Letters to the editor

Constructing a community starts with communication

Once again, the administration has proven how little it cares about creating a university community. No one is arguing that at the end of the day, major decisions about the University – some popular, others not – have to be made. But it is the pattern of complete disregard for those not sitting in Rebecca Crown Center’s ivory tower that is causing the erosion of whatever sense of community exists at Northwestern among students, alumni, faculty and staff.

The administration apparently cannot fathom that we all want what is best for the university, which means that most of us at one time or another have considered the implications of the university’s space constraints. This is all the more reason for us to be brought into the loop. Tell us you are considering the issue. Tell us you are struggling with it. Ask us what we think, for goodness’ sake. We won’t think you are weak for doing so. In fact, we might appreciate the difficulty of your decision even more, and be more likely to understand and accept that decision in the end.

So you have a lot more to construct than a few more buildings and a parking deck. At some point you need to turn your attention to constructing a meaningful NU community, which means meaningful NU communication. Because if I had a nickel for every alumnus I know who doesn’t have very warm and fuzzy feelings about NU because of incidents like this, I might have enough money to build a second Lakefill. I’m just not sure I’d donate it to you.

Evan Levy

Speech ’95, Kellogg ’01

Mistreated students don’t want to give back to NU

Wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago that the administrators complained of low alumni giving?

With the administration’s sudden announcement, it is no wonder that current alumni are hesitant to give money. From paying 5 cents to print in the library to paying $5 to play tennis at the Combe Tennis Center, this school wrings its students dry. And now they want to replace our Lagoon – a place of escape, exercise and relaxation – for a parking lot and some green space.

All I know is this: Northwestern will not be getting a dime of my money after graduation.

Jennifer Stapf

Music junior

Leave the Lakefill out of debate over Lagoon plans

I don’t know why everyone is talking about the Lakefill. Nothing is actually happening to the Lakefill. The school is going to fill in less than 25 percent of the Lagoon and build a pedestrian walkway, a few buildings and some parking spaces, but will not be touching the Lakefill.

The new development will create more green space. It will allow the creation of a pedestrian walkway, which will replace the ugly concrete of South Campus Drive. The new development will potentially allow a new building for the School of Music, which needs one badly. This is a project with a lot of merit. Perhaps it isn’t perfect, but it will make the backside of campus much nicer.

I am concerned that the Northwestern administration continues to make decisions without considering

students’ opinions, I believe this project will beautify and improve our campus.

Protest the administration. Get them to talk to students. Get them to announce something before they make deals. Make this a campus where students feel ownership of their education and their school. Even protest the Lagoon construction if you don’t like it. But stop talking about the damn Lakefill.

Erik Schousboe

Weinberg junior

Propaganda artists distort rational debate on Lagoon

After reading Justin Vader’s letter in The Daily, I was elated to see that I’m not the only person on this campus who is trying to see both sides of this Lagoon issue. Truthfully, if you ask me whether I would like to see this campus become a barren wasteland with swamps and no vegetation, of course I would say no. Yet somehow I favor the university’s decision. How can this be? Is it not a paradox? After all, if I support the university, that means I want to destroy all the aesthetic features of the campus, right? Well, that’s what all of this propaganda would have you believe. In fact, according to it, backing the university would be supporting the Taliban, Nazism and Satan at the same time.

After reading Bienen’s e-mail to the NU community, I agree that such a layout would indeed be beneficial for the university while at the same time preserving its aesthetic qualities. I have faith in the university’s decision and choose not to brand them with such haste as many others have. The fact that rumors went around claiming that the Lakefill would be completely destroyed led me to realize that we jumped to conclusions without knowing the whole story, and the propaganda spread.

According to U.S. News and World Report, we are currently ranked 12th among undergraduate universities in this country, and I would like to keep it that way. But such a high ranking won’t last if we plant more trees and build more fountains while other schools build more nanofabrication buildings.

NU administrators are trying to do what is best for us by doing what is best for the university and its reputation. We should be careful before judging them with such haste.

Zoran Balac

Weinberg freshman