:

I am writing in response to Edward Blum's letter "Humankind cannot follow biblical laws" (3/30/98). Blum seems to have missed the point of Jonathon Seyfried's letter ("Modern society does not adhere to biblical laws," 3/23/98), to which he responds. The point is that most Christians who argue that homosexuality is a sin make no attempt to follow many of the other laws in the Old Testament. A person who eats pork and disobeys various other biblical laws (concerning, among other things, acceptable food and material for clothing), yet decries homosexuals for their sins is quite simply a hypocrite.

William Walsh
Rackham

Comments in Golden Apple article were 'inappropriate'

To the Daily:

The Daily's article about this year's Golden Apple award recipient, Prof. Jim Adams, ("'Apple' winner gives ideal last lecture," 4/7/98) highlighted the outstanding achievements of one of this University's finest educators.

In an apparent effort to "objectively" report on the award ceremony, however, Daily staff reporter William Nash cited opinions that characterized Prof. Adams as "pompous" and "bragg(artly)."

In a theoretically laudatory article such as this, the addition of "some" students' derogatory comments is inappropriate. There is no respectable justification for the inclusion of such disparaging statements. This misjudgment only tarnished a journalistic piece which could otherwise be framed on the wall of Adams' office.

Additionally, as his students, we know that these allegations could not be further from the truth. Adams is a humble professional, unlike some professors who take every opportunity to flaunt their glories. For instance, his only mention of the award in class was to personally deliver an invitation to each "co-recipient:" his students. He felt that his students, as active participants in class discussions, were equally deserving of his teaching accolade.

The Daily's editors were inconsiderate and thoughtless. As students who admire and respect Adams, we regret that the Daily was unable to differentiate between those situations in which criticism is appropriate and those in which it is not.

Matt Leidlein, Betsy Pearce
LSA seniors

04-14-98