Mac committed to cultural diversity

Dear Editor:

No amount of disclaimer by Joshua Bertsch that his opinion is not an indictment of Macalester would change the fact that it looks very much like one. It appears very much like a stalking horse for difference in general, for more cultural and intellectual diversity and for less dogmatism and tradition. He speaks of multiculturalism abstrusely, as if it is a particular student suffering at Macalester because s/he cannot comfortably live as s/he pleases. He says that we need to make space for this person so s/he can "flourish" at Macalester. But this commitment to "multiculturalism" is the product of the mutual solidarity of people who want to go to a school with diverse forms of cultural and political views and practices. This commitment is not a basis for multiculturalism, but a vague commitment to the value of cultural diversity which, by itself, fails to generate a strong sense of identification with Macalester or with the particular people who constitute it. But Joshua is pointing in the right direction, away from how Macalester is presented to the public and toward how Macalester is valued on campus.

Ilya Winham '03

Not so Grand Ave

Dear Editor:

The upperclassmen have always told me how terrible the transportation system here is; when my RA told me about the fines that the St. Paul police are going to start handing out to "jaywalkers," I finally believed them.

The imagined (and sometimes, due to the paint skills of radicals, tangible) paths across Grand Avenue have never been a real source of trouble. It's only on rare occasions that I hear a driver angrily blare his horn at some group crossing the street. Most students I see don't want to step in front of a speeding automobile, but rather wait patiently for a safe opening in traffic. Quite a few drivers are willing to stop for students, and most students I see are courteous enough to give a friendly gesture and move quickly across the street to keep traffic flowing.

Meanwhile, at the official crosswalks, complete with fancy blinking hands and men, drivers that want to turn across the parking lot are greatly annoyed when students make a legal crossing. Prohibiting use of the unofficial crosswalks wastes our time and inhibits traffic more than it helps it.

In conclusion, I condone the use of passive resistance against this useless measure by urging students to keep crossing as they were. The cops will have more to worry about once the war with Iraq rolls around and they have to storm the campus with tear gas.

Dirk Langeveld '06