Bush quote should have been used in its full context

In his Oct. 13 column ('Kerry Promises Equal Opportunity'), Jay Saxon '05 takes President Bush's words out of context when he writes, "He (Bush) calls them (the rich) his base, the 'have-mores.' "

The full quotation is this: "This is an impressive crowd: the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite; I call you my base."

It is from the Oct. 19, 2000, Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, an annual dinner that raises money for Catholic hospital charities in New York. Michael Moore uses the same quote out of context in his film, "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Traditionally during an election year, the presidential candidates are invited as guests-of-honor to the dinner and give speeches making fun of themselves; Bush was obviously making a joke. At the same dinner in 2000, then-Vice President Al Gore had this to say: "I'll put Medicaid in a walk-in closet" and "I will always keep lettuce in the crisper," poking fun at his plan to put the Social Security in a "lockbox." Neither President Bush nor Sen. Kerry were invited to this year's dinner. The organizers cited worries that "divisiveness and disagreement" spilling over from the campaigns might conflict with the dinner's desire to "bring people together." John Vermylen '05

Students have no reason to be falling asleep in POL 210

I was disheartened for two distinct reasons while reading 'The rise and fall of U. classes' (Oct. 1).

First, the article gave the reader a poorly substantiated, negative opinion of POL 210 this semester, and second, it reflected a disturbingly apathetic attitude of some students towards their education.

As a senior enrolled in POL 210 and having taken a significant number of large lecture courses, I find no reason that Prof. Pitts' lectures should specifically encourage slumber. Her delivery is rapid, it is true, but her speed is brought on by the fact she is presenting, within the semester, over a dozen prominent political texts. Pitts attempts to present the material clearly, providing outlines for each lecture and drawing interesting parallels between the works. In addition, despite the large lecture format, Pitts readily solicits questions from the students. As in any large class, it is up to the student to be an advocate for her or himself and request clarifications.

Student participation leads to the second disturbing factor: apathy toward course selection. As POL 210 is not a required course, even for politics majors, it seems strange that a student should be bored to the point of falling asleep within the first few weeks of the semester, yet willing continue to take the class. With nonstop schedules any student can suffer from a lack of sleep and occasionally feel drowsy in a lecture, but slumber persistently induced because of a lack of interest raises the question of why the student is enrolled, especially in an "elective" class. Falling asleep is no service to a student's education, nor does it benefit the professor; rather, it seems quite impolite.

As undergraduates at an excellent liberal arts university, Princeton students have the opportunity to select, at their own discretion, from a wide range of courses; one would hope that they could find several interesting enough to keep themselves awake. Laura Chiang '05