Belicose rant was unoriginal and insulting
This anti-liberal media rant is boorish and trite. May I remind the columnist of conservatives’ two Christian right cable channels, a certain monopoly of talk radio, Fox News, The Washington Times, et cetera. And to claim that indoctrination caused Bush’s low approval ratings not only gravely insults the American people, but also dishonestly denies that Americans legitimately disapprove of Bush’s presidency. Teddy Roosevelt once said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism; thus following leaders with blind obedience while simultaneously attacking the American public’s dignity is not the behavior of a competent citizen.
And to answer his question: how can anyone think that they are smarter than the president, a C student at Yale (which is renowned for grade inflation) who made it through Harvard because of his politically connected family and who ran every business he touched into the ground? Well – let’s just say that thinking the president is a supremely intelligent man is probably as correct as thinking that the movie Anchorman ”appropriately addresses” the issue of bad news reporting. Isn’t the job of The Diamondback’s editors to filter out bad writing, or do they need letters to the editor so badly that they bait readers like me with incoherent garbage?
Matt Leibensperger
Towson University
New University-sponsored discount system is a rip-off for students
Last week’s article about discounts on Dell and Apple computers by reporter Alan McCombs neglected to mention the fact that students, prior to the Academic Computers for Terps (ACT) program, students were able to save much more money.
As a Maryland student who has been window shopping for a MacBook, I am really annoyed with the university for taking away an amazing discount. Before the ACT program, a student could have saved more than $100 on the smallest MacBook, the 1.83-Ghz model, and more than $150 on the slightly faster MacBook, the 2.0-Ghz model. Additionally, the three-year AppleCare Protection Plan was $100 cheaper than it would be for a regular customer. Finally, to increase SDRAM from 512 MB to 1 GB only cost $100.
That said, a 1.83-Ghz MacBook with a three-year AppleCare Protection Plan and an upgrade to 1GB SDRAM cost a total of $1,248. The same model with only one additional year of warranty and a lovely university software image now costs $1,408 with the ACT program discount.
Correct me if I am wrong, but an additional $160 is not the best discount. That university software image better be hellishly pleasing! This is only a $40 discount from the original price, whereas we used to be able to save $200. I am sure that the discount at Dell is equally pathetic.
The university should do its students a favor and revert to its old system of computer discounts, and The Diamondback should do its readers a favor and hire reporters who actually research the topics and look out for the best interest of the readers. After all, isn’t it a reporter’s job to be the watchdog of “the man?”
Lindsay Kishter
Journalism
Senior
