Letters to the Editor: Coop Markup Is 33 Percent, MIT Women Earned Their Admissions
Coop Markup Is 33 Percent
The recent article about the Harvard Cooperative Society ["Coop Alternatives Offer Discount," Sept. 8] contains a factual error, although this is likely not the fault of The Tech reporting staff. The Coop marks their books up 33 percent to the standard retail price, not 25 percent as was printed in the article. This has been true for the vast majority of their books for the last several years. A 33 percent mark-up means that the Coop is getting its books at a percent discount to the prices it charges, and that is where the discrepancy comes from.
Jason W. Solinsky '95
MIT Women Earned Their Admissions
As assistant director of admissions, one of my main responsibilities is to coordinate the effort to recruit women students. Our record-breaking enrollment of 42 percent has generated a lot of attention, and I was very disturbed to hear one of the newly admitted freshmen say that she was admitted because she was a woman. A recent article in The Tech ["Record Number of Admittees, Women JoinClass of 1999," Aug. 24] quoted me as saying that the only goal in the Admissions Office this year was to enroll 40 percent women. That comment was taken out of context.
Certainly the Admissions Office has many goals, the most important of which is to admit and enroll the most qualified students who will contribute the most to and benefit the most from an MIT education.
We do have an extensive program to recruit women students to apply. We do not, however, change our standards in any way to admit that larger group of women.
We are confident that we choose the strongest applicants, regardless of
gender. I am very proud to be an alumna of MIT. I hope that the men and
women of the Class of 1999 will share that pride, and will be confident
that they all earned their place in one of the strongest classes I can
recall. Lisa J. Oliveira '90 Assistant Director of Admissions
View Archives