n I found the article (“Employees’ kids make up 8 percent of freshman class,” Oct. 4, p. 1) to be one-sided and discrediting to children of employees at Boston University.
As the child of an employee at BU, the article — a hard news story, not opinion — made me feel less deserving of admittance at BU.
I feel that student perspectives could have greatly reduced the bias of the article and perhaps have shed light on the different stories of the children of BU faculty and staff.
Every student at BU is admitted under different circumstances, and the article referenced just one student viewpoint — strategically placed in a catchy lead at that.
Also, I’d like clarification on the 8 percent figure. The article states that children of BU employees make up more than 8 percent of the class of 2010. That’s approximately 336 students out of 4,200.
Yet the article quotes Executive Vice President Joseph Mercurio as saying “approximately 350 students participate in the tuition remission program each year,” and this figure seems to imply all four years of employees’ children.
In addition, the article notes that in 2005 — my year of admittance — 128 children of employees were accepted, and this figure doesn’t even reveal how many of those students currently attend BU.
So the 8 percent figure is either completely off the charts or incorrectly referenced. I’d just like some clarification.
Finally, in the future I’d like to see more discretion used in titles like “Brats, see page 10.” I don’t take tuition remission for granted, and I don’t appreciate The Daily Free Press implying that I do.
Samara Vise
COM ’09