To the Editor:

Last week’s article on the selection of Provost Stan McKenzie as the RIT 2008 Commencement speaker greatly surprised and, frankly, disappointed me. I have come to expect better from students of RIT’s caliber, as well as from our distinguished student magazine.

The quality of RIT is ultimately measured not by the notoriety of individuals who come to the campus to speak, but rather by the quality of the people who work and learn here and by what they accomplish. For this proud institution to invite one of its most distinguished community members to speak at Commencement in the year he steps down after 41 years at RIT and 15 years as Provost is both a most appropriate honor for him and a statement to RIT and the rest of the world that there are voices within our community worth listening to at our most important forums.

Dr. McKenzie served RIT in many ways during his 41 years here. Prior to becoming Provost in 1994, he was an inspirational and award-winning professor of English literature. His popular classes always filled immediately, and he hosted final exam parties in his Jacuzzi! His self-proclaimed most fulfilling role, however, was that Director of Judicial Affairs, a position he held for 16 years. There Dr. McKenzie found deep satisfaction in working to help students “deal with their problems and get their lives back on track’. To know that Dr. McKenzie is viewed with lasting respect and gratitude by troubled students who came before him with disciplinary issues will give you some idea of the caliber of the man to whom you will be listening to on commencement day.

The opportunity to recognize an individual within our community in this way does not, and should not, come often, but when it does we should use the occasion to celebrate the greatness within our own ranks. Too many in our culture are infatuated with the famous over the substantive. Reporter appears to have fallen into the same trap, and in doing so has slighted a wonderful man who has done more for RIT than any Commencement speaker in the past decade.

Sincerely yours,
Bill Destler
President

I really appreciated the article titled, "They can't all be Clintons." Though I am not graduating this year, I feel for those that are and are put into the situation of having their own provost speak at commencement. When I first saw who this year's speaker would be, I felt much like the author did and I believe he did a terrific job putting into words what many of us have been thinking.

John Witzigman
Third year biomedical science

This year's commencement speaker is going to be Stanley McKenzie the now ex-provost of RIT. The commencement speaker is supposed to be given by a notable figure, not the guy on the way out. After seeing previous classes have CEOs, Senators, and US Presidents speak at their graduation, it's obvious that we this year's graduating class have gotten short changed.

I like Casey's article, "They can't all be Clintons." I think he hit the issue on the head.

Damian Kumor
Fifth year Software Engineering

Dear Reporter:

I have attended RIT commencements for the past quarter century and I have heard commencement addresses spanning the entire range of quality from brilliant and inspiring (Dean Kaman) to preachy and self-promoting (Bill Clinton). None that I can recall evidenced the slightest interest or particular knowledge of RIT that might have made them memorable. I have more vivid recollections of the weather on each occasion than of the speeches. (The most dramatic weather was a torrential thunderstorm during RIT’s first outdoor commencement underneath a gigantic white tent, and I have long forgotten who spoke to us on that occasion.)

To those students who believe they are being shortchanged by this year’s choice of commencement speaker, I urge you to reconsider.

You may be surprised at what you can learn from a man who has lived his entire professional life at RIT, through all kinds of storms and stresses, triumphs and catastrophes, and who has proven time and again that he can deliver one hell of a great spoken performance when he is as passionate about the topic as he is about RIT.

I guarantee that Stan McKenzie’s words will be far more memorable in the long run than the canned remarks of an overpaid and disinterested professional commencement speaker—the standard drivel at events of this kind.

Professor Frank Cost
College of Imaging Arts & Sciences

Dear Reporter:

As I write this, I cannot feel anything but concerned about the state of the student body on this campus. Yesterday, on April 16th, I participated in an event held by ResLife called “Ending Violence Everywhere.” The event was specifically held on the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech Tragedy to raise awareness and concern about campus violence and its prevention, especially at R.I.T.

