Commentary
Card's experiences back opinions
Walking into Professor Douglas
Card’s 4 p.m. sociology class
brought an unexpected surprise. So
cial Inequality was a class 1 signed
up for months ago, not knowing
that my professor would soon have
attention
on the ■ > gp— _a~‘» mwpm
front cover *■*- *
of the COMMENTARY
Emerald -
("Profes
sor sues for libel damages," ODE,
Sept. 29). The article briefly ex
plains the lawsuit he has filed
against Daniel Pipes and Jonathan
Schanzer for claims that Card bash
es race and religion as he teaches
Social Inequality at the University.
It didn't take more than 10 min
utes for me to understand how such
a judgment could be made about
Card from a media columnist. As he
described the facts of American soci
ety and the binding stereotypes that
accompany it, he didn't hold back
from pointing out situations around
the world. Differences of race, gen
der, age, sexuality, religion and cul
ture are not all accepted. Society's
evolution proves that these are not
all equal. Facing that fact is some
thing that could easily bring stereo
types of Card, himself, as one who
focuses on those differences. But as
I sat and listened to his childhood
experiences as well as his war stories,
I felt that there was much more ex
perience behind his lessons than
mere opinions. His expressions and
passion can’t hide his personal expe
riences of oppression, hence his ac
tions in teaching about it.
The fact that he puts things blunt
ly is beneficial to students such as
myself because not only is he a con
tributing human setting an example
in his strive toward equality, but the
classroom atmosphere openly ac
cepts debate and understanding of
this sensitive subject.
Nicholas Wilbur is a sophomore
prejoumalism major.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Singelyn’s letter based
on faulty calculations
k David Singelyn's letter ("Iraq war
budget doesn't add up," ODE, Sept.
30) is itself based on rather dubious
mathematics. In Mr. Singelyn’s let
ter, he questions the Bush adminis
tration’s $66 billion allocation for
military action in Iraq by dividing it
by the number of soldiers stationed
there. This of course makes little
sense, as it assumes all of the
money would be going toward the
soldiers' salaries.
But what is truly spectacular
about David Singelyn's mathematics
is that he somehow divides $66 bil
lion by 150,000 and obtains "exact
ly" $4,4 million. The correct answer
is in fact $440,000. Considering the
tremendous operating costs in
volved in fighting a war across the
Atlantic and how crudely this num
ber estimates the cost of the war, this
is probably reasonable. Dividing the
total University budget by the num
ber of faculty, for example, gives ap
proximately $300,000 and is equiva
lently nonsensical when evaluating
the University budget's value.
I found this letter rather disap
pointing after reading the editorial
editor's declaration only one day
earlier that this space would not
be "where uninformed rants and
ideologically incestuous nonsense
run amok."
Note to Emerald staff: You've been
had — a trivial Google search shows
that Mr. Singelyn makes a habit of
sending similar "rants" pushing his
ideology to college newspapers all
over the country. Perhaps this is be
cause it's such an easy way to slip his
fact-free agenda to such an impres
sionable audience.
David Mason
graduate student
physics
Music and energy drive
underground scene
Helen Schumacher in her "Notes
from the underground" ("From
minivans to Miller beer: Indie rockers
are selling out," ODE, Oct. 2) stated
that kids usually get into the under
ground music scene because "the
people that go to the shows are way
hotter than the people that go to cor
porate shows ... and that you get to
be an elite member of an under
ground community."
The truth is, real people from the
underground who are part of an
elite underground community go to
shows for, number one: the music.
And number two: the energy derived
from the independent music at live
shows. People who go to the under
ground shows reject the hype and
fashion that comes with corporate
music, MTV and artists like Britney
Spears (whom some would consid
er to be "way hot").
The majority of underground
communities are not a part of the
mainstream because they reject the
promotions, advertising and mar
keting sold alongside music — this
includes die fashion you see in mag
azines and on the backs of your
"way hot" friends who shop at
Hot Topic.
Perhaps the Emerald should look
into the "selling out" of the independ
ent music scene by writers who pur
port to be underground.
Autumn DePoe
Class of ‘02
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JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO END EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY
FIND OUT HOW:
Info Session • Wednesday, October 8
7-8:30 p.m. • 242 Gerlinger
TEACHFORAMERICA
www.teachforamerica.org
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