Letters to the Editor

1/14/10 6:00pm

Online Comments of the Week

In response to "Martel erroneously labeled as a mistake," Dec. 4:Thank God someone finally wrote this article. I was really getting sick of the quotes from the dean's office in the Thresher saying that they don't want a repeat of Martel College's founding.

On another note, I totally agree with the last statement. Indeed, the new colleges aren't really colleges at all, and I feel sorry for the freshmen who had to be the foster children of Will Rice College and Baker College - in their own homes, no less. I guess this is largely a result of the need to house Will Rice and Baker while their facilities undergo much-needed renovations, but the administration has really done a poor job of giving the colleges their own identities. Last year, a large group of motivated freshmen and sophomores should have been chosen to form bonds and establish unified college spirit before Orientation Week. Maybe then the new Duncaroos and McMurtrians would know what color to wear to their own powderpuff games.

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Also frustrating is the university's lack of foresight as to the integration of the new colleges into Beer Bike. The track is too small for 12 teams. An expansion won't be completed until next fall at the earliest. I would hate to be one of the freshmen at the new colleges that could very well be forced into a two-contender exhibition race. It's degrading. I'll bet a lot of those kids smiled at the thought of cheering on their college at Beer Bike long before they were even accepted to the university. Instead, they'll just get a watered-down, Baker/Will Rice-dominated version of one of the most exciting days of their freshman year.

MBYM12

In response to "Lack of discussion stigmatizes sexuality," Dec. 4:

It is sad, but I perfectly understand why instructors feel uneasy about discussing human sexuality. Even though I normally do not feel insecure about sex, as an instructor I would be worried about being sued for sexual harassment. Sexual topics represent minefields in the United States.

I'm glad that I work in a discipline that lets me pretend, without detriment to the studied subject, that sexuality doesn't exist (which in computer science is almost true anyway).

Mathias Ricken

Computer science graduate student

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