Letters to the Editor: March 25, 2008

Regarding "Will Scharf '08 will sue Borough," (Monday, March 24, 2008):

Borough Councilman Martindell seems to misunderstand the relationship between the University, the Street and the Borough.  As a separate entity, the Street is not the University's responsibility in the slightest, and suggesting that Mr. Scharf's suit will make them "reexamine the Borough's relationship" with the Street and the University is a veiled threat. Martindell is looking for a handout from Princeton on the one hand, and an excuse to shut down the Street on the other.

All the eating clubs save Cottage pay taxes to the Borough for the right to have access to the ‘government services' it provides - most of which is unwanted police scrutiny. Suggesting that the University police the Street is tantamount to admitting that your government cannot do its job.  

Instead of whining about not getting enough money from the University, the Borough should just do what all other governments do when they need money - raise taxes.  Then we'll see if the people of the Borough really care enough about ‘policing' the Street to make that happen.

Michael van Landingham '08

Feminists shouldn't be OK with pornography

Regarding "Boys aren't just allowed, they're needed," (Monday, March 24, 2008):

In her column, Chloe Angyal '09 defined male feminists as men who "value real women - intelligent, talented women who make genuine contributions to society." Though I do not believe this is quite what constitutes a feminist, I must admit it is not a bad definition, and if one were to use  it, I would admit to being a male feminist myself. And it is for this reason that I disagree with Angyal's stance on porn.

Porn is not just bad when it distorts male and female expectations of what females are or ought to be; rather, porn is bad all the time, for the basic premise of porn is the objectification of the woman as a means to a sexual end. Human beings have great value, and Angyal is right that there is much to be appreciated beyond aesthetic measurements. There is also something substantially valuable, however, in characteristics beyond sex appeal. I have always been curious as to why feminists have never raised a larger cry against the degrading nature of porn. Feminists of Princeton: Yours is the burden to eliminate this threat to the inherent value of women.

Alexander Hwang '11

A growing trend at Princeton that can't be explained away

Regarding "Slouching toward Whitmania," (Tuesday, March 4, 2008):

Whitman College and Spelman halls both have prescribed functions within the Princeton housing system. Whitman was painstakingly designed as a four-year college and built accordingly to foster this new sort of community. Similarly, Spelman is designated as the central complex for independent students, who want to buy and cook their own food. As the independent numbers increased this year, it makes no sense whatsoever to limit their options. This move, then, seems to expand the four-year system to the detriment of other options.

The most significant reason for the increased demand for four-year colleges is the unbelievable disparity between the quality of their rooms and those of the other upperclass housing. If students continue to clamor for these choice dorms, what does the administration propose to do? Logically, it could offer new rooms outside of Whitman/Mathey to students of all eating creeds. Or, toeing the current party line, they could look to other top-echelon dorms - what remains of Little, Dod and Patton halls - and again declare Anschluss.

In all seriousness, the number of students affected now is irrelevant; the question is when does the expansion and the curtailment of alternative eating options end? I understand that there are reasonable arguments behind these decisions, but that does not alter the overall trend.

The Malkiel cabal asserts that it is merely trying to "add options." But in the context of President Tilghman's oft-ignored statement to The Wall Street Journal - that certain eating clubs were antithetical to Princeton tradition - these new four-year college annexations seem like the beginnings of a bid for the exact opposite.

Nic Poulos '08