TOnline music deal a worthless subsidy

The University is a remarkably Mac-friendly campus, with Macintoshes representing a significant portion of lab and student computers.

Given that fact, how can the University rationalize the huge subsidy (dropping the monthly cost from $9.95/month to $2.99/month) of a service that is incompatible with Macs? This is precisely what the University has done with the Rhapsody music downloading program.

Additionally, RealNetworks chief executive officer Rob Glaser recently said that they have “no plans” to make Rhapsody available for the Mac.

This subsidy is completely worthless for a significant chunk of the student body.

Ethan Stark

undergraduate student

Children first

There was nothing funny about Bobak Ha’Eri’s “humor” column about video games (“Violent video games worked for me!” Oct. 1).

I am appalled that Ha’Eri wrote a column defending

violent video games, just as many countries are preparing to celebrate Universal Children’s Day in October and November. It is even more disturbing that the column appeared on the first day of “Children’s Health Month” in the United States.

At the very least, video games do not contribute to children’s health and may in fact damage their well-being. In all honesty, such drivel should never have been published in the first place.

Joel Helfrich

graduate student

Center not discriminatory

I would like to offer some clarifications about the Healthy Marriage Resource Center.

First of all, it will be a virtual center – a Web site with information for the public. It will offer no training and conduct no original research.

The purpose of the center is to make information more widely available to people looking for educational programs to help them prepare for or improve their marriage, and to professionals looking for research about marriage and couples education.

The University will not operate the center. Its involvement is limited to my subcontracted role, spending 10 percent of my time on the project with a graduate research assistant. My focus will be on tracking community-based initiatives that support healthy marriages.

The overall grant for the center went to the National Council on Family Relations, a professional organization of researchers and practitioners – not the University. (See www.ncfr.org.)

Importantly, everyone will have equal access to the information on the Web site, with no screening or restrictions by sexual orientation.

Many of the education programs that will be posted on the site, including one conducted locally, are open to all couples, regardless of legal marital status or sexual orientation.

Just like anyone else, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people will be able to use the Web site to find local programs, and can then inquire about the kinds of couples the program helps.

Some programs are limited to premarital couples, others to remarried couples some to distressed couples, black couples or heterosexual couples. Others are quite open, even taking single people. It’s up to those searching the Web site to find the best fit for their relationship and their needs.

Additionally, conversations are underway about the scope of the research – particularly whether research on same sex couples and cohabiting heterosexual couples will be included. Having just been funded, the center is a work in progress.

Finally, although, given current federal law and policy, there will probably not be visible links on the site with the terms “gay marriage” or “same sex marriage,” individuals can search the site for programs that fit their particular needs. There will be something for all kinds of couples.

William J. Doherty

University professor, Family Social Science Department

More discretion needed from Daily

The Oct 1. article “Some details of on-campus death investigation uncovered” shows absolutely no compassion nor respect for the victim and most importantly, the woman he was visiting.

Details not pertinent to the case were published that were none of the Daily readers’ business to know and have nothing to do with his death or the investigation.

This woman goes here! She has classes here! The same classes that were accessed through the doorways that have Daily stands in them! Show some respect.

Justin Logeais

University student