During my short period of time sitting at a table set up in Gracie’s, I have to say I was disappointed by the apathy demonstrated by the student body about this serious matter. When reminded about the tragedy, most students simply said “Why should I care?”

And why should you care? It is not as if as a fellow technology school we are not affected by the event. Granted, a year has passed, and no, I do not expect R.I.T. students to come marching out wearing orange and maroon carrying candles in remembrance. However I don’t think it is out of line to ask people to be aware and concerned about events like this.

What happened a year ago has passed, yes, but don’t we owe some sort of respect? Separating oneself from the events make them easier to cope with and forget, but being apathetic doesn’t change anything. If anything, it adds f lames to the fire. I’m sure that people here would be devastated if something even remotely similar happened on campus. How would you as a student body feel if after a year people simply didn’t care about the fact that your friends, family, teachers, co-workers and colleagues were brutally murdered?

I don’t expect this letter to change anything - in the almost three years that I have been here there seems to be a continuous cycle of complaints without action. Not to say that there aren’t people on campus that set out trying to make a difference, but there are many more who would, for all intensive purposes, allow themselves to be beat over the head, complain about it and never strike back. My hope is the same as it was yesterday - to raise awareness and get people thinking about what is important. I can only hope - the rest is up to the students.

Prajna Chopra
Third year Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Dear Reporter:

Thank you for taking the time to cover the launch of Fli Digital’s Fresh Mobile Platform, a suite of hosted applications designed for managing, optimizing, and delivering content to mobile devices such as cell phones and smart phones. Since there are so many “moving parts” in what our software does in the mobile industry, I wanted to further clarify a portion of the article, which was quoted in the 3rd paragraph.

The Mobile Carriers, specifically in the United States, are very protective of their customer base as well as their primary revenue stream, therefore they each impose their own set of rules for how you can interface with their systems to deliver and charge for content. Additionally, there aren’t a whole lot of standards across the device manufacturers, which adds another level of complexity. This combination of obstacles, in addition to the end-user knowing how to access the mobile Internet on their cell phone, are the challenges we have faced.

With these challenges multiplied by a device database of about 4,000 devices and hundreds of carriers world wide, our software development team was truly challenged when building out the Fresh Mobile Platform. We invite you to learn more about the product at http://FreshPlatform.com, or if you want to see it in action on behalf of a client, visit http://mobile.Go-Comics.com for the most popular comic content.

Scott Teger
Managing Partner of Fli Digital, Inc.

It has been a while since a reader-transcribed haiku has graced the pages of the Reporter, so here's one in response to Madeleine Villavicencio's “A Journey Through Lucid Dreams:”

true nightmares exist
in realms unfathomable
yours are just cliche

Robert Songer
Fifth year Software Engineering major

Dear Reporter:

Professor William Middleton is mistaken if he thinks he is being "edgy" by comparing homosexuality to sexual leanings towards masochism, bondage and uniform fetishes ("That Professor" Reporter, April 11, 2008). Middleton offered no mention of components of gay relationships like love, commitment, intimacy and family. Instead, we the same tiresome argument that has been used for decades to deny rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (glbt) citizens. Of course, bondage nurses and masochists can marry as they see fit, as long as they are not of the same gender.

Professor Middleton states that he is simply trying to drive home a point. While the interview was vague regarding what that actual point might be, it stems from a faulty premise and therefore should be rejected by any critical thinker. Can being gay be placed in the same category as sexual proclivities which might be considered outside the cultural norm? This important question must be the starting point for a meaningful exploration of the issue.

While the issue is far from settled, there is some evidence that homosexuality might be genetically determined. In his 1999 book "Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity," Bruce Bagemihl writes that homosexuality has been documented in 450 species. Two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo have been inseparable gay partners for years. Studies have shown that 10-15% of Western Gulls are homosexual. On the other hand, studies have yet to be carried out to count the number of leopards who like to dress up in cheerleader outfits.

Bill Dollinger
Third year IT Major

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