Cherish University's Italian major
To the Editor:
I was profoundly disappointed to read that the University declared the Italian Studies program unworthy of continuing status in the future. If the only reason for declaring certain concentrations obsolete is the number of graduates in the major, I can see why Italian made the list. I was the sole major from the Class of 2006.
However, is this the true indicator of whether or not a time-honored, classic and beautiful language should be deemed unimportant to the future of liberal arts education? I can't imagine so. My Italian major did exactly what a Brandeis liberal arts education should: It educated me, inspired me, made me unique and advanced me. It made me a true Brandeis alumna, a well-rounded scholar committed to giving back to the world.
In failing to commit to these values by extinguishing a critical liberal arts concentration, Brandeis intentionally changes its place in the world and its purpose. By limiting creative course offerings, Brandeis diminishes its ability to produce graduates with diverse backgrounds, educations and opportunities. As Blutinger eloquently relates in his article, an Italian studies education serves an important role, applicable to both current events and history.
The Brandeis department and faculty is excellent. Prof. Paola Servino (ROMS) is the favorite professor of most who have had the honor of knowing her; she imparts passion for her language and culture in a way that makes you want to learn more.
The education I and many others received from this fine faculty should not be undervalued. The Italian major should be available to future Brandeisians who will in turn make use of their degree in inspiring and life-changing ways. I call on Brandeis to look for alternatives to the very un-Brandeis plan to cut this traditional discipline from its curriculum and to commit itself to preserving the inclusive academic liberal arts education that has always served as the base of our incredible institution.
-Monica Katz-Lapides '06Students, respect donor plaques
To the Editor:
I wanted to make a general plea to Brandeis students in response to a communication I received earlier this week from a generous, longtime friend to the University. I have long known that from time to time students will remove letters from the sides of campus buildings. I understand that it's sort of a "tradition" among students, and it has been happening for years. I can also understand how it may be perceived as a victimless crime.
However, earlier this week, a good friend to the University informed me that several of the letters that spelled out her father's name were missing from the side of a building that had been named in his honor. Her father had been a dedicated and early supporter of this institution who gave everything he could to see that Brandeis would succeed. The building named in his honor is his legacy. It was therefore disappointing for this man's daughter to see that his legacy had been made a sort of joke. I urge students to remember while an act may appear to be victimless, this is not always true.
-Erin Warnke
The writer works in the Development and Alumni Relations Office.

Maintain amiable religious climate
In response to your article "New Muslim Student Association lounge vandalized" (News, March 9): This incident is terrible, and I am really upset that something like this would happen at the school I called home for four years. I attended the peace vigil on Friday afternoon, however, and I was very encouraged and inspired by the positive community response I witnessed.
Hopefully this incident will continue to inspire a renewed spirit of welcoming and religious and cultural pluralism. That is what the Brandeis I know is all about.
-Mike Bohen '08
The writer is a former member of the
Catholic Student Organization leadership.

Affirm campus religious freedom
Regarding your article "New Muslim Student Association lounge vandalized" (News, March 9): Brandeis University came into being in the post-World War II years as a reaction to religious and ethnic persecution. And for years we prided ourselves upon one fact of campus architecture; that the chapels are designed so that one does not overshadow the other. I think it would be appropriate for the Brandeis community to react to this dastardly attack on its Muslim members by having a convocation to reaffirm its social justice values. Freedom of religion, a part of the U.S. Constitution, should be upheld as a particularly precious right at Brandeis.
-Paul Trusten, R.Ph. '73

DREAM is step in wrong direction
In response to your article "Congress, Pass DREAM" (Forum, March 9): I am quite sure students given legal U.S. status through the DREAM act would continue to be active and involved on campus and beyond-active in getting laws passed to legalize their parents who came to the U.S. illegally knowing full well that they were breaking the laws of this country and risking future deportation and separation from their loved ones.
These highly educated students should go with their families back to their home countries and use their pricey U.S. education (one wonders how they are financing it now; undoubtedly through U.S. taxpayer largesse) and work to improve their own country, thus avoiding the fear of separation from their families.
-Ann Pennell

Keep senior thesis as optional
Regarding your article "Senior theses should be mandatory for students" (Forum, March 9): I spent nearly four years at Brandeis working for the Justice. Unless I go senile someday, there's no chance I'll forget the interviews I did, working with the writers or staggering home in an advanced state of sleep deprivation after yet another 30-hour day in the newsroom (we called it a "Justice Sunrise"). Time of my life, man. But it was a struggle to keep up with classes, and if a mandatory thesis had been added to that, I would have had to stop working for the paper. Period. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
I commend Cooper for seeking a lasting college experience, but advocating for a mandatory thesis-writing program for everyone isn't the way to do it. Maybe it'd be helpful for the students who aren't doing anything other than taking a regular course load and partying, but when I went to Brandeis, most of the people I knew were either working a side job to pay for school, competing as part of a sports team, writing for one of the newspapers or magazines, acting in productions, carrying out community service programs, and so on. Many of them, myself included, have ended up in jobs which directly require the skills picked up from those extracurriculars.
When compared with those enjoyable alternatives for self-improvement and growth, "you can even pick the font" just doesn't seem like a compelling enough reason for many students to spend their college days researching a subject they'll always remember but not necessarily use.
-Jennifer Morrow '07
The writer is a former Justice Arts editor.

Do not switch to instant runoffs
In response to your article "Constitutional Review?Committee releases report" (News, March 9): Look before you leap. Learn from the University of Virginia's experience with instant runoff voting. Read how instant runoff voting results baffle UVA students. The University Board of Elections should educate the student body further about its voting methodology. UVA students were confused by the results of recent instant runoff voting election for student body. The results of the election were bizarre: The candidate with the most first- and second-choice votes lost. Even the winner of UVA's instant runoff voting election didn't understand the results. Consider that U.S. News has ranked UVA among the top 25 colleges since 1988. What more do we need to know to tell us that instant runoff voting is bad for voters?
-Joyce McCloy
The writer is director of the North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting, a grassroots nonpartisan organization promoting clean and verified elections